Title : Celebrating the Framing of the New Ichimura Theater

Artist : Utagawa Kunisada

Date : 1864

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : The Ichimura Theater, along with the Morita and Nakamura Theaters, was one of the oldest licensed Kabuki theatres in Edo. With all three located quite close together, there was easy access to the exciting world of drama. The scene here of framing the Ichimura Theater shows the carpenters in full force tackling the dangerous job of putting on the roof of the building. The men are rendered in dramatic action poses, not unlike Kabuki actors themselves. Each man, whose clothing has been pushed back or pulled down, sports a full back tattoo of varying designs. These were the men of Edo who were regarded as the toughest, meanest, and most hard-working of all laborers. Like firemen, they were both admired and feared for their ferociousness.

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