# Kabuki Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Yakko Edobei

**Tōshūsai Sharaku** (Japanese)  
1794  
Woodblock print; ink, color, and white mica on paper  
15 x 9 7/8 in. (38.1 x 25.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, JP2822. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37358).

## About this work

The actor Ōtani Oniji III glares out as Edobei, a villainous retainer, his hands thrust forward with fingers splayed like claws and his mouth clamped in a grimace, against a glittering mica ground. The print is one of the best known by Tōshūsai Sharaku, a mysterious designer who produced around 140 actor prints in about ten months in 1794–95 and then vanished from the record. His bold, close-up portraits exaggerated actors’ features towards caricature, and their unflattering honesty may help explain why his career was so short.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Tōshūsai Sharaku designed this in 1794. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Colour woodblock print.** In Japan these were a team effort. The artist drew the design, a carver cut it into cherry-wood blocks, one block for each colour, and a printer brushed on the pigment and rubbed each sheet by hand. Full-colour prints of this kind were called nishiki-e, “brocade pictures”, from the 1760s on.

### [Tōshūsai Sharaku](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/toshusai-sharaku)

Japanese

Sharaku remains one of the puzzles of Japanese art. Within about ten months in 1794–95 he designed some 140 portraits of kabuki actors for the publisher Tsutaya Jūzaburō, then disappeared from the record. His early bust portraits, set against dark mica grounds, exaggerate features and expressions with startling frankness. His identity is still debated, though many scholars favour a Noh actor named Saitō Jūrōbei.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Prints
- Culture: Japan
- Real size: about 15 × 10 in (38 × 25 cm). The 11 × 14 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Movement: [Ukiyo-e](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/ukiyo-e)
- Subjects: Men, Actors
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/883.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/883/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/kabuki-actor-otani-oniji-iii-as-yakko-edobei-met-37358).