THE FIRST KABUKI-ZA (1889-1911): Chapter 23. 1909 (Meiji 42)

Kabuki Woogie began in 2011 as a way to record a research trip to Japan I took on a Mellon Fellowship a year earlier. My day to day experiences on that trip, including videos and photos, can be found at the beginning of the blog. For the past couple of years, Kabuki Woogie has been used to post entries based on my research into the first Kabuki-za, Japan’s leading kabuki playhouse, founded in 1889, and still on the same site. It continues to be extremely successful, albeit after multiple reconstructions.

Samuel L. Leiter

Chapter 23

1909 (Meiji 42)

The Jiyū Gekijō  Is Born

[Note: This is Chapter 23 in a series devoted to the early history of the Kabuki-za (1889-1911). It is largely based on Vols. 1 and 3 of the Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi (A Hundred Year History of the Kabuki-za), edited by Nagayama Takeomi (1995). A team of 10 writers worked on that project although none are identified in the books for specific contributions.

Each chapter includes not only data on the Kabuki-za but information regarding each important theatrical development of the specific year, including non-kabuki genres such as shinpa, shingeki, and so forth. Also cited are the major cultural and political developments of each year, as well as notifications of the deaths of important figures, mainly theatrical but often from other fields as well.

Some material has been cut, some expanded, and other material has been added from different sources. Links are given selectively and usually only for items not so identified in previous entries. Prof. Kei Hibino of Seikei University offered helpful comments and answered translation queries during the preparation of this and all previous entries. Corrections and documented additions are always welcome.]

1. January and February

January was unusually active in the Kansai area theatre world, dominated by the rising Shōchiku producing company. For one thing, the Asahi-za, in Osaka’s Dōtonbori entertainment district, which Shōchiku had acquired the previous November, offered its first production under their aegis, with a troupe led by Jitsukawa Enjirō I (later Jitsukawa Enjaku II), Nakamura Naritarō I (later Nakamura Kaisha I), Arashi Rikaku IV, and Kataoka Gadō IV (later Kataoka Nizaemon XII). The Asahi-za thereupon became closely associated with Enjirō’s artistry. 

The Asahi-za. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi. 

Meanwhile, at the nearby Naka-za, there were name-changing celebrations for Ichikawa Udanji, who became Ichikawa Sainyū, and his son, Unosuke, who changed to Udanji II. And, at Kyoto’s Minami-za Nakamura Ganjirō’s second son, Hayashi Yoshio, became Nakamura Senjaku I. 

Osaka's Bunraku-za, in Yotsunobashi. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

In 1908 and 1909, the artistic rivalry of Kansai’s Jitsukawa Enjirō and Nakamura Naritarō excited as much interest as that between Tokyo’s Nakamura Kichiemon and Onoe Kikugorō.

On January 1, the rebuilt Kotobuki-za, a representative koshibai or minor kabuki theatre, reopened in Tokyo’s Honjo ward. On January 19, the great Kanze shite actor Umewaka Minoru died, aged 82.

In the literary world, January 1909 was important for witnessing the first issue of the new periodical Subaru (The Pleiades) and for the flourishing of the Pan no Kai writers’ club, mentioned in the previous chapter; it was grounded in the antinaturalistic theories of Kinoshita Mokutarō, Yoshii Isamu, Kitahara Hakushū, Takamura Kōtarō, and Ishikawa Takuboku. Their opposition was represented by Natsume Sōseki’s disciple, Morita Sōhei, who, having figured in a scandalous double suicide attempt the previous year, recounted it in his autobiographical novel, Baien (Smoke), which now began its serialization.

At the Kabuki-za, the year’s first production got underway at noon on January 14, the first piece being by Nagoya journalist Nakahara Shigetsu, Muneyuki Kyō (Lord Muneyuki), an Osaka Asahi Shinbun prizewinner. Then came the popular dance Shunkyō Kagami Jishi, which was followed by Sato no Harugi Azami no Ironui, one of several formal names for the fan favorite best known as Izayoi Seishin, whose romantically involved title characters were played here, respectively, by Onoe Baikō and Ichimura Uzaemon. Closing the program was the dance drama Kongen Kusazuri Biki.

Danjūrō IX’s daughters, Ichikawa Suisen and Ichikawa Kyokubai, were in the program, cast in Kagami Jishi in an unusual break from tradition. Normally, this piece is performed to display the virtuosity of a male actor who dances the court lady Yayoi in the first half, exits, and then reappears as the spirit of a raging lion. In this staging, however, Yayoi was played Suisen and the court page Haruji was taken by Kyokubai, with the lion danced in some performances by Ichikawa Komazō VII (later Matsumoto Kōshirō VII) and in others by Ichikawa Ennosuke I.

Regarding Muneyuki Kyō:

It was called a new work but little about it felt new, and the critics couldn’t put their fingers on what made it a thousand-yen play; it was universally panned. At any rate, famous artist Murata Tanryō’s well-researched sets and costumes were exquisite, and they made it worthwhile as a Kabuki-za script. [From Kimura Kinka, Kinsei Gekidan Shi: Kabuki-za Hen.]

