Ichimura Uzaemon VI as the Fireman of the Me Company, Tatsugorô
Ōta Masamitsu, Ichimura Uzaemon VI as the Fireman of the Me Company, Tatsugorô, 1955, color woodblock print on paper, Gift of Mrs. Fay Kramer, © unknown, research required, 91.48.2C
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- Title
Ichimura Uzaemon VI as the Fireman of the Me Company, Tatsugorô
- Related Titles
series title: Showa butai sugata (Figures of the Showa Stage)
- Artist
- Related People
- Date
1955
- Period
Japan: Shōwa period (1926-1989)
- Medium
color woodblock print on paper
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
image: 14 3/16 in x 9 1/2 in; sheet: 16 3/16 in x 10 7/16 in
- Collection Area
Asian Art; Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
Japanese Modern Prints
- Object Type
relief print
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Fay Kramer
- Accession Number
91.48.2C
- Copyright
© unknown, research required
- Terms
Ichimura Uzaemon XV (1874-1945) was born in Tokyo, putatively as the son of a Frenchman and a Japanese mother. He was adopted by the kabuki actor Ichimra Uzamon XIV, and first appeared on stage at age six. He assumed the stage name Uzaemon XV in October 1903, and until his last appearance in December 1944 was a leading actor in male action roles. He is said to have had an excellent voice and a powerful yet trim physique. He is portrayed here in an unusual role, that of a fireman; his low-class status is evident from the tattoos on his arms and the cotton towel headband. In the play “Megumi no kenka,” based on a historical event, the fireman Tatsugorô was humiliated in a fight with a sumô wrestler.