Gender Variance and Sexualities in Ukiyo-e [浮世絵] - Crossdressing [女方] Kabuki [歌舞伎] Actors and the Supernatural

The Actors Ichimura Uzaemon IX as Hata no Daizen Taketora Disguised as the Yakko Matahei (right), and Iwai Hanshiro IV as Umegae Disguised as the Poem-Diviner Omatsu (left), in the Play Mukashi Otoko Yuki no Hinagata, Performed at the Ichimura Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1781

“Act II, Scene 5: At the Opera in Paris,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki

The Actor Yamashita Kinsaku II as a Thunder Goddess in the Play Onna Narukami, Performed at the Morita Theater in the First Month, 1770

Onoe Kikugorō V as Otowake Neko no ke (Right), Bandō Mitsugorō IV as Aishō Michinoku (Center), Onoe Kikugorō V as Isogai Mibunosuke (Left) in the Kabuki play Tōkai Kidan Nekomata Yashiki

Kabuki Actor Segawa Kikunojō III in a Female Role

Kabuki Actor Onoe Kikugorō III as the Spirit of the Courtesan Yonakishii

“Act II, Scene 2: Along Train Tracks in America,” from the series The Strange Tale of the Castaways: A Western Kabuki