Leiter S.L. Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre

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INTRODUCTION • 21

relatively healthy. A principal concern, however, is whether the number

of chanters being trained is sufﬁcient to supply the need that will clearly

arise in the not too distant future.

BRIEF HISTORY OF KABUKI

In 1603, the same year in which Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Toku-

gawa shogunate in Edo—a military government that would rule Japan

until 1868—Izumo no Okuni, said to h ave been a shrine priestess

(miko) from the grand shrine at Izumo, began to perform with her

troupe in Kyoto, at Gojo

, Sanjo

, and Kitano Shrine, becoming an instant

hit with the populace. She dressed like a man in a priest’s black silk

surplice, wore a cruciﬁx at her breast, and beat a drum hanging from a

red cord slung about her neck while dancing the religiously based nen-

butsu odori. Stardom on her shoulders, she toured to Edo in 1607 and

gave a kanjin performance on the grounds of the shogun’s castle. By

1613, the form she created, okuni kabuki, was no longer heard from,

although there seems to have been an Okuni II.

It was quickly followed by the even more popular onna kabuki, fea-

turing the prostitutes of the Rokujo

Misuji-cho

brothel district. These

women, who used male names like Murayama Sakon, dressed like men,

and became popular on a stage they built in the dry riverbed of Kyoto’s

Kamo River at Shijo

. Financed by the brothels, they performed using

the shamisen, which was all the rage, decorated the stage with tiger and

leopard skins, earned fabulous amounts of money, and were inundated

with fans. In 1615, the Tokugawa ﬁnally put an end to its lingering

rivals, the Toyotomi clan. With Tokugawa rule no longer challenged,

the increasingly hedonistic populace became avid seekers o f earthly

pleasure in a culture that came to be called the ‘‘ﬂoating world’’ (ukiyo)

because of its ‘‘gather ye rosebuds’’ point of view. However, things got

out of hand by 1629, and the government passed a law to proscribe onna

kabuki.

It was followed by wakashu kabuki. Performances by handsome

youths had been around for some time, but with the banishment of

actresses, the young men began to play female roles. Groups of beauti-

ful young actors led by Murayama Sakon and Ukon Genzaemon came

to the fore and were adored by the third shogun, Iemitsu, who even had

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22 • INTRODUCTION

them perform for him at Edo Castle. However, in 1651, Iemitsu died

and, the following year, wakashu kabuki, too, was banned. The theatre

sur vived by developing yaro

kabuki, which held sway for 30 years.

This new twist on kabuki performance required that the actors shave

their glamorous forelocks (maegami) and that only adult males (yaro

)

could perform. The era’s great contribution was the appearance of out-

standing actors who specialized as women, the onnagata, among them

Ito

Kodayu

I (1649–87) and II (?–1689), Itoyori Gonzaburo

(called the

founder of onnagata acting), Sanjo

Kantaro

, Takii Sansaburo

, Tama-

gawa Sennosuke, and Tamamura Kichiya, etc. Even after he turned 40,

Sennosuke continued playing you ng women wit h lon g sle eves (furi-

sode), but it was during this time that actors of female roles abandoned

their emphasis on sensuality and began to concentrate on acting artistry.

In 1664, another milestone was passed when the practice of produc-

ing brief dances and one-acts (hanare kyo

gen) was replaced by multi-

act plays (tsuzuki kyo

gen). Plays grew more complex and interesting

plot variations were introduced. T heat rica l produ ctio n als o beg an to

develop as the ﬁrst draw curtain (hikimaku )wasinstalledin1664.

More good actors appeared and spectators began appreciating kabuki as

a dramatic medium.

The Genroku period (1688–1704) technically lasted 16 years

although its spirit is generally considered to cover the 1680s through

the 1720s. It was kabuki’s ﬁrst major period of artistic development.

