MADURA MSBL-7801









This picture is the work depicted by Toshusai Sharaku, one of the most popular ukiyo-e printers in Japan. The name of the character on the picture is Otani oniji, and “Yakko” is a manservant often used by samurai to perform violent deeds. The character is a performer on the Kabuki stage, and his hateful appearance shows that he is trying to assault ruffians with groping outstretched hands.
Toshusai Sharaku is widely considered to be one of the great masters of the woodblock printing in Japan. Little is known of him in detail, other than his ukiyo-e prints. Nobody has found any documents or infomation about his true name or the date of his death. His active career as a woodblock artist seems to have spanned just ten months, from middle 1794 to early 1795, but he depicted as much as 150 works during the short term.