Leiter S.L. Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre

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KUBI • 201

and voluminous hitatare robes, and they chant while beating a drum.

wakamai remains only in Setaka, Fukuoka Province.

KOWAKARE. ‘‘Child separation’’ scenes in bunraku and kabuki (see

also WAKARE) that depict a mother’s anguish on parting from her

young child. Famous examples are in ‘‘Shigenoi Kowakare’’ (Koi

Nyo

bo Somewake Tazuna), ‘‘Kuzunoha no Kowakare’’ (Ashiya

man O

uchi Kagami), and Heitaro

Sumika’’ (Sanju

sanken-do

Munagi no Yurai), the latter two featuring supernatural mothers. The

parting is often accompanied by an emotional kudoki passage.

KOWARI. A musical notation in jo

ruri script that is used to signal a

threatening melody. See also GIDAYU

BUSHI.

KOYAKU. In bunraku, puppet heads for ‘‘children’s roles,’’ aged 4 to

12. There are girl and boy varieties, and they require only two pup-

peteers, the omozukai and the ashizukai.

In kabuki, koyaku are the children’s role and their actors. Most

actors debut as koyaku, some as infants carried on by their fathers.

There are numerous children’s roles in plays and dances, and a small

number of pieces occasionally given in summertime performances

where the children of stars play all the adult roles. A good example

is ‘‘Seizoroi no Ba’’ (Aotozo

shi Hana no Nishiki-e).

Stars’ children generally play the featured koyaku, while the chil-

dren of lesser-ranking actors play animals and various minor roles,

such as the homely students in ‘‘Terakoya’’ (Sugawara Denju Tena-

rai Kagami). Such secondary roles are dakoyaku. Children’s roles

are often the inspiration for scenes of extreme pathos. Scenes of chil-

dren being separated from their parents (kowakare), freezing in the

snow, being murdered before their eyes, or being used as sacriﬁcial

victims (see MIGAWARI MONO) a r e po werful te ar je rk er s. Kabuki

children follow strict conventions, speaking in a high-pitched sing-

song and moving in a manner resembling puppets.

KUBI.

‘‘Heads’’ are important bunraku and kabuki properties,

seen

kubi jikken scenes or when someone must be decapitated. They may

be ﬁnely car ved wooden specimens, even modeled after actual

actors, or clearly artiﬁcial ones, perhaps simply a red cotton ball,

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202 • KUBI JIKKEN

as in fanciful aragoto plays like Shibaraku. See also PROPERTIES:

BUNRAKU AND KABUKI.

KUBI JIKKEN. ‘‘Head inspection’’ scenes in bunraku and kabuki,

which typically are climactic moments of high drama and suspense.

A samurai with a secret connection to the person whose head he is to

inspect for its authenticity must do so while not giving away the

head’s identity while at the same time expressing some powerful

emotion regarding the person who has died (or for whom the victim

has been substituted). Others present have much at stake riding on

the outcome of the identiﬁcation.

Heads (kubi) are placed in cylindrical, tub-like, wooden boxes,

which are handled ceremoniously during the inspection. Famous

examples are in ‘‘Terakoya’’ (Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami,

‘‘Kumagai Jinya’’ (Ichinotani Futaba Gunki), and ‘‘Moritsuna Jinya’’

mi Genji Senjin Yakata). See also MIGAWARI MONO.

KUCHIBARI. The small pin protruding near the upper lip of bunraku’s

female puppet heads. The puppeteer allows the puppet’s sleeve or

hand towel (tenugui) to snag on the pin during emotional scenes,

which gives the impression that the character is biting on the cloth to

restrain her tears.

KUCHIDATE. The ‘‘improvisational’’ speaking based on a crude sce-

nario that dominated 17th-century kabuki prior to the formalization

of the playwright’s art. Even when plays came to be fully written,

improvisation persisted in certain scenes. See also SUTEZERIFU.

KUDOKI. Also sawari, a word with wide usage in sorrowful medieval

and Edo-period music and dance forms, including no

. In bunraku

and kabuki, it usually refers to the lyrical, aria-like ‘‘lamentation’’

scenes (Gerstle calls it ‘‘expression of love’’ [1990, 35]), replete with

highly theatrical weeping, performed with dance-like movements by

female characters to rhythmic gidayu

accompaniment in the kiri of

Act 3 in jidai mono as a declaration of love for a husband or child.

A famous example is when Shigenoi bemoans her long-lost child’s

having become a packhorse driver in ‘‘Shigenoi Kowakare’’ (Koi

Nyo

bo Somewake Tazuna). Another form of kudoki is a major section

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KUGUTSU • 203

of kabuki shosagoto where it suggests ‘‘entreaty’’ and is performed

to a jo

ruri accompaniment, as when Takiyasha in Masakado dances

before Mitsukuni as the chorus sings. As a narrative highlight, it is

equivalent to the monogatari for male roles.

