1796
ink
paper
From the collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art
二代中村野塩|The Actor Nakamura Noshio II, in Female Role, Holding a Shakuhachi (Bamboo Flute) is a 1796 ink by Katsushika Hokusai, a Japonisme work, depicting Actor, held at Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This print shows a man in a blue and orange outfit standing outside a building. He’s holding a round fan in one hand and a bamboo flute in the other. His hair is styled in a tall black topknot, and he’s wearing a sword at his side. The background has a simple wooden fence and a tiled roof. The man is dressed like a woman—this was a common role for male actors in old Japanese theater. The bamboo flute he holds is called a *shakuhachi*. Look up flut to see how this instrument fits into Japanese music.
Katsushika Hokusai spent his life in Edo, now Tokyo, where he drew and carved prints for a living.
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