File:Print, surimono (BM 1906,1220,0.1342).jpg

Smith et al 1990

In the 5th month of 1849 Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII, the twenty-seven-year-old star of the Kabuki theatre, left the Edo stage to travel to Osaka for a reunion with his father Ebizō (Danjūrō VII), who had been banished from Edo during the repressive Tempō Reforms some seven years earlier. As a parting salute to their idol, members of two clubs of amateur 'haiku' poets - the Shimba and Uogashi clubs located in the fish market districts of Edo - sponsored this large, 'de-luxe'-edition print. To match the time of year, Kuniyoshi chose the subject of decorations for the Boys' Festival on the 5th day of the 5th month: a monster paper carp kite flying over a cloth banner painted with the bristling scarlet figure of Shoki, ancient Chinese queller of demons. As a tribute to the Danjūrō actor family, Shoki's face is transformed into a portrait of the exiled Danjūrō VII; perhaps the leaping carp - a symbol of manly perseverance - is intended to represent his son. Danjūrō VII's acting emblem was a curled lobster, and Taiwa, one of the poets, represents in his verse the wishes of all the fishmongers in the Nihonbashi area that their idol will return from exile:

Nibune no Nihonbashi Ebi o machikeri Waiting for the lobster boat Nihonbashi To come into port