Syllable RA from the series Seven Variations of the Kana Dyllabary (Seisho nanatsu iroha)

With the series of syllables from the Japanese syllabary iroha in seven calligraphic variants, Kunisada returned to the popular series of stations on the Tōkaidō Road and scenes with one hundred poets. The series Seven Variations of Syllabary Characters (Seisho nanatsu iroha) has a similar typographic design with a decorative heading and a loosely-following illustration composed in a square with a direct link to kabuki theatre. The National Gallery Prague houses 32 sheets from the original series of 47 syllables (some in duplicate) selected from two albums. After the great success of this cycle, Kunisada published a continuation of this series of theatre scenes, which were sorted by syllabary characters or by the characters of the iroha poem (Nanatsu iroha shūi). This print is a portrait of the actor Nakamura Utaemon IV as the Magician Raikō or Warrior Yorimitsu from the Minamoto family, who, according to legend, defeated the demon Shutendōji from Mount Ōe and a giant ground spider. (See Helena Honcoopová, Kunisada, Praha 2005, p. 213)