20 Utagawa Kunisada 1786 – 1865 Fujisawa: Bandō Takesaburō I as Oguri Hangan

from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)
publisher: Iseya Kanekichi

The actor Bando Takesaburo I (1813–1860) is depicted in the role of Oguri Hangan, a legendary hero from a medieval Japanese epic of chivalry, loyalty, and miraculous rebirth. The scene is set at the Fujisawa station, with the Enoshima Shrine visible in the background — a motif closely associated with this region.

Kunisada masterfully combines dramatic kabuki portraiture with lyrical landscape elements, achieving a refined balance between theatrical intensity and poetic calm, characteristic of his late-period style of the early 1850s.