Actor Bandō Hikosaburō V as the Sumo Wrestler Onigatake Dōemon

This is a collaborative work between Utagawa Kunisada, who designed the portrait, and Miyagi Gengyo, who was responsible for the background. On the right is a wooden board inscribed with a poem by the actor Bandō Hikosaburō V (1832–1877), who is portrayed here as the wrestler Onigatake Dōemon, one of the main characters in the play “Champion Sumo Wrestlers Victorious in Two Generations” (Sekitori nidai no shōbuzuke), performed at the Nakamura Theater in 1861. The plot is about a wrestler who is poised to intentionally lose a bout to rescue his lover from prostitution.