Recently our library acquired a couple of wooden printing blocks that were used during the Edo Period (1603-1868). One of these, featuring a kabuki actor named “Matsumoto Koshiro,” forms part of the Japanese Theatre Collection and is held in the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute. Dated roughly from the 18th century, the object measures 165 x 340 x 20 mm and is double-sided, with the main image carved on the obverse, and a background and outline carved on the reverse.
Matsumoto Koshiro is a stage name that has been held by a distinguished line of kabuki actors since the early 18th century. Based on the carving of “Toyokuni-e” on the upper right side of the obverse, it is believed that one of Utagawa Tokyokuni’s skilled disciples created the original illustration upon which the wooden block carvings are based.
This wooden block also bears a mark of censorship: a seal (kiwame-in) carved onto a “wood plug” (ireki, 入木) that was inserted into the block to indicate it had been approved by censors.
The carving on the reverse provides an outline for Matsumoto’s figure, a rigid shape in the background to frame his body, and a small added detail to the hilt of his sword. Both sides of the block feature kentô (or ‘pass marks,’ 見当) , carved corners that ensured the accurate registration of the woodblock image.
The image above shows a collage of four views of the block. In clockwise order, the top view reveals the main side, or obverse, of the printing block; the top right shows a close-up view of “Toyokuni e” carving on the obverse side; the bottom right shows the full reverse side of the printing block; and the bottom left provides a close-up view of one of two kentо̄ (carved corners) that ensured accurate placing of the block on the print.
The picture to the right shows a close-up view of the lower right-hand corner of the obverse where we can see the removable wooden plug (ireki) with the character for ‘approved’ (kiwame, 極). As part of woodblock printing industry of that time, inspectors (gyoji) selected among fellow publishers were responsible for reviewing the draft sketches to ensure that they were not offensive to the Tokugawa shogun. If they approved the draft, they marked the image, literally, with the seal of ‘approval’. Then, the engraver carved the design along with the seal onto wooden printing boards.
This kabuki printing block is one of two that are currently held in the Special Collections at the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. Stay tuned to hear more about the other wooden printing block, entitled “Sparrow in a Pine Grove” (“Suzume no Matsubara”), which was once used to print illustrated travel books in the late Edo period, circa 1800s-1868.