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Sanjo Kantaro II in the Role of Urashima Taro
Also known as: The Actor Sanjo Kantaro; The Kabuki Actor Sanjō Kantarō
About the Artwork
Sanjo Kantaro II was a Kabuki actor who specialized in playing youths (wakashu) and female roles (onnagata). He is shown here in the role of Urashima Taro. He rescues a tortoise, and as a reward, the tortoise carries him to the undersea palace of the Dragon King. He believes he has spent but three days there with the Dragon King's daughter; however, when he returns to the shore, he finds 300 years have passed. The actor holds a fishing pole, indicating his occupation as a fisherman. The upper portion of the painting contains a 31-syllable waka poem.
Inscriptions
Nihon giga Kaigetsudō Ando kore [o] zu [su]. 【印】 安度; 31-syllable waka poem inscribed on the upper portion of the painting.
Provenance
?–1961: (Harry C. Nail [1909–1990], El Dorado, Arkansas, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1961–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Japanese Decorative Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art (August 30-October 15, 1961); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (November 9-December 17, 1961). Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961). Ukiyo-e Prints and Paintings: The Primitive Period. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (November 4-December 26, 1971). Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984). Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2004-April 10, 2005).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Kaigetsudō Ando (Japanese, c. 1671–1743)
- Date
- early 1700s
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions
- Painting only: 105.7 x 59.4 cm (41 5/8 x 23 3/8 in.); Including mounting: 189.2 x 64.7 cm (74 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Credit line
- Dudley P. Allen Fund and various donors, by exchange
- Accession no.
- 1961.41
More by Kaigetsudō Ando in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009492
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