Segawa Kikunojō III as Teruha
Katsukawa Shunshō (Japanese, 1726–1792)
1778
- Medium
- color woodblock print
- Classification
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 32.4 x 14.6 cm (12 3/4 x 5 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Japanese Art
- Credit line
- Sundry Purchase Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Men perform all the roles in Kabuki, a form of Japanese theater. Some actors specialize in onnagata (女形), or female roles. Segawa Kikunojō III was one of the most famous onnagata actors of his day. Here, he plays a character called Teruha in what was once the center print of a triptych (a composition of three prints). Teruha is officiating a wrestling match that also involves red and white roosters.
