Nakamura Shikan (中村芝翫) as Higuchi Jiro Kanemitsu disguised as boat master Matsuemon (船頭松右衛門実は樋口次郎兼光)
Collection:CSM Museum & Study Collection
Date: 1832
Maker: Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞)
Dimensions:
352 x 750 mm (35.2 x 75 cm)
Image: 750 x 352 mm (75 x 35.2 cm)
Medium: O-ban Nishiki-e (大判錦絵, large-format coloured print)
Object number: O.5.2
DescriptionA scene from a play titled 'Hiragana Seisuiki (ひらかな盛衰記).'
It is the scene in which the boatman Matsuemon (船頭松右衛門) saves his master's son, Komawakamaru(駒若丸). He reveals his hidden identity as Higuchi Jiro Kanemitsu(樋口次郎兼光) to his father-in-law, who had looked after him.
The main axis of this story is loyalty in the feudal system of the Kamakura period. This kind of story in the Edo period, when warfare had disappeared, may have had an important role in maintaining the stability of Tokugawa Shogunate by reproducing such values in a popular entertainment format.
It is the scene in which the boatman Matsuemon (船頭松右衛門) saves his master's son, Komawakamaru(駒若丸). He reveals his hidden identity as Higuchi Jiro Kanemitsu(樋口次郎兼光) to his father-in-law, who had looked after him.
The main axis of this story is loyalty in the feudal system of the Kamakura period. This kind of story in the Edo period, when warfare had disappeared, may have had an important role in maintaining the stability of Tokugawa Shogunate by reproducing such values in a popular entertainment format.
