◎「Strolling Minstrels」（Signed "Mei (Tan) Jōdō Ishikawa Shūha Toyonobu zu," with two seals reading "Ishikawa uji" and "Toyonobu"; publisher's seal of the Urokogataya/ Õ-ōban Benizurie/Important Art Object)

◎The term "strolling minstrels" carries overtones of pathos and refers to wandering street musicians who begged from door to door, hiding their faces with parasol-like straw hats. Kabuki ac- tors in the mid-18th century made a hit with contemporary theatrical fans by adapting the minstrel costume to heighten the pathetic mood of certain stage scenes.

Crests identify the actor with the bowed instrument as Onoe Kikugorō and the shamisen player as Nakamura Kiyosaburō. These two actors performed together at the Ichimura-za in Kayou Kami Chidori Soga (Soga Paying Love Visits like the Plover) in January, 1750, with Kikugoro in the role of Kichiza and Kiyosaburō as Yaoya Oshichi. Evidently the scene depicts a lovers' flight in the disguise of strolling minstrels.

This master design by Toyonobu (1711-1785), with its rose-and- green color harmony in perfect preservation, is one of the great works remaining from the early period of the ukiyoe-print art.