Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳

At first glance, this triptych shows a group of Buddhist arhats, or beings that have achieved enlightenment. Accompanied by mythical creatures, most of the arhats have halos around their heads—a sign of their divine status. For Edo-period audiences, however, these figures were recognizable as actors of the day. In a time that the production of portraits of actors was banned, Kuniyoshi avoided censorship by cleverly disguising famous celebrities in Buddhist garb. The title too is a pun that alludes to beautiful men in brothels.  

This is a parody (mitate) of famous actors, some of whom were contemporary with Kuniyoshi, while others lived in much earlier times. The actors are shown dressed as the Buddha's sixteen disciples (Sanskrit: arhats; Japanese: rakan) and other figures. Since the Tenpo Reforms of 1841-43 forbade the representation of actors, it is possible that Kuniyoshi depicted the performers in a religious context as a simple means of circumventing these government regulations.