The Kamigata region (Osaka and Kyoto) and Edo gave birth, respec-

tively, to the contrasting theatrical styles of wagoto and aragoto. At the

heart of Kamigata culture were the novels of Ihara Saikaku (1642–93),

the music of bunraku chanter Takemoto Gidayu

, the dramatic art of

Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and the acting of Sakata To

juˆro

I (1647–

1709), brilliant artists who appeared one after the other. From early on,

spectators grew familiar with the pattern of shimabara kyo

gen, light-

hear ted plays about dashing young men frequenting the cour tesans

(keisei) of the Shimabara brothel district. In the increasingly complex

plots, respectable middle-class men would fall in love with courtesans;

these men would be disinherited and forced to suffer a decline in their

positi on (see YATSUSHI). The a ctin g sty le th at evolved t o repre sent

such romantic characters later was called wagoto; it was exempliﬁed by

juˆr

’s

acting.

Meanwhile, less than a century after Ieyasu had established the Toku-

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INTRODUCTION • 23

gawa shogunate, Edo had rapidly developed into a major metropolis.

While Kamigata was known for its sedate, old-world character, there

was a vigorous atmosphere in the energetic young boomtown of Edo,

populated as it was with so many samurai; it gave rise to a cult of hero

worship expressed in the aragoto style created by Ichikawa Danju

(1660–1704) in the role of the superboy, Sakata Kintoki, son of super-

man Sakata Kinpira, who inspired the violent ko jo

ruri puppet theatre

called kinpira jo

ruri. Danju

was murdered in the theatre by another

actor, Ikushima Hanroku, in 1704. His artistic rival, To

juˆro

, died ﬁve

years later. Danju

II succeeded to his late father’s name at 16 and rose

to fame, reﬁning the aragoto style while also excelling at wagoto and

becoming the leader of Edo kabuki.

Other great Kamigata actors of the time included the onnagata Yo-

shizawa Ayame (1673–1729), who played love interests opposite

juˆro

, the villain (katakiyaku) specialists Kataoka Nizaemon I

(1656–1715) and Fujikawa Buzaemon (1632 –1729), the comic actor

(do

kegata) Kaneko Kichizaemon (?–1728), and the onnagata da nce

genius Mizuki Tatsunosuke (1643–1725). In Edo, there was the great

romantic star Nakamura Shichisaburo

I (1662 –1708), the aragoto

actor Nakamura Denkuro

(1662–1713), and the villain specialist Yama-

naka Heikuro

(1642–1724). Playwrights included Tominaga Heibei

(?–?) and Chikamatsu Monzaemon in Kamigata, while Nakamura Sei-

zaburo

and Mimasuya Hyo

go (pen-name of Danju

I) were the leading

dramatists in Edo.

The Genroku period was ruled over by the ﬁfth Tokugawa shogun,

Tsunayoshi, under whom the nation remained at peace, commerce pros-

pered, and life in general was upbeat; consequently, there was a ﬂour-

ishing of culture and the arts. Kyoto and Osaka could not keep pace

with Edo’s progressive spirit, whose essence was captured by the bold-

ness of aragoto. Common to both the Kamigata and Edo theatrical

styles together , tho ugh, was a common founda tion of beau ty, w hich

also informed woodblock prints, architecture, tools and utensils, and

clothing, as well as dance and song. Often, the word ‘‘eroticism’’ (iroke)

used

to describe the era as well, but Genroku culture also encapsu-

lated the charm of elegance, as in the art of To

juˆro

and Ayame.

