安達吟光画　第二番目狂言　 漂流奇譚 　西洋劇 　三幕目　アメリカ鉄道の場|“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki

Adachi Ginkō

1879 · Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; vertical ōban · Asian Art

Ginkō depicts a scene from a contemporary Kabuki play—conceived as a flamboyant showcase of all things Western—by the noted playwright Kawatake Mokuami (1816–1893). The central subject, the actor Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, is portraying a Japanese sailor who, after being shipwrecked in the United States, is traveling by train and is attacked by two Native Americans who have derailed the steam locomotive. For Japanese print artists, there was no template for depicting Native Americans, and Ginkō’s representations evoke both Buddhist religious art, in which demons are represented with red skin, and stereotypical images of Native Americans created by white Americans and Europeans.

Artist

Adachi Ginkō

Date

1879

Medium

Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; vertical ōban

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Bequest of William S. Lieberman, 2005