Utagawa Kuniyoshi/Utagawa Hiroshige
Production date:1844-47

This is the only collaborated work of Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi in this series. Hiroshige illustrated the Otsu-e, the pictures illustrated inside of the fan-shape frame on the upper part of the picture. Kuniyoshi illustrated the characters from a kabuki play “Keisei Hangonkou (The Courtesan Appears in the Smoke of Incense)”, Matabei and his wife. Matabei is a painter of Otsu-e, but he is not permitted to use his last name since he has a stammering symptom. In this scene, disappointed Matabei decides to commit a suicide but the miracle happens when he draws his self-portrait as his last work at a chouzubachi (a stone vessel used to rinse the hands). Because of his genius artistic talent, the picture moves the other side of the vessel and Matabei is finally permitted to use his last name.