Matsumoto Koshiro as Watanabe no Tsuna 1951

Natori Shunsen made this print of Matsumoto Koshiro as Watanabe no Tsuna, and what strikes me right away is the graphic intensity of the face. I can imagine the artist working and reworking the lines of the eyes and mouth to find just the right expression. It’s all about capturing the feeling, not just the look. The woodblock has this incredible flatness, but look closer, and you can see the texture of the paper, the way the ink sits on the surface. In the robe, the layered patterns are a marvel of precision, but there’s a looseness too, an energy that keeps it from feeling too stiff. My eye keeps returning to the mouth, open in a shout, each tooth carefully rendered. It’s like Shunsen is asking us: what does it mean to perform, to embody a character so fully? Shunsen made a career out of portraits like these, capturing the essence of Kabuki actors. He reminds me a bit of someone like Toulouse-Lautrec, who also had a knack for immortalizing performers. For me, this print is not just a record, but a celebration of fleeting moments, the raw emotion of the stage, and the magic of transformation.