The Actor Nakamura Utaemon IV as the Wrestler Iwakawa Jirokichi

The Actor Nakamura Utaemon IV as the Wrestler Iwakawa Jirokichi

Shunbaisai Hokuei 春梅斎北英

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The flamboyantly garbed sumo wrestler, played by the famous Utaemon IV, is drawn from a scene of the Kabuki play The Rise of the One Thousand Ryō Wrestler (Sekitori senryō nobori). Yet the character was not competing in a normal sumo match, but rather one held by patrons of two rival wrestlers, each of whom hoped to raise enough money to ransom a courtesan from an Osaka brothel.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Actor Nakamura Utaemon IV as the Wrestler Iwakawa JirokichiThe Actor Nakamura Utaemon IV as the Wrestler Iwakawa JirokichiThe Actor Nakamura Utaemon IV as the Wrestler Iwakawa JirokichiThe Actor Nakamura Utaemon IV as the Wrestler Iwakawa JirokichiThe Actor Nakamura Utaemon IV as the Wrestler Iwakawa Jirokichi

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.