In the post-Genroku years, from Kyo

(1716–36) through Ho

reki

(1751–64), Edo boasted such stars as Danjuˆro

II (1688–1758) and IV

(1712–78), Sawamura So

I (1685–1756), and Onoe Kikugoro

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24 • INTRODUCTION

(1717–83), while Kamigata idolized Anegawa Shinshiro

I (1685–

1749), Nakayama Shinkuro

(1702–75), Segawa Kikunojo

I (1693?–

1749), and Nakamura Tomiju

I (1719–86). In 1714, shortly before

the Kyo

era commenced, the Ejima-Ikushima incident occurred, in

which a lady of the shogun’s court was caught dallying with the hand-

some kabuki star, Ikushima Shingoro

; it led not only to the banishment

of the scandalous pair but to the ofﬁcial closing of the Yamamura-za,

reducing Edo to three major theatres (o

shibai), known collectively as

the edo sanza. Remaining were the Nakamura-za in Sakai-cho

,the

Ichimura-za in Fukiya-cho

, and the Morita-za in Kobiki-cho

During the Kyo

era, hit plays produced by the puppets began to be

adapted by kabuki, starting with Chikamatsu’s Kokusenya Kassen in

1717, when it was produced by each Edo theatre. In 1724, a year after

Chikamatsu died, the puppets introduced a collaborative playwriting

system (gassaku), and the plays drifted from a literary orientation to an

increasingly theatrical one. Great plays like Kiichi Ho

gen Sanryaku no

Maki, Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki, and so on, were quickly absorbed

by kabuki. From 1746 to 1748, the ‘‘three masterpieces’’ of bunraku,

Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami, Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura,and

Kanadehon Chu

shingura, were produced, all by the same trio of drama-

tists, and all soon became staples of the kabuki repertory. Kabuki’s rep-

ertory, fed by these puppet plays (maruhon mono) expanded greatly.

In addition to this infusion of kabuki with gidayu

bushi, the music

of the puppets, other major musical inﬂuences were being felt. Among

the

Kamigata

styles of shamisen music that transferred to Edo was

bungo bushi, heard at the Ichimura-za in 1732, where its suggestive

qualities drove the fans wild. It also inspired new hairdos and clothing

that became enormous fads. When large numbers of young people

began committing love suicide or running away from home, bungo

bushi was blamed and it was proscribed. The disciples of this music

split into separate independent styles, such as tokiwazu bushi, tomi-

moto bushi, kiyomoto bushi,andshinnai bushi, which became

extremely important in kabuki over the years to come. Thus, in addition

to the preexisting lyrical style of nagauta, kabuki now came to pos-

sess—in addition to gidayu

bushi—various narrative musical styles (jo

ru-

ri) deriving from bungo bushi; this led to a signiﬁcant expansion in the

dance play (shosagoto) repertory. Other major advances in dance

included the shift from onnagata-centered works to those in which a

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INTRODUCTION • 25

player of male roles (tachiyaku) starred, beginning with works like Seki

no To, featuring Nakamura Nakazo

I (1736–90).

There was considerable interchange between Kamigata and Edo. In

the 1790s, Sawamura So

III (1753–1801) came to Edo with the

playwright Namiki Gohei I (1747–1808) and starred in Godairiki Koi

no Fu

jime, enormously inﬂuencing the E do ap proa ch to playwritin g

and the arrangement of a kabuki program. By this point, nearly 200

years after the Edo period had begun, kabuki reached a stage of perfec-

tion, but its once-youthful drive had begun to diminish and a period of

stagnation was looming.

The Bunka (180 4– 18) a nd Buns ei (1 818–30) per iods covere d the

ﬁrst third of the 19th century. They were periods of over-ripeness and

decadence. The dominant playwright was Tsuruya Nanboku IV

(1755–1829). Nanboku IV introduced the new kizewa mono genre of

drama, in which lower-class urban society was sharply etched with

graphic realism, and also pioneered the subgenre of kaidan mono in

which angry ghosts, mainly female, sought revenge on their former tor-

mentors. Nanboku’s masterpiece, which is both kaidan mono and

kizewa mono,isTo

kaido

Yotsuya Kaidan.

The new century reveled in trick effects (shikake) and special effects

(keren), in clud ing rap id costume changes (hayagawari), and ﬂying

through the air (chu

nori); there were also realistic love scenes (nure-

goto), tor ture (semeba), and b loodthirstiness. Actors f amed for the ir

keren skills included Onoe Sho

roku I (1744–1815), Onoe Kikugoro

III (1784–1849), and Matsumoto Ko

shiro

V (1764–1838). In 1840,

Ichikawa Danju

VII (1791–1859) starred in Kanjincho

, ka

buki’s

ﬁrst matsubame

mono, as mentioned above. Actors were revered now

not for specialization as much as for versatility, as witness the rage for

henge mono dance plays in which a single actor performed from three

to 12 differing roles. (These exist today mainly as single scenes, not

multiple-role works.) Exemplars were Bando

Mitsugoro

III (1775 –

1831) and Nakamura Utaemon III (1778–1838). The art of onnagata

specialization was represented by stars such as Iwai Hanshiro

(1776–1847) and Nakamura Utaemon IV (1798–1852).

