Japanese Woodcuts: Kabuki Portraits

A collection of woodcuts from the Japanese Utagawa School (c. 1842) of the Ukiyo-e style (17th–19th century). Ukiyo-e prints catered to the period’s growing urban merchant class that was defined by leisure and entertainment, like Kabuki theater.

The portraits in this playlist, created by Utagawa Kunisada, Toyohara Kunichika, and Utagawa Kuniaki, depict 19th-century Kabuki actors portraying some of their famous roles.