In the context of Bust portrait of Actor Kataoka Ichizō I, discuss the Medium of the Print details.
Kamigata-e [上方絵] is the term used to collectively describe ukiyo-e prints from Kamigata, the Osaka and Kyoto regions. The earliest documented examples are from a book illustrated by Ōoka Shunboku [大岡春卜] (1680-1763) published 1746. The most popular subject for kamigata-e was kabuki theatre, with single sheet yakusha-e coming into production in the mid-eighteenth century, a full century after the genre debuted in Edo.
The major technical difference between Edo and Kamigata prints is the latter's use of kappazuri stencil printing, where colours were brushed onto paper with the aid of paper stencil patterns. This developed in Osaka around the same time as nishiki-e appeared in Edo. Also distinctive about kamigata-e is that its producers were not professional artists like their Edo counterparts. Instead, they were talented amateurs whose artistic interests were secondary to their passion for kabuki and its actors.
kamigata Edo ukiyo-e kabuki Kamigata nishiki-e Kyoto kappazuri Osaka