Part of a kudoki’s power derives from the relatively few opportuni-

ties for traditionally reticent women to openly express their feelings.

Examples abound, as for example, Misao’s in ‘‘Amagasaki’’ (Ehon

Taiko

ki), when she berates her husband for his perﬁdy; and Chiyo’s

in ‘‘Terakoya’’ (Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami), when she bewails

the loss of her young child.

Anguished female lovers also use kudoki as an outlet for their feel-

ings. An example is Osato in ‘‘Sushiya’’ (Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura),

who vents her disappointment upon learning that the shop clerk she

loves, Yasuke, is actually the married warrior Koremori.

KUGEAKU. Kabuki’s ‘‘evil princes,’’ like Tokihira in Shibaraku and

Fujiwara Shihei in ‘‘Kuruma Biki’’ (Sugawara Denju Tenarai

Kagami). They are fantastical, larger-than-life, supernaturally power-

ful villains (kitakiyaku), their principal objective being to unseat the

emperor. They wear long wigs, tall gold crowns, voluminous robes,

and aiguma-style makeup. See also YAGUGARA.

KUGUTSU. Early Japanese puppet shows were originally called kairai

or kugutsu,andpuppeteers were kairaishi or kugutsu mawashi.

They seem to have come from the Asian mainland through Korea.

Late Heian period writings describe them as outcasts, unregistered

nomad-hunters. A notable description is in the Karaishiki (Chroni-

cles of the Puppeteers) by O

e Masafusa (1040–1111). By the 12th

century, they began to settle in prosperous post stations, establishing

roots in shrine and temple precincts. The womenfolk served as prosti-

tutes, while the men labored on behalf of the institution, for which

they performed as a way of attracting people to religious services.

Early puppets were hand operated and some may have been capable

of special effects. They had ritual signiﬁcance, which still survives in

certain rural shrine performances. They performed shor t, improvised

pieces, occasionally including obscene touches, based on stories

about their shrine’s origins or on miracles associated with the local

deity.

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204 • KUMADORI

Little is known of them between the 11th and 14th centuries. A

variety of puppet types appeared, many inﬂuenced by Chinese mod-

els. Among them were string puppets, water puppets, mechanical

puppets, etc. Some became standard features of festival ﬂoats, where

they still appear. See also EBISU KAKI.

KUMADORI. The highly stylized ‘‘painted shadows’’ makeup seen on

kabuki’s aragoto characters. Unlike Beijing opera’s face painting,

kabuki’s emphasizes the face’s musculature and does not obliterate

the features. Its origins, although disputed, are traditionally dated to

the introduction of aragoto by Ichikawa Danju

I in 1673, a date

now thought to more likely have been 1684 or 1685. It is believed to

have been derived from Chinese makeup, masks, or Buddhist statu-

ary. A major innovation was the technique of bokashi, the softening

of the lines, introduced by Ichikawa Danju

II. Kumadori patterns

are typically painted in red, black, or blue over a white base, although

other colors are also sometimes used. The actor uses both a brush

and his ﬁnger to apply and shade the lines. There are two main color-

based categories, beniguma, using red lines, and aiguma, using blue

lines.

There are numerous types still in use, such as ippon guma, mu-

kimi guma, nihon guma, suji guma, saru guma, etc. Some roles

wear kumadori on their bodies, including the limbs. Although

painted on the past, today’s actors wear padded tights (meriyasu)on

which the patterns have been dyed.

KUMO MAI. ‘‘Spider dances,’’ sideshow performances using challeng-

ing movements while walking on a tightrope. They played an impor-

tant role in ancient Japanese theatricals as far back as sangaku, and

entered kabuki in the days of wakashu kabuki, which included acro-

bats. By the Genroku period, such performances had become a spe-

cialty of young onnagata.

KURAI. The relative level of dignity accruing to a no

play, character,

or other performance element. Although in everyday use, this word

can be used to suggest social rank or standing, in no

its meaning is

more complex. Thus, an actor will speak of kurai when expressing

the level of dignity he brings to his performance of a speciﬁc charac-

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KUROGO • 205

ter, or his approach to playing that character. If he is playing the

lowly salt-gatherer Matsukaze, he will nevertheless seek to imbue

her with a high kurai because of the play and character’s poetic and

legendary associations. On the other hand, plays with highly ranked

characters, such as the female shite in Ukifune and Tama-Kazura,

who are mad from love, may be performed with a lower kurai.In

fact, the kurai in one part of a play may differ from that in another

according to the actor’s appro ach. This d emo nstr ates no

’s artistic

ﬂexibility but it is crucial to choose the correct kurai.

