A Celebration of Actors (Yakusha mono iwai)

Ryūkōsai Jokei 流光斎如圭

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Illustrated by the pioneering Osaka painter and print artist Ryūkōsai, this two-volume set comprises woodblock-printed portraits of forty-nine Kabuki actors of the day, each with their own poem. Books like this helped establish a visual code by which fans could identify favorite actors, through facial characteristics and crests on their costumes. On the last page of each volume is a table of the actors with their stage clan names (yagō) and haiku pen names (haimyō).

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art