Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

The numbers for the long months in this calendar print are clearly visible on the scabbard above the figure’s head. The print features the well-known Kabuki actor Danjūrō VII in Shibaraku, a short drama staged between longer plays in the Kabuki repertoire. The references in the poem to the New Year include first spring sunrise, but the focus is Danjūrō VII: The island of Kiba was the actor’s birthplace, and the ebi, from the name Ebizō, was one of the stage names used by the Ichikawa line of actors.

Poem:

With the first
Spring sunrise
I go to the island of Kiba
—Shinba Motomatsu

It blossomed in the Spring
At the Zhou court
The flower of Edo
—Nanadaime Sanjō (one of Danjūrō’s pen names)

The persimmon-red robe
Has been worn by the ebi (prawn)
For generations
Showing off their finery
In their grandfather’s house
—Kozensai