KURAI ZUKE. The ‘‘ranking’’ system for actors employed from 1688

in the annual kabuki yakusha hyo

banki of the Edo period. The rank-

ing was printed before the actor’s name, which was followed by his

mon. The early rankings were jo

-jo

-kichi (‘‘upper-upper-excellent’’),

(‘‘upper’’), and chu

(‘‘middle’’), but the rankings grew increas-

ingly complex over the years, eventually including such superlatives

as sanga no tsu sogei gashira (‘‘head of all arts in the three cities’’),

murai (‘‘peerl es s’’) , a nd kyoku-jo

-jo

-kichi (‘‘extreme-upper-upper-

excellent’’), etc. Several methods were used to suggest that, despite

a high ranking, the actor still had a bit to go; for example, one of the

characters might be written entirely or partly in outline form.

KURI. Also jo,ano

sho

dan of the utaigoto variety that consists of a

short song chanted in noncongruent rhythm in an upper range at the

highest pitch. It may be performed by a character or by the jiutai.

Those by the former come after a shidai or issei segment; those by

the latter before a sashi.

KURIAGE. A climactic kabuki moment when two characters challenge

each other in a rising crescendo: ‘‘saa, saa, saa’’ (‘‘well, well, well’’).

It culminates in their voices joining together on the last expletive.

KUROGO. Also kuronbo,

the ‘‘black boy’’ or ‘‘black clothing’’ stage

assistant

who helps kabuki actors and carries out various stage

duties. Dressed and hooded in black, he is considered invisible, and

he makes himself as inconspicuous as possible. Those who prompt

the actors belong to the kyo

genkata type. Kurogo may also be called

ken, although usually reser ved for formally dressed assistants.

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206 • KUROKAWA NO

Kurogo often wear blue garments (mizugo or namigo)forwater

scenes, and white ones (yukigo) for snow scenes.

KUROKAWA NO

. A festival-based amateur no

performance given at

Kasuga Shrine in the village of Kushibiki, Kurokawa, Yamagata Pre-

fecture, known for its closeness to folk ritual. It has a 500-year his-

tory of performances by local farmers and residents in honor of the

Kasuga Shrine deity. Performers come from a group of about 160

local inhabitants, old and young, and with access to 230 masks and

400 costumes. They perform a large repertory of both no

and kyo

gen

plays, staging them both at the Kasuga Shrine as well as at the Dewa

Hanzan Shrine during the Haguro Mountain Hana (Flower) Festival,

and at Tsuruoka Park during the yearly Shonai Shrine Festival.

KURO MAKU. The ‘‘black curtain’’ hung upstage in certain bunraku

and kabuki scenes to symbolize darkness and to mask parts of the

setting. See also MAKU.

KUROSHU. The notes written next to the written characters in the bun-

raku chanter’s text to help him in performance. His are in black

(kuro) while those of the shamisen player are red (shu). See also

GIDAYU

BUSHI.

KURUMA NINGYO

. ‘‘Carriage puppets,’’ a type of puppet theatre in

which, rather than the sannin-zukai system used in bunraku, each

puppet is manipulated by a single black-robed and hooded puppe-

teer seated on a small, specially constructed, solid wooden box to

which wheels are attached, two small ones in front and a large one

behind. A brake allows the box to stay in position without moving.

The puppeteer is secured to the box by a rope around his waist. The

puppets resemble those of bunraku and the plays are the same, but

fewer puppeteers are needed and the skills required of them are

extreme as they must operate the head, both arms, and the legs, the

latter being afﬁxed to their own. The concept was devised by Nishi-

kawa Koryuˆ I of Iruma, Saitama Province, in the 1840s as a cost-

cutting method. It was advanced by other performers who presented

it in Tokyo variety halls (yose) through much of the Meiji period.

Today it survives in the Tokyo suburb of Hachio

ji. Since the mid-

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KYO

GENKATA • 207

1970s, some performances have been accompanied by female chant-

ers and shamisen players.

KUSEMAI. A no

sequence in which a character chants (utai)and

dances the history of a person or place. Its introduction into saru-

gaku by Kan’ami Kiyotsugu—who had learned it from the kusemai

performer Otozuru—was a major step in the evolution of early no

He applied the rhythm of the popular kusemai to the already existing

kouta songs performed in no

. Kusemai’s original nature is only

vaguely known but it was an established way of performing narrative

material, including a rhythmic dance accompanied by a drum. It was

a pure chant and dance method, divorced from imitative acting

(monomane). Zeami notes that Kan’ami learned kusemai from the

women performers of Kaga (in Nara) and ﬁrst used it in Jinen Koji.