Art Archive • Sharaku

Ukiyo-e

Ōkubi-e

Nakayama Tomisaburō as Miyagino in the Play Katakiuchi Noriyaibanashi

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Onnagata ōkubi-e reflecting sorrow on a shimmering mica ground — Nakayama Tomisaburō as Miyagino in the Play Katakiuchi Noriyaibanashi. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (public domain).
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Tōshūsai Sharaku. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (public domain).

About this work

Miyagino from A Medley of Tales of Revenge — an onnagata grief portrait where sorrow pools in downcast eyes.

Nakayama Tomisaburō appears as Miyagino in A Medley of Tales of Revenge. Sharaku maps feminine grief through gaze direction and softened mouth.

View on The Met

Viewing notes

Pair with Shigenoi’s calm to see two onnagata emotional registers.

Follow the eye line — it tells the revenge narrative without background scenery.

Mica shimmer behind a pale onnagata face creates a ghostly depth unique to Sharaku.

Extended Japanese viewing notes: 初世中山富三郎の宮城野.

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