Acteurs Nakamura Utaemon I en Arashi Hinaji in het toneelstuk Kiyomizu Seigen 1769

Ippitsusai Bunchō made this woodblock print depicting actors in a scene from the play Kiyomizu Seigen. The print belongs to a genre known as *ukiyo-e*, or "pictures of the floating world," which flourished in Japan’s Edo period. These prints often represented the social life and entertainment of the time. This particular work captures two famous Kabuki actors, Nakamura Utaemon I and Arashi Hinaji, in character. *Ukiyo-e* prints like this served as publicity for the actors and the plays themselves, fueling a celebrity culture. The visual codes, such as the actors’ makeup and costumes, were instantly recognizable to the theater-going public. The Kabuki theater played a vital social role at the time and was closely tied to the urban culture of Edo, modern-day Tokyo. To fully understand this print, we can consult playbills, theater records, and other ephemera. This helps to situate the work within the social and institutional context of Japanese theater history. The meaning of this print is thus contingent on the cultural and historical moment of its production and reception.