This glass is based on an ukiyoe depicting Ichikawa Yaozo III, who plays Umeōmaru in the famous kabuki play "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami".

The Ichikawa family is a family of Kabuki actors that has been in existence for generations. The family crest is "Sanmasu ni hachi no higashi," which is also depicted in this painting.

The dignified expression on his face conveys his power!!

Summary of the story

Centering on the incident of Sugawara Michizane's downfall in the Heian period (the Chang Tai Incident), the story depicts the lives of the people around Sugawara Michizane.

Umeomaru served Sugawara Michizane as a prefect handling a bullock cart and was a strong man of courage. He has a strong arm, and he enlivens the story with Shoomaru and Sakura-maru, who are also triplets.

↓↓↓　Nakamura Nakazō II as Matsuōmaru

↓↓↓　Nakamura Noshio II as Sakuramaru

The scene depicts Umeōmaru and Sakuramaru waiting in ambush for Fujiwara no Shihei. Their brother Matsuōmaru, who is loyal to Shihei, foils their plot. He appears in the portrait with a protruding beak-like noese and his hair brushed back at the sides. He wears a hat, carries a spear, and wears a check-patterned robe with a set of h-shaped genji-mon crests on them, indicating a chapter from the Genji Monogatari.

In kabuki, Yondankiri is particularly common under the name Terakoya, and it has become one of the most popular kabuki plays by far in terms of number of performances.

About the author,　Kabukidō Enkyō

Scholars divide them into two groups based on differences in the signatures, and the second group appears to be a set, as the prints depict three brothers from the same play.

This set shows a stronger Toyokuni influence, rather than Sharaku; while basically striving for realism, there is an idealizing tendency in the rendering of the facial expressions.

Nothing is known about Enkyo's life, but there are only seven known "actor's paintings" depicting busts of kabuki actors.