Ichikawa Ebizō II as Fudō Myōō of Meguro, with Ichikawa Danjūrō IV and Nakamura Denkurō II
Summary
Ichikawa Ebizō II appears as Fudō Myōō, enthroned on a rock amid a great aureole of flames. He holds an upright sword in his right hand and a coiled rope lasso in his left. Below him, Ichikawa Danjūrō IV and Nakamura Denkurō II perform forceful crouching poses with bare chests, raised arms, and exaggerated aragoto expressions. The image joins Buddhist iconography, kabuki acting, the prestige of the Ichikawa lineage, and the popular cult of Fudō into a single theatrical tableau.
Visual Description
The composition is vertically stacked. At the center and upper half, Fudō Myōō sits frontally on a rock formation surrounded by curling orange and black flames. His skin is rendered in a dark green tone, and his face has the fierce asymmetry traditionally associated with the deity. He wears layered patterned robes, necklaces, arm ornaments, and a geometric apron-like textile. In his right hand he grips a long straight sword held upright. His raised left hand displays a looped rope or lasso, with several coils hanging beside his shoulder. Beneath the deity, two muscular kabuki actors crouch symmetrically. Both have partially exposed torsos, bent legs, and one raised arm. Their rounded bodies, pronounced musculature, dramatic facial makeup, and vigorous poses embody the bombastic aragoto style. The left actor wears a green robe with botanical patterns and checked lower garments. The right actor wears a darker geometric robe. Green actor-name inscriptions flank the central deity, while black inscriptions identify the play, Fudō, and the artist. The limited palette and broad, forceful outlines preserve the visual character of an early benizuri-e actor print.
History and Context
Historical Context
Fudō Myōō, the Immovable Wisdom King, is a wrathful protector in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism. He is commonly represented with a sword that cuts through ignorance and a rope lasso, or kensaku, that binds destructive passions and draws beings toward Buddhist teaching. The deity became closely associated with the Ichikawa Danjūrō acting lineage, whose aragoto performance style emphasized superhuman force, fierce facial expression, and heroic spiritual power. Ichikawa Ebizō II was the name adopted by Ichikawa Danjūrō II after 1735, while Ichikawa Danjūrō IV continued the lineage during the middle eighteenth century.
Print History
The original design was created by Torii Kiyomasu II, an important artist of the Torii school, which specialized in kabuki signboards, advertisements, and actor prints. The Tokyo National Museum preserves an original example under collection number A-10569-733. The supplied image is a later reprint marketed by Fuji Arts rather than the eighteenth-century museum impression.
Cultural Context
The identification of Ichikawa actors with Fudō Myōō was reinforced by the Danjūrō family's Naritaya stage name and devotion to Naritasan Shinshōji, whose principal image is Fudō. Kabuki audiences could therefore read the central figure simultaneously as a Buddhist deity, a theatrical role, and a declaration of the Ichikawa lineage's spiritual and dramatic authority. Meguro Fudō, Ryūsenji, was also one of Edo's most prominent Fudō pilgrimage sites.
Series Context
The image is associated with the face-showing production Arigatashi Yunzei Genji at the Nakamura-za in November 1755. The detailed plot is poorly documented, but surviving prints connect the production with prominent actors and supernatural or heroic roles.
Known Variants
The original is a limited-color benizuri-e. Later carved or mechanically reproduced versions may differ significantly in paper, pigments, outlines, scale, registration, and inscriptions. The supplied impression has a muted tan ground and color scheme consistent with a later decorative reprint rather than an untouched 1755 impression.
Collection History
The original design is represented in the Tokyo National Museum collection as A-10569-733. From the collection of Zetsu Nawa.
Relevance to Kinbaku
The print does not depict a person tied or immobilized, but it is highly relevant to the broader cultural history of rope symbolism in Japan. Fudō's coiled lasso represents binding, capture, moral discipline, and compassionate rescue. It provides a religious counterpoint to penal, theatrical, criminal, and erotic uses of rope elsewhere in the Kinbaku Research Platform.
Historical Connections
Fudō's lasso belongs to a long Buddhist iconographic tradition in which binding can be beneficial rather than punitive. The rope subdues harmful passions, prevents spiritual wandering, and draws beings toward enlightenment. This demonstrates that Japanese visual meanings of rope extended far beyond arrest or torture and included protection, conversion, obligation, and salvation.
Iconographic Connections
The rope is prominently displayed as a neatly coiled implement in Fudō's raised hand, paired with the sword in the opposite hand. Together they represent two complementary forms of power: cutting through ignorance and binding what resists instruction. The flames, rock throne, muscular actors, and dramatic poses reinforce the association between restraint and overwhelming sacred authority.
Interpretive Cautions
No human figure is visibly bound, captured, suspended, or tortured. The lasso is a Buddhist attribute and should not be described as erotic bondage equipment or evidence of historical kinbaku technique. The supplied object is also a later reprint, so its physical production should not be confused with the original 1755 benizuri-e impression.
Research Value
The work broadens the study of kinbaku by documenting a major premodern religious meaning of rope. It supports comparison among sacred binding, judicial arrest, theatrical captivity, ritual tying, practical restraint, and modern erotic rope. It is particularly useful for analyzing how the concept of binding could signify both domination and compassionate guidance.
Themes
Subjects and Keywords
Sources
- Tokyo National Museum, ColBase: The Actor Ichikawa Ebizō as the Fudō Myōō at Meguro with Ichikawa Danjūrō and Nakamura Denkurō, collection number A-10569-733 — Confirms the original design, title, Torii Kiyomasu II attribution, Ichikawa Ebizō, Ichikawa Danjūrō, Nakamura Denkurō, and eighteenth-century date.
- Tokyo National Museum: Ukiyo-e and Fashion in the Edo Period exhibition checklist, Arigatashi Yunzei Genji: Meguro Fudō Myōō — Confirms the Japanese title, the three actors, attribution to Torii Kiyomasu II, and classification as an eighteenth-century actor print.
- Kabuki21: Kabuki Play Titles: Arigatashi Yunzei Genji — Documents the play title, romanization, Nakamura-za venue, and premiere in the eleventh month of 1755.
- Kotobank, Kabuki and Jōruri Title Reading Dictionary: Arigatashi Yunzei Genji — Confirms the Japanese reading, authorship attribution, first performance date, and Nakamura-za venue.
- Naritasan Shinshōji: The form and attributes of Fudō Myōō — Explains that Fudō's sword represents wisdom cutting through delusion and his rope binds destructive passions and guides beings toward correct teaching.
- National Diet Library: Meguro Fudōson, Ryūsenji — Provides historical context for Meguro Fudō as one of Edo's major Fudō pilgrimage sites.
- Art Institute of Chicago: Torii Kiyonobu II artist record and comparative Torii-school actor prints — Provides institutional context for eighteenth-century Torii-school actor-print production and the visual culture surrounding the supplied design.
- Fuji Arts: Fudō Myōō, inventory 610976 — Provides the supplied comparison image and identifies the physical object as a fine old woodblock reprint. The category attribution to Kiyonobu II conflicts with the signature and Tokyo National Museum attribution to Kiyomasu II.
