kabuki【歌舞伎】

The creation of kabuki is ascribed to Okuni, a female attendant at the Izumo Shrine, who, documents record, led her company of mostly women in a light theatrical performance featuring dancing and comic sketches on the dry bed of the river Kamogawa in Kyōto in 1603. Her troupe gained nationwide recognition and her dramas−and later the genre itself−became identified as “kabuki,” a term connoting its “out-of-the-ordinary” and “shocking” character.

The strong attraction of onna (women's) kabuki, which Okuni had popularized, was largely due to its sensual dances and erotic scenes. Because fights frequently broke out among the spectators over these entertainers, who also practiced prostitution, in 1629 the Tokugawa shogunate (1603−1867) banned women from appearing in kabuki performances. Thereafter, wakashu (young men's) kabuki achieved a striking success, but, as in the case of onna kabuki, the authorities strongly disapproved of the shows, which continued to be the cause of public disturbances because the adolescent actors also sold their favors.

In 1652 wakashu kabuki was forbidden, and the shogunate required that kabuki performances undergo a basic reform to be allowed to continue. In short, kabuki was required to be based on kyōgen, farces staged between Nō plays that used the spoken language of the time but whose style of acting was highly formalized. The performers of yarō (men's) kabuki, who now began to replace the younger males, were compelled to shave off their forelocks, as was the custom at the time for men, to signify that they had come of age. They also had to make representations to the authorities that their performances did not rely on the provocative display of their bodies and that they were serious artists who would not engage in prostitution.

In the 1660s a broad platform, the forerunner of the hanamichi in use today, extending from the main stage to the center of the auditorium, was introduced to provide an auxiliary stage on which performers could make entrances and exits. In 1664 two theaters located in Ōsaka and Edo (now Tōkyō) introduced the draw curtain, which brought unlimited theatrical possibilities to the previously curtainless stage by permitting the lengthening of plays through the presentation of a series of scenes and providing the freedom to effect complicated scene changes unobtrusively. In the meantime the roles played by the onnagata (female impersonator) gradually increased in importance; mastery of them came to require many years of training. By the mid-17th century, the major cities, Kyōto, Ōsaka, and Edo, were permitted to build permanent kabuki playhouses.

During its formative years important elements from other theatrical forms−particularly kyōgen, Nō, and the puppet theater−were introduced. The strongest single influence came from kyōgen, which, by government fiat, had served as a model for reorganizing the basic structure of the kabuki theater. By introducing the dialogue, acting techniques, and realism of kyōgen, kabuki developed from a variety show featuring dance and music into a new form of drama. The kabuki stage was originally derived from the Nō stage, although later modified by the addition of the draw curtain and the hanamichi in the 17th century and the abandonment of the distinctive roof in the 18th century. Many Nō plays were also adapted for performance as kabuki. The simple texts borrowed from Nō, kyōgen, and early jōruri (narratives recited during bunraku puppet plays) were gradually supplanted by works written for the kabuki stage. The plots became longer and more involved, the number of roles increased, and their staging became more complicated. By 1673, Ichikawa Danjūrō I (1660−1704; see Ichikawa Danjūrō) had made his debut on the stage of the Nakamuraza in Edo. He created the aragoto (“rough-business”) plays, which featured courageous heros who displayed superhuman powers in overcoming evildoers. Danjūrō I's portrayal of these bold, masculine characters defined and established a taste for these plays among the townspeople of Edo.

By the beginning of the Genroku era in 1688 there had developed three distinct types of kabuki performance: jidai-mono (historical plays), often with elaborate sets and a large cast; sewa-mono (domestic plays), which generally portrayed the lives of the townspeople and which, in comparison to jidai-mono, were presented in a realistic manner; and shosagoto (dance pieces), consisting of dance performances and pantomime. In the Kyōto-Ōsaka (Kamigata) area, Sakata Tōjūrō I (1647−1709), whose realistic style of acting was called wagoto, was enormously popular for his portrayal of romantic young men, and his contemporary Yoshizawa Ayame I (1673−1729) consolidated the role of the onnagata and established its importance in the kabuki tradition. For a period of some 10 years until about 1703, when he returned to the puppet theater, Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653−1724) wrote a number of kabuki plays, many of them for Tōjūrō I, which gained public recognition for the craft of the playwright. The commanding stage presence and powerful acting of Danjūrō I made him the premier kabuki performer in Edo, and as a playwright, under the name Mimasuya Hyōgo, he was once considered the rival of the great Chikamatsu.

