Rokyoku "Mori no Ishimatsu" : Tanaka

Hoshida, George [ bio ]

Description

4 drawings on paper, laminated (1 sheet) : ink ; top image 3.75 x 6 in., middle image 2.5 x 6 in., bottom left image 3.25 x 3.75 in., bottom right image 3.25 x 2.75 in., on sheet 9.5 x 6 in.

Ink drawings of men performing in a talent show on October 3, 1942, including storytelling, singing and a sword dance, with inscriptions in Japanese.
Top drawing numbered 4 is a wide view of stage with a man in a suit and glasses, Tanaka, standing behind a cloth covered podium reciting the famous Yakuza story, "Mori no Ishimatsu" ; Japanese characters on podium indicate it is a present from Tanaka Torazo. Heads of audience sketched in foreground ; curtains pulled aside on stage ; picture of pine on right.
Middle drawing numbered 5 of a man, Sakai, dressed in a cowboy outfit holding a stick with a horsehead in his proper right hand as he tells a comical story called "Cowboy". A bird sits on a stand between Sakai and a rectangular sign in Japanese characters. Backdrop shows large tree on left and a road and mountains in background ; picture of pine and sun on left.
Bottom left drawing numbered 6 of man, Hama, in glasses standing behind podium reciting a song he wrote called "My people in Alaska".
Bottom right drawing numbered 7 of a man, Sakurada, dressed in a hakama performing a sword dance ; fan in his proper left hand and a sword hangs at his waist.

Inscription
Written in black ink, top right corner: 10-3-42. Written in black ink on top image: 4 Rokyoku,"Mori no ishimatsu," Tanaka. Written in black ink on middle image: 5 Mandan "Cowboy" Sakai. Written in black ink on bottom right image: 6 Jisaku ka "Alaska - Waga doho." Written in black ink on bottom left image: Kembu "[unreadable] 3" Sakurada. Written in pencil, bottom left corner: 9.

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (hnrc@janm.org).