Shūhō: Young Beauty Dancing Hane no Kamuro

Artist: Yamakawa Shuho (1898-1944)
Title: Hane  no Kamuro 羽根の禿   Date: 1936-37

From a series of prints featuring dancers, we see a very young woman, perhaps an apprentice geisha (maiko), performing the dance Hane no kamuro. Her bright white face with downcast eyes stands out amidst the festive colors of her costume and the rather formidable headdress. There is a kabuki dance called Hane no Kamuro, and photos of those performances show a kabuki actor wearing a similar costume. The kabuki dance has the male actor playing the young girl (kamuro) who is playing with the battledore and shuttlecock (hane), from the traditional New Year’s game. There are also performances on YouTube that feature actual young girls performing this dance. The long sleeves of the kimono feature black handle-like accessories that attach to long streamers, which we see here on the dancer’s costume as well. In earlier times a kamuro was a young assistant to a courtesan who was in training for the profession. Shuho was primarily a painter, and he only designed a few woodblock prints. In the thirties he was known to have developed a keen interest in dance.

Dimensions: 43.8 x 30.3 cm 
Literature: See “Seven Masters” by Andreas Marks for an excellent biography of the artist (page 173). Signature: Shuho

SKU: YMS006