The spectacular success of kabuki in the Kyōto-Ōsaka area during the late 17th century was followed by a period of diminished popularity due to the flourishing of the bunraku puppet theater. In the years following the departure of Chikamatsu, maruhon-mono (kabuki adaptations of puppet plays) were staged in an attempt to draw back the spectators who were now flocking to the puppet theater. The musical and narrative accompaniment of the puppet plays was transported to kabuki performances, and even stage techniques of bunraku, such as the distinctive movement of the manipulated dolls, were imitated by kabuki actors. Chikamatsu's Kokusen'ya kassen (1715), an early example of the maruhon-mono, enjoyed tremendous success in both the Kamigata area and in Edo when it was performed soon after its presentation as a puppet play. The works of later writers which are considered masterpieces in both theaters include: Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (1746), Yoshitsune sembon-zakura (1747), and Kanadehon chūshingura (1748). In Edo, despite the growing popularity of the bunraku theater, kabuki remained in the ascendancy due to the undiminished power of the Ichikawa Danjūrō family of actors and the regional preference for the aragoto style of performance, which was not suited for the puppet stage. Nevertheless the tight logical structure of the puppet plays and their realistic character portrayal eventually influenced the Edo kabuki theater. After enjoying immense success during the first half of the 18th century, the puppet theater rapidly declined in the Kamigata area, and kabuki recaptured the support of the townspeople. Today, half of the plays presented on the kabuki stage are adaptations of bunraku plays.

After the mid-17th century, the cultural center of Japan gradually shifted from the Kamigata region to Edo. During this transitional period, one of the more notable Kamigata playwrights was Namiki Shōzō I (1730−73; see Namiki Shōzō), best known as the inventor of the revolving stage (mawaributai). It was a pupil of Shōzō I, the dramatist Namiki Gohei I (1747−1808; see Namiki Gohei), along with Sakurada Jisuke I (1734−1806; see Sakurada Jisuke), who was instrumental in transmitting the social realism traditionally associated with the sewa-mono (domestic plays) of the Kyōto-Ōsaka area to Edo. Their plays laid the foundation for the development of the realistic kizewa-mono (“bare” domestic plays) written by Tsuruya Namboku IV, Segawa Jokō III (1806−81; see Segawa Jokō), and Kawatake Mokuami.

During the 18th century, the rise of the Tokiwazu (see Tokiwazu-bushi) and Tomimoto schools of narrative and music and the Edo school of nagauta (songs accompanying dances, sung to the music of the shamisen) enriched kabuki performances. In the early 19th century, the Kiyomoto (see Kiyomoto-bushi) school flourished at the expense of the Tomimoto school, which rapidly declined. The first half of the 19th century was the golden age of kabuki music and was accompanied by the spectacular growth of the dance-oriented dramas, shosagoto.

After the death of Namboku IV in 1829, kabuki did not produce any prominent playwrights until the mid-1850s, when Jokō III and Mokuami began to write for the theater. Their early successes, embellishments on the genre kizewa-mono −the masterpiece of which had been Tōkaidō Yotsuya kaidan (1825) by Namboku IV− intermingled brutality, eroticism, and macabre humor and introduced characters from the underworld. Mokuami created the shiranami-mono (thief plays), which had robbers, murderers, confidence men, and cunningly vicious women in the leading roles.

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 marked the collapse of the social order ruled by the samurai, whose loss of status was symbolized by a ban on the wearing of swords and by government discouragement of the continued wearing of topknots. During the early years of the Meiji period Mokuami developed the zangiri-mono (“cropped-hair” plays), which introduced soldiers dressed in Western-style uniforms and onnagata characters wearing Western dresses. These dramas were little more than caricatures of modern life and failed to draw audiences. Actors such as Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (1838−1903) and Onoe Kikugorō V (1844−1903; see Onoe Kikugorō) urged the preservation of classical kabuki, and in the later years of their careers agitated for the continued staging of the great plays of the kabuki tradition and trained a younger generation of actors in the art that they would inherit.