Danjuˆro

VII’s other accomplishments included the ﬁrst compilation

of an acting line’s hits in the 18-play kabuki ju

hachiban. Later, many

other stars would do the same for their family art (ie no gei).

From the 1850s until the early 1890s, the chief provider of important

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26 • INTRODUCTION

plays was the proliﬁc Kawatake Mokuami (1816–93), who formed a

bridge between the Edo and Meiji periods. In the 1850s, he came to

prominence in an outstanding collaboration with the actor Ichikawa

Kodanji IV (1812–66). Mokuami established the new genre of zangiri

mono, in which the Western inﬂuence on modern life in Tokyo (includ-

ing the absence of the male top knot) was reﬂected, and katsureki

mono, in which, beginning in 1878, kabuki’s traditional liberties with

historical truth were altered to reﬂect a new concern for archaeological

accuracy (although the plays were considered dull). Other innovations

included his popular plays about romantic bandits (shiranami mono).

With the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the Tokugawa regime was over-

thrown, Edo became Tokyo, the emperor moved there from Kyoto, and

Japan began to rapidly modernize under the onslaught of the Western-

inﬂuenced slogan, ‘‘Civilization and Enlightenment.’’ In 1841, follow-

ing ﬁres at the Nakamura-za and Ichimura-za, Edo’s kabuki theatres had

been forced by the Tenpo

reforms to move from their traditional loca-

tions to the new Saruwaka-cho

district on the city’s outskirts, in Asa-

kusa, near the Yoshiwara brothel district. They remained there until

1872, when producer Morita Kanya XII (1846–97)—aware that busi-

ness would be better in central Tokyo—moved the Morita-za to Shin-

tomi-cho

. In 1875, he renamed his theatre the Shintomi-za and, when it

was rebuilt in 1878, after a ﬁre, it ushered in a new age of Western-

bas e d the a t re ar ch it ec tu re, g as lighti ng , a nd progre ss ive perform an ce

practices. The opening was notable for having the entire company

appear on stage in morning coats. The ‘‘Shintomi-za age’’ signaled a

sharp break with many traditional methods. Kanya mingled with impor-

tant politicians and bureaucrats, who saw the pedagogical value of

kabuki, and whose inﬂuence greatly helped elevate its cultural status.

The most signiﬁcant event in this regard was the 1887 tenran geki

performances, in which kabuki was performed for the imperial family

and the government’s highest ofﬁcials, as well as foreign dignitaries.

This was a remarkable turnaround in a society where, only a couple of

decades earlier, kabuki actors were treated with contempt as ‘‘riverbed

people’’ (kawara mono).

