Main content
Art of Asia
Course: Art of Asia > Unit 4
Lesson 11: Edo period (1615–1868)- Edo period, an introduction
- Tea bowl with dragon roundels
- Scenes from The Tale of Genji
- Genji Ukifune
- Dog chasing
- A portrait of St. Francis Xavier and Christianity in Japan
- Ogata Kōrin, Red and White Plum Blossoms
- Hon’ami Kōetsu, Folding Screen mounted with poems
- Archery practice
- The evolution of ukiyo-e and woodblock prints
- Utagawa Kunisada I, Visiting Komachi, from the series Modern Beauties as the Seven Komachi
- Hokusai, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)
- Beyond the Great Wave — Hokusai at 90
- Hokusai’s printed illustrated books
- Hokusai, Five Beautiful Women
- The Floating World of Edo Japan
- Hunting for fireflies
- Street scene in the pleasure quarter of Edo Japan
- Courtesan playing with a cat
- Courtesans of the South Station
- An introduction to Kabuki theater
- The actor Ichikawa Danzo IV in a Shibaraku role
- Fire procession costume
- Arrival of a Portuguese ship
- Matchlock gun and pistol
- Military camp jacket
- Military leader's fan
- An American ship
- The steamship Powhatan
- Conserving the Gan Ku Tiger scroll painting at the British Museum
© 2023 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
The actor Ichikawa Danzo IV in a Shibaraku role
Kabuki scholar Laurence Kominz and Melinda Takeuchi, Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Department of Art History at Stanford University, discuss a woodblock print of the Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danzo IV. Created by Asian Art Museum.
Video transcript
kabuki prints were widely produced during the Edo period in response to a strong public demand for images of their favorite plays and actors cots kawasan show the foremost ukiyo-e artist of Kabuki prints during the Golden Age of Edo kabuki designed this image of an actor kabuki scholar Lawrence Commons this is each cow ah donzo in a shabbat aku roll with a great long sleeve persimmon colored soooo robe and matching persimmon colored pantaloons hakama the red striped commodore d makeup wig with power paper and impossibly long sword are all emblematic of the role the outrageous scale of the outfit and makeup reflect the tone of the performance melinda takeuchi the kabuki actors cut it right to the bone as far as being disrespectful they became extremely adept at adapting rhetoric to pay lip service to governmental ideals and then they'd stick the poison stiletto in and give everything a double entendre keep Lee Shubert aku depicts samurai as buffoons he's a parody he wears a sword that's about 12 feet long and he Swagger's around and stomps around and conquers evil but the whole thing is cast in a comical vein the audience has a lot of laughs you