The immediate successors of Kikugorō V and Danjūrō IX, including Kikugorō VI (1885−1949), Matsumoto Kōshirō VII (1870−1949; see Matsumoto Kōshirō), and Nakamura Kichiemon I (1886−1954; see Nakamura Kichiemon), also worked to maintain the spirit and integrity of traditional kabuki. However, they also experimented with plays by writers who were not professionally affiliated with the kabuki theater and who wrote plays in the modern vernacular, freely incorporating elements that they had learned from the Western dramatic tradition, such as graphic realism and the detailed character study. Among writers associated with this shin kabuki (new kabuki) movement were Okamoto Kidō (1872−1939), Mayama Seika (1878−1948), Hasegawa Shin (1884−1963), and Kubota Mantarō (1889−1963).

In the postwar era the popularity of kabuki has been maintained and the great plays of the Edo period, as well as a number of the modern classics, continue to be performed in Tōkyō at the Kabukiza and the National Theater. However, offerings have become considerably shortened and, particularly at the Kabukiza, limited for the most part to favorite acts and scenes presented together with a dance piece. The National Theater continues to present full-length plays. The average length of a kabuki performance is about five hours, including intermissions. The roles once played by the great postwar actors Morita Kan'ya XIV (1907−75; see Morita Kan'ya), Ichikawa Danjūrō XI (1909−65), Nakamura Kanzaburō XVII (1910−88; see Nakamura Kanzaburō), Onoe Shōroku II (1913−89; see Onoe Shōroku), Onoe Baikō VII (1915−95; see Onoe Baikō), and Nakamura Utaemon VI (b 1917; see Nakamura Utaemon) are now performed by younger actors, such as Ichikawa Ennosuke II (b 1939; see Ichikawa Ennosuke), Matsumoto Kōshirō IX (b 1942), Nakamura Kichiemon II (b 1944), Bandō Tamasaburō V (b 1950), Kataoka Nizaemon XV (b 1944), and Nakamura Kankurō (b 1955). Dramas in which Tamasaburō V appears in the role of the onnagata and Nizaemon XV that of the leading man, or tachiyaku, are always well attended. Performances by kabuki actors in other theatrical genres and the broadcasting of kabuki on television have served to increase popular interest in the tradition. The adaptation for new-style theater (shingeki) and the avant-garde theater of kabuki plays by Tsuruya Namboku offers further evidence that the kabuki tradition continues to play a vital role in modern Japanese theater.

The kabuki theater often incorporates the prevailing moral notions of Tokugawa society as the mechanism upon which plots turn. For example, inga ōhō (law of retributive justice), a Buddhist notion, may result in the destruction of an evildoer or the bestowal of prosperity and happiness upon a long-suffering woman. The notion of mujō (the impermanence of all things), also derived from Buddhism, may be illustrated by the fall of a powerful military leader or the demise of a proud family. Certain ethical notions based on Confucian traditions, such as duty, obligation, and filial piety, may come into direct conflict with personal desires and passions, leading to a series of dramatic situations (see giri and ninjō).

The kabuki theater uses a draw curtain. It has broad black, green, and orange vertical stripes and is normally drawn open from stage right to stage left accompanied by the striking of wooden clappers. The curtain may also serve as a backdrop for brief scenes given before or after the performance on the main part of the stage. Kamite (stage left) is regarded as the place of honor and is occupied by characters of high rank, guests, and important messengers or official representatives. Shimote (stage right) is occupied by characters of low rank and members of a household; most entrances and exits take place on this side, usually by way of the hanamichi. A unique feature of the kabuki stage is the mawaributai, a circular platform that can be rotated to permit a second scene to be performed simultaneously with the scene already in progress or to dramatize a flashback.