In 1889, the Kabuki-za, the theatre that became Japan’s foremost

kabuki venue opened (the current version, dating from 1951, is the

third). Actors who appeared there in its early days were kabuki’s great-

est, including Ichikawa Danju

IX (1838–1903), Onoe Kikugoro

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INTRODUCTION • 27

(1844–1903), and Ichikawa Sadanji I (1842 –1904). Kabuki reeled

when these stars died within a span of two years. Gaining favor at the

same time was the rising new form of politically oriented theatre called

shi shibai, which came to be known as shinpa and represented the

ﬁrst serious threat to kabuki’s existence. Helping to restore faith in

kabuki was a new generation of actors, including Ichikawa Chu

sha

VII (1860–1936), Nakamura Utaemon V (1860–1940), Onoe Baiko

VI (1870–1934), Ichimura Uzaemon XV (1874–1945), and Matsu-

moto Ko

shiro

VII (1910–82) among others in Tokyo, while Kamigata

produced Kataoka Nizaemon XI (1857–1934) and Nakamura Ganji-

I (1860–1935). Reform-minded stars included Ichikawa Sadanji II

(1880–1940) and Ichikawa Ennosuke II (1886–1963). Rising young

stars included Nakamura Kichiemon I (1886–1954) and Onoe Kiku-

goro

VI (1885 –1949). The Shintomi-za lost its former glor y, and,

beginning in the Taisho

era (1912 –26), the chief theatres were the

Kabuki-za and the Teikoku Gekijo

(Imperial Theatre), built in 1911

as the ﬁrst fully Western theatre in Japan. Also maintaining popularity,

because of the youthful rivalry there between Kikugoro

VI and Kichie-

mon I, was the Ichimura-za.

In 1910, kabuki witnessed a major shift toward modern commercial

methods of producing when the Sho

chiku corporation of Kamigata,

founded in 1902, invaded Tokyo’s theatrical world and, by the mid-

1920s, had all kabuki actors under its management.

The Taisho

era witnessed something of an artistic rebirth as a number

of new plays with literary values were created for kabuki in the style

called shin kabuki originated at the turn of the century by Tsubouchi

Sho

(1859–1935). The movement was in the hands of playwrights

who, unlike the system that prevailed until nearly the end of the 19th

century, were not resident at particular theatres. Later, after World War

II, there were new tendencies in kabuki playwriting, most radical being

the super kabuki in

ired by revolutionar y actor-director Ichikawa

Ennosuke III (1939–).

Kabuki survived such major disasters as the Kanto

ear thquake of

1923 and World War II. In the postwar period, its acting traditions were

passed on through the artistry of Onoe Baiko

VII (1915–95), Onoe

Sho

roku II (1913–89), Ichikawa Danju

XI (1909–65), Nakamura

Utaemon VI (1917–), Matsumoto Ko

shiro

VIII (1910–82), and

Nakamura Kanzaburo

XVII (1909–88). Over the years, several

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28 • INTRODUCTION

groups of actors splintered off from Sho

chiku’s management, such as

those contracted to the To

company, but they usually returned to

Sho

chiku. One that did not was the still active Zenshin-za, a left-wing

troupe that arose in 1931. The approximately 250 actors not in the Zen-

shin-za b elong to a protective organization called the Nihon Haiyu

Kyo

kai (Japan Actors’ Association).

In 1928, kabuki made its ﬁrst foreign tour, performing in Russia, with

Sadanji II as the star. The next major tour was in 1955, when Ennosuke

II took a troupe to China. In 1960, kabuki toured to the United States,

and since then international tours have become rather frequent. In addi-

tion to Ennosuke III, who is clearly the most innovative of modern stars,

several other leading actors continue to seek new ways of making it

interesting to 21st-centur y audiences. Most prominent (and popular)

among them is Nakamura Kankuro

V (1955–), who recently began

producing plays with innovative touches and in spaces designed to re-

create the intimate relationship of actors and audiences in 19th-century

Edo kabuki. Another positive development has been the revival of inter-

est in Kamigata area kabuki, largely through the work of actors like

Ganjiro

III and Nizaemon XV. Young stars, like Onoe Kikunosuke V,

Onoe Sho

roku III, and Ichikawa Ebizo

XI, have created large fan bases

that keep young audiences interested in kabuki. Also interesting is the

increasing number of performances given in old shrine and farm the-

atres, re-creating the conditions of premodern kabuki.

Problems facing kabuki include the excessive reliance on the most

popular plays, which are produced repeatedly to the neglect of more

difﬁcult, older plays that need revivals; the dependence on a star system

favoring around 25 major actors out of a corps totaling around 290, and,

because of a privileging of seniority over ability, the failure to give

more opportunities to lesser-known actors while more familiar actors

keep being cast in important secondary roles; a change from the stable

attendance ﬁgures of the past to one that increasingly reﬂects program-

ming and casting choices; and the loss of company group ticket sales

as a result of economic woes. Still, kabuki continues to be respected

worldwide as one of the great classical arts of Japan, and, ironically,

one of the most inﬂuential on the modern theatres of Western nations.

