The actor playing the role of Ashikaga Yorikane (足利頼兼) is easily
identifiable because his robe is often decorated either with
sparrows or bamboo and sparrows combined. The pairing of these
two elements is used on the crest (mon - 紋 or もん) of the Date
clan. However, this motif does not always guarantee the absolute
identification of this figure because we have seen a Kuniyoshi
with a beautiful woman standing on a beach and wearing clothing
with the same design. Perhaps this is an obtuse allusion to
Yorikane, but at this point proving it is beyond our
scholarship. Students of art history are familiar with such
iconographic short cuts: a man on a cross is usually Jesus
(イエス); a man being barbecued on a grill is St. Lawrence
(セントローレンス); a man studiously reading with a docile lion lying
nearby is St. Jerome (サンジェローム); a woman standing by a wheel with
blade like spikes coming out of it is St. Catherine of
Alexandria (セントカサリン.アレグザンドリア) and so on. Similar cues can be
found in both sacred and profane Asian art. John W