Yakugara, or types of dramatic role, are determined on the basis of the personality, age, or social position of characters. Onnagata are assigned to such roles as housewife, samurai lady, heroic woman, and wicked woman. Within the rich repertory of kabuki plays, the roles of Agemaki in Sukeroku yukari no Edo-zakura and Masaoka, the loyal nanny in Meiboku sendai hagi, are regarded as among the most challenging. Standard male roles are virtuous hero, handsome lover, evil courtier, wicked samurai, and unscrupulous rake. Versatile performers sometimes play both male and female roles.

The dialogue in kabuki plays ranges from the extremely stylized to the intensely realistic. Generally jidai-mono contain more formalized speech and the sewa-mono more colloquial speech. In general, lines tend to be marked by a seven-five syllabic pattern (similar to that of classical Japanese poetry) and are delivered with a distinctive rhythm and tempo that is closely identified with kabuki. The tsurane, a long declamatory speech occurring in jidai-mono, effectively employs this rhythmic pattern. Maruhon-mono, kabuki adaptations from bunraku puppet plays, are in particular noted for their mellifluous lines in the seven-five pattern.

The powerful influence of a long theatrical tradition is graphically illustrated by kata (forms), the stylized gestures and movements of kabuki performers. Since kata are not subject to rejection at the whim of the actor, they have helped to maintain the artistic integrity of kabuki. Tate (stylized fighting), roppō (dramatic exit accompanied by exaggerated gestures), mie (striking an attitude), and dammari (silent scene) all belong to this category. The performing of kata occurs more often in jidai-mono, which deal with members of the warrior class and in which larger-than-life action is always expected, but sewa-mono also contain instances of kata in the apparently casual movements of actors as they walk, speak, or sit.

Costume, wig, and makeup are carefully matched with the nature of a role. In general, the costumes in jidai-mono are more stylized and elegant, befitting members of the nobility and the samurai class. By contrast, the prevailing fashions of society at large during the Edo period are portrayed quite realistically in sewa-mono plays. The costumes used in shosagoto dance pieces are especially noted for their color, design, and workmanship. Wigs are classified according to age of characters, historical period, social status, occupation, and other considerations. Makeup varies widely depending on the role. The most striking example is kumadori, an established set of masklike makeup styles numbering about 100 and used in jidai-mono.

In addition to the regular performers, the kōken (stage assistant) serves a valuable function on the stage. He is especially important in dance pieces. During the demanding hayagawari (quick costume change), the kōken must carefully follow the movements of the dancer, all the while remaining close behind him, and at the crucial moment assist in the hikinuki (“pulling out”), by which a layer of clothing is quickly removed revealing a costume of different pattern and color. The kōken is also known as kurogo (“black costume”) since he is often dressed all in black.

Each performer belongs to an acting family by whose name he is known. Professionally, he is part of a closely knit hierarchical organization, headed by one of the leading actors, and must spend many years as an apprentice. An actor may eventually receive a new name as a mark of his elevation to a higher position within the professional organization. It is awarded at a shūmei (name-assuming) ceremony, and in the company of his colleagues he then delivers from the stage an address (kōjō) in which he requests the continued patronage of the audience. The name Ichikawa Danjūrō, which can be traced back to the formative years of kabuki, is regarded even today as the most illustrious of honors a kabuki actor can receive. In 1985 Ichikawa Ebizō X (b 1951) became Danjūrō XII at a shūmei ceremony held at the Kabukiza, which was reported with considerable fanfare in the popular press. For synopses of individual kabuki plays see Aoto-zōshi hana no nishiki-e; Kagamijishi; Kanadehon chūshingura; Kanjinchō; Kenuki; Kokusen'ya kassen; Kuruwa bunshō; Kyō-ganoko musume Dōjōji; Meiboku sendai hagi; Narukami; Sanja Matsuri; Shibaraku; Soga no taimen; Sonezaki shinjū; Sugawara denju tenarai kagami; Sukeroku yukari no Edo-zakura; Tsumoru koi yuki no seki no to; Ya no ne; Yoshitsune sembon-zakura; Yo wa nasake ukina no yokogushi.