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The Dictionary

ABURA TSUKI. A kabuki wig worn by many samurai in jidai mono

and known for its pomaded (abura) back hair (tabo), pressed close

to the nape of the neck. It is contrasted with the baglike fukuro tsuki

worn in sewa mono.

ACTORS. The traditional word for actor in Japan, dating to the time of

Zeami, is yakusha. No

, kyo

gen,andkabuki actors are yakusha,

although the word haiyu

—the Chinese-derived pronunciation of

another word for actor, wazaogi—came into use for kabuki actors in

the 1880s, when kabuki’s respectability quotient was rising, because

haiyu

had more social status than yakusha.Allno

performers are

yakusha, including the musicians (hayashikata; see HAYASHI) and

chorus members (jiutaikata; see JIUTAI). Those who play the char-

acters are maikata, but they are best known by the category in which

they specialize: principal actors are shitekata (see SHITE), and sec-

ondar y actors are wakikata (see WAKI). Kyo

genkata play kyo

gen

roles in both no

and kyo

gen,whilekyo

genshi me an s prof essional

kyo

gen actor. For the musicians, fuekata are fue pla

yers; kotsuzumi-

kata are kotsuzumi pla

yers (see KOTSUZUMI AND O

TSUZUMI);

tsuzumikata are o

tsuzumi players; taikokata are taiko players. Tsure

and ko

ken are either shitekata or wakikata. Ko kata and jiutaikata

belong to the ranks of shitekata. Wakikata, hayashikata, and kyo

gen-

kata are known as the san yaku (‘‘three roles’’) to differentiate them

from shitekata.

Actors of one category never perform in another. Performers, how-

ever, often do study other arts as part of their training, and may even

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30 • ACTORS

perform them in amateur recitals. All actors belong to one of the

schools of no

or kyo

gen specializing in their performing art. See also

KEIKO; WOMEN IN NO

Actors in Japan’s classical theatres are renowned for the preserva-

tion and continual polishing of their art through its transmission to

each new generation of performers. Although bunraku chanters only

rarely pass their art on to sons, the system in no

, kyo

gen, and kabuki

favors family transmission. When appropriate blood relatives do not

exist, promising actors are adopted from among other actors’ fami-

lies; sometimes—but not typically—they come from families outside

the tradition. This is the basis of kabuki’s ie no gei system.

It is very difﬁcult for actors not born or adopted into traditional

families to become prominent. This is par ticularly true in kabuki,

which maintains a feudalistic hierarchy. See also HAIYU

KAIKYU

During the Edo period, no

and kyo

gen actors were under the pro-

tection of the shogunate (see SHIKIGAKU)butkabuki actors and

bunraku puppeteers were considered ‘‘riverbed beggars’’ (kawara

kojiki) and were often the butt of ofﬁcial p roscriptions on their

behavior, as witness the banning of onna kabuki and wakashu

kabuki in the 17th century, or the banishing of Ichikawa Danju

VII from Edo in the 1840s.

By and large, the performers in the four major forms of traditional

Japanese theatre are male. Women have become active in present-day

and kyo

gen but they are mainly amateur, although there are a few

professionals. There have been attempts in modern times to reintro-

duce actresses to mainstream kabuki but none has lasted. The per-

formance of female roles by male actors has considerably different

conventions in no

, kyo

gen,andkabuki, the latter being by far the

most realistic. In the past, specialists in this kind of acting even lived

like women offstage.

Although there are well-known no

and kyo

gen actors,

these

forms

have only rarely contributed stars who became public idols. The

more commercialized kabuki, on the other hand, has always favored

the star system; its stars’ names are familiar even to those who never

saw a kabuki play. The intimate relationship between kabuki actors

and their fans has always been illustrated by large groups of f ans

(renju

) who support their favorites, even shouting out (kakegoe)

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