Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

Although at first glance a depiction of Daruma, this print is another product of the Tempo reforms, when depictions of actors were forbidden. The rules were however being blatantly flouted as this print actually alludes to a performance by Nakamura Utaemon IV (here disguised as Daruma) in 1848 of the play Takagi Oriemon budojitsuroku.
This print is done to imitate a hanging scroll [kakemono] and Robert Schaap notes that it may have been a cheap alternative for one.1

1. Robert Schaap, Heroes and Ghosts (Amsterdam, 1998), p.161