Nakamura Shikan IV as the Fishmonger Aratota
Hasegawa Sadamasu 長谷川貞升 Japanese
Not on view
This “large-head” portrait captures the energetic presence of the renowned Osaka actor Shikan IV. He is shown in the role of the humble fishmonger from a performance of Rapeseed Blossom Rites at Tenmangū Shrine held at the Naka Theater in Osaka in 1841. The play is one of the popular dramatizations of the life of courtier-poet Sugawara no Michizane, who was unjustly exiled from the imperial court and eventually deified to quell his angry spirit.