A Celebration of Bravery

In Japan, firefighters were lionized as protectors of the city and its residents, and audiences never tired of dramatic portrayals of firefighters and their adventures. These are the rightmost two sheets of a set of seven portraying Kabuki actors dressed as firemen. Their exposed arms show tattoos, popular among firemen during the Edo period (1603–1868). In the background are standards (matoi), a form of placard, representing the various brigades that protected the city of Edo, today’s Tokyo. On the left is Mo portrayed by the actor Bandō Hikosaburō V (1832–1877), and on the right Se by Nakamura Shikan IV (1830–1899).