Hana no sodegasa (Floral sleeves as the woven hats) is a kurohon kusazoshi that was published in the second half of the 18th century. Kusazoshi is a type of small book printed by woodblock containing many illustrations. It was popular from the latter half of the 17th century to the end of the 19th century. The pictures sprawl across the pages and the text fills the remaining space. Kusazoshi were one of the pastimes of Edo people (Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1868), and they have been called a progenitor of today's manga culture. Kusazoshi with a black cover were called kurohon (black books). Many of them tended to be theatrical. This work in two volumes contains the words from 12 nagauta (literally \"long songs\") and depicts dances. A form of premodern traditional Japanese music that is closely associated with Kabuki, nagauta use the shamisen and song to enliven scenes and stories. Records indicate that all 12 songs included here were being performed in theaters in Edo during the 18th century, when the work was published. As some of the songs are no longer performed, the document is a valuable record of nagauta pieces from the middle of the Edo period. The people depicted are not male Kabuki actors, but female dancers. The tsunogaki (two-lined subtitle) contains the words zashiki butai (staged in a Japanese-style drawing room), so they may have been okyogenshi, female dancers who performed in the zashiki of the palaces of daimyo (feudal lords). The hand-colored pictures, which depict the costumes and details of the stage props extremely delicately and beautifully, convey the strong interest of Edo people in entertainment.(en)
