The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 21, 2025
Arashi Rikan II as Danshichi Kurōbei in "Mirror of Naniwa: The Summer Festival"
1832
Location: 235A Japanese
Did You Know?
This belongs to a category of Japanese prints called “actor images” (yakusha-e or 役者絵), which were collected by fans of popular Kabuki actors.Description
This print shows Arashi Rikan II (1788–1837) acting in a Kabuki play put on at the Chikugoza Theater in Osaka in 1832. Rikan’s character, Danshichi Kurōbei, was among the otokodate roles, or men who stood up for those without much power in society. Mirror of Naniwa: The Summer Festival remains popular today and has the most well-known Kabuki murder scene, in which Danshichi kills his devious father-in-law, Mikawaya Giheiji. Rikan strikes multiple dramatic poses, called mie, during the episode, which features real mud on the stage.- ?–1980(R. E. Lewis, Inc., California, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1980–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219. Reproduced: p. 208; Mentioned: p. 218, no. 269 www.jstor.org
- Highlights of Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 7, 2025-June 14, 2026).Transformations in Japanese Printmaking. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 25-December 30, 1984).Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
- {{cite web|title=Arashi Rikan II as Danshichi Kurōbei in "Mirror of Naniwa: The Summer Festival"|url=false|author=Shunbaisai Hokuei|year=1832|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.84