“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki

“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki

Adachi Ginkō

An item at Metropolitan Museum of 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.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki

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.