The Actor Segawa Kikunojo 3rd in a Female Role 1770 - 1790

Editor: So, this is Katsukawa Shunko’s print, "The Actor Segawa Kikunojo 3rd in a Female Role," dating from around the 1770s or 1780s. It's an intriguing image and I’m curious to know what story you think this print is trying to tell about Kabuki culture. What do you see here? Curator: Well, it offers a glimpse into the complex socio-political role of Kabuki theatre in Edo period Japan. Ukiyo-e prints like this weren’t just advertisements, but critical documents reflecting and shaping public perception. Shunko, capturing Segawa Kikunojo, is navigating the very charged space of onnagata roles – male actors playing women. Editor: Charged how? Curator: Kabuki was immensely popular, but also carefully regulated by the shogunate. Restrictions on dress, behaviour, even subject matter, were constant. Depictions of actors, especially in female roles, became a way to subtly negotiate those boundaries. This print performs a public function, both celebrating a popular actor, but also hinting at the blurring of gender roles permissible, but only within the accepted, contained space of the theater. The carefully controlled setting within the home emphasizes this point; would you agree? Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn't considered the restrictive political climate influencing something seemingly as simple as an actor portrait. Thinking about that careful framing really shifts how I see this work. Curator: Exactly! It reminds us that art is never created in a vacuum. Appreciating the historical forces at play reveals hidden layers of meaning. Editor: I never looked at art in quite this way before. It's like uncovering a whole other narrative! Curator: Precisely! Now, you will never view an image in the same way, Editor!