The First Nakamura Tomijuro as a Woman 1767 - 1787

Katsukawa Shunko's woodblock print presents Nakamura Tomijuro, a male actor, in the guise of a woman. The composition directs our eye along the vertical lines of the figure, framed against a neutral background, with only the ochre ground providing spatial orientation. Notice how the artist uses the lines of the kimono to guide our eyes over the whole surface of the print. Ornamentation is used to striking effect. The patterning of flowers and geometric shapes creates a rhythm that animates the figure while flattening the pictorial space. These patterns act as signs, referencing cultural codes of beauty and status. Consider how the artist destabilizes traditional gender norms, presenting a male figure embodying female characteristics. This challenges fixed identities and invites a reconsideration of performance and representation. The flattening of perspective and stylized representation is not merely aesthetic but serves to challenge conventional notions of realism. It posits a new way of seeing, where identity and artifice are intertwined, and the surface becomes a site of complex cultural meaning.