Author: Utagawa Kunisada II (二代目国貞).
Subject: The kabuki actor Bandō Hikosaburō (坂東彦三郎) as the 47 rōnin villain Kōno Moronao (高野師直) on the left
side and the actor Kawarasaki Gonjurō (河原崎権十郎) as Hagan Takasada (判官高定).
Series: The treasury of loyal retainers [third act](Kanadehon Chūshingura) [san dan me], 仮名手本忠臣蔵, [三段目].
Genre: yakusha-e (役者絵).
Size: large (ōban, 大判).
Publisher: Marutetsu (丸鉄).
Period: c. 1863.
Trimmed: no
Backed: no
Code: UKSII02002
Condition: general condition are good. Color has not faded and it is still pretty clear
and vivid. There are few but not remarkable stains and scratches on the back side borders. No fixing nor
wrinkles are present.
Two key figures, the main villain and what is remembered as the sinless victim of the 47 rōnin story are
represented in this print from one of the countless Kanadehon Chūshingura series.
The matter was well known by the time already and both literature and theater took inspiration from it.
However in an era where peace and harmony had to be preserved all along the country any reference to the
original feud was prohibited by censorship and the authors found themselves force to change names for places,
characters and sometimes even transpose the flow of the events on a different timeline.
So here Lord Asano (浅野) becomes Takasada while the evil Kira (吉良) becomes Moronao.
This may actually be an edition released soon after the first one being the Kanadehon Chūshingura pretty
popular
by that time. However it misses some details: we can point out that both the names of the actors are missing
from the red cartouches where only the characters one are shown.