Celebrating the Marriage of Fujikawa Kaho

This surimono celebrates the moment when the young woman Fujikawa Kahö 藤川花方 left her home to begin her own life in marriage. The authors of the many poems on the print include a veritable who’s who of Kabuki actors. After all, Kahö was the daughter of the head of one of the most famous Kabuki dynasties in Osaka. While the family was no longer active on the Osaka stage, another possibility for the weighted participation by the actors is that Kahö was marrying a Kabuki actor.

The imagery found in the print suggests the occasion: cherry blossoms, a symbol of spring, appear on a wooden court fan, that in turn is placed on an kimono hanging from a lacquered kimono stand. This thick, elaborate robe, called a uchikake kimono, alludes to the type of wedding attire Kahö will wear in her upcoming marriage.

On the bottom register, in an inscription and farewell poem, Kahö announces her name change from Ogino Senka. With a mixture of fear and happiness, she speaks of her youth and inexperience over her upcoming separation from her family. This poem is perfectly paired with that of her mother, who likewise writes of the bittersweet parting. The father’s poem, like many of the others, contains a wordplay on the character "flower," a part of the daughter’s new name.