Edo period (1603–1868) Homma Museum of Art Collection
These dolls illustrate part of the third act of the kabuki play “Dan-no-ura Kabuto Gunki.” It tells the story of the aristocratic Heike warrior Taira no Kagekiyo, who plots revenge against the Minamoto clan after the fall of his family. In this scene, we see Akoya, an entertainer in the pleasure quarters of Kyoto, and mistress to Kagekiyo. She is being made to play the koto (Japanese zither), and interrogated to discover if she was telling the truth about her lover’s whereabouts.
Specially commissioned for an unknown adult patron, the dolls representing Akoya, the warrior Kajiwara Heizo Kagetoki, and the samurai Hatakeyama Shigetada have superbly sculpted facial expressions. The construction of the zither is also excellent.