Original Japanese color woodblock print "Bunraku Theater Stage Set for " Natsumatsuri Naniwa Kagami" (The Summer Festival in Naniwa), by artist Hasegawa Sadanobu III (1881–1963) in 1926. From his series titled The Illustrated Collection of Famous Japanese Puppets of the Osaka Bunrakuza.
As originally issued, this print is complete with its tissue overlay showing the outlines of three puppet characters as they appear on stage.
The play, written by Namiki Senryū (aka Namiki Sōsuke), Miyoshi Shōraku and Takeda Koizumo and first staged in August 1745 in Osaka. The story is based on a murder by a fish dealer that occurred in Osaka Nagamachiura (the current Nipponbashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka City) in the winter of 1698.
The tissue is intact, but shows creases, as photographed.
Print attached to black matte, print measures 14 3/8" x 9 3/4"
