The Japanese term for ukiyo-e prints portraying kabuki actors is yakusha-e.
Yakusha-e means “actor pictures” and describes prints showing performers, characters, and scenes from kabuki theater. These images were especially popular in Edo, where theater districts attracted large audiences and actor portraits functioned much like celebrity publicity. Prints could identify a performer through facial features, costume, pose, or written inscriptions.
Many yakusha-e were designed by artists associated with the Utagawa school, including Utagawa Toyokuni and Utagawa Kunisada. Some prints show actors in dramatic mie poses, while others depict full scenes or paired portraits. The category is distinct from bijin-ga, which centers on beautiful women, and musha-e, which depicts warriors. Because kabuki performances could be short-lived, yakusha-e also provides historians with visual evidence about actors, roles, costumes, and theatrical fashions.