Shini-e
# Shini-e

Shini-e (死絵, "Memorial prints"), also called "death pictures" or "death portraits", are Japanese woodblock prints, particularly those done in the ukiyo-e style popular through the Edo period (1603–1867) and into the beginnings of the 20th century.

When a kabuki actor died, memorial portraits shini-e were conventionally published with his farewell poem and posthumous name.

Memorial portraits were created by ukiyo-e artists to honor a colleague or former teacher who had died.

## Gallery

* Hiroshige by Kunisada, 1858
* Kunisada by Toyohara Kunichika, 1864
* Iwai Hanshirō VIII, by Toyohara Chikanobu 1882
