Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII as the Ghost of Warrior Akugenta Yoshihira

This sheet is part of a diptych showing a group of samurai approaching the Nunoki waterfall on the left. The painting was done as a memorial sheet shini-e commemorating the great acting art of Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII, who had died in August of the same year. The diptych originally illustrated the performance of the drama Megumi no iro furisode no Genji, which was staged earlier in 1854. Danjūrō is depicted here in his characteristic role aragoto as the Tantric god Fudō. At the same time, he plays the ghost of the deceased Akugenta Yoshihira. (See Helena Honcoopová, Kunisada, Praha 2005, p. 141)