# Shunkōsai Hokushū

Japanese

Hokushū was the leading designer of kabuki actor pictures in Osaka in the 1810s and 1820s. Osaka designs of this kind, often commissioned by actors’ fan clubs, favoured close, intense portraits and lavish finishes, including metallic pigments. Working chiefly in the large ōban format, he recorded the city’s star actors in their celebrated roles, among them the great Nakamura Utaemon III.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

3 works in the collection.

- [Kabuki Actors Asao Yūjirō as Sano Genzaemon and Ichikawa Ebijūrō I as Miura Arajirō, in the play Keisei Sano no Funabashi](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/kabuki-actors-asao-yujiro-as-sano-genzaemon-and-ichikawa-ebi-met-76556), Shunkōsai Hokushū, 1822. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- [Bandō Mitsugorō III as Daihanji Kiyozumi and Arashi Koroku IV as Koganosuke](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/bando-mitsugoro-iii-as-daihanji-kiyozumi-and-arashi-koroku-i-met-76558), Shunkōsai Hokushū, 1821. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- [Kabuki Actor Nakamura Utaemon III as the Sword Master Kyōgoku Takumi, from the series Issei ichidai atari Kyōgen (Hits of a Lifetime of Kyōgen)](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/kabuki-actor-nakamura-utaemon-iii-as-the-sword-master-kyogok-met-76560), Shunkōsai Hokushū, 1825. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.