There was so little movement overall in the play that someone teasingly called “sitting drama” (zageki). Ultimately, what stood out in the program was the romantic combination of Uzaemon’s Seishin, which he had learned in each detail from his late uncle Kikugorō, and Baikō’s sensually attractive Motome. Still, none of the program’s 25 days were sold out by the time it closed on February 7.

Nakamura Heizō III became the Kabuki-za’s lead nagauta singer this month, and Kineya Eizō became lead shamisen player. The lineup of kyōgen sakusha or “resident playwrights” at the Kabuki-za was now Enomoto Haritsu, Segawa Jokō, Takeshiba Kinsaku, Takeshiba Shōō, Takemoto Takaji, Takeshiba Kamesaburō, and Takeshiba Kōji.

In February, the Pan no Kai’s Renaissance man Kinoshita Mokutarō published his Nanbanji Monzen (Before the Christian Church). And a landmark moment in modern Japanese theatre occurred this month when Osanai Kaoru and Ichikawa Sadanji founded the Jiyū Gekijō (Free Theatre), which would have its premiere production in November.

February 1909 marked the seventh anniversary of the death of Kikugorō V, so his sons, Onoe Baikō, Kikugorō VI, and Onoe Eizaburō planned a memorial production (tsuizen kōgyō) in his honor. The initial plan was for a 10-day program sponsored by and featuring the family’s Otowaya guild, but producer Tamura Nariyoshi stepped in so that the Kabuki-za’s March program would do the honors for the great star. The family and the theatre would each share in the proceeds and thus allow the Kabuki-za’s resident leading actors to participate.

The idea was for Kabuki-za president Ōkōchi to advance the production funds, pay a percentage to the brothers, cover the salaries of the other actors, and use the profits to fund a bronze statue of Kikugorō V, with the program noting the brothers’ intentions alongside their names.

Nakamura Shikan V as Ofune, Ichikawa Ennosuke I as Tonbei in Shinrei Yaguchi no Watashi. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

The production opened at 1:00 p.m. on February 27, with a bill drawn from the standard repertoire. It began with Kagamiyama Gonichi Iwafuji (Mirror Mountain and the Latter-Day Iwafuji), Tsuruya Nanboku IV’s revision—further revised by Kawatake Mokuami in 1860—of the 1782 revenge drama Kagamiyama Kokyō no Nishiki-e, here titled Ume Yanagi Sakura no Kagazome (Kaga-Dyed with Plum Blossoms, Willows, and Cherry Blossoms). Baikō played Iwafuji’s ghost in the weird “Kotsuyose” (“Bone Assembling”) scene for the first time. In the next play, Baikō and Kikugorō appeared as sisters Miyagino and Shinobu in 1780’s Gotaiheiki Shiraishi Banashi, another revenge play. It was followed by Nakamura Shikan and Ichikawa Ennosuke in their first performances, respectively, of Ofune and Tonbei in Shinrei Yaguchi no Watashi, while the final piece starred Komazō and Danjūrō IX’s daughters, Suisen and Kyokubai, in the dance drama Tsumoru Koi no Yuki no Seki no To, usually called just Seki no To (The Barrier Gate).

Nakamura Shikan V as Onoe II and Onoe Baiko VI as the ghost of Iwafuji in Ume Yanagi Sakura no Kagazome. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

A model of the planned Kikugorō statue stood outside the Kabuki-za to boost audience interest. Half the profits from the 20-day run went to the three brothers, and it was decided to build the statue in Fukagawa Park. There was a feeling that Kataoka Nizaemon and Ichikawa Sadanji at the Meiji-za had been bested, enabling the Kabuki-za to boast for the moment of its relative success.

2. March and April 1909

On March 1, the Morinaga Company, founded in 1899, began selling chocolate. The same day, novelist Nagai Kafu’s book Furansu Monogatari (Tales of France) was suppressed while Kitahara Hakushū’s pathbreaking poetry collection Jashūmon (The Heretics) was published. On March 20, the famed Goryō Bunraku-za, Japan’s foremost puppet theatre troupe—with its star chanters Takemoto Setsunodaijō and Takemoto Koshijidayū, and puppeteer Kiritake Monjūrō—having been unable to overcome a downturn in business, was acquired by the rapidly rising Shōchiku Corporation. Also in March the magazine Nōgaku Gahō (Nō and Kyōgen Illustrated News) began publication.

The next Kabuki-za program was produced to honor the 300th death anniversary of renowned military hero Katō Kiyomasa (1562-1611), a supporter of Tokugawa Ieyasu. It opened on April 1. First up was Fukuchi Ōchi’s 1897 Otokodate Harusame Gasa, followed by Enomoto Torahiko’s new plays Seishō-kō (Kiyomasa’s Buddhist name) and Hana no Ueno no Homare no Ishibumi (A Stone Monument Beneath the Flowers of Ueno), with the closing piece being Masuda Tarōkaja’s comedy Nyōbō no Kokoroe (A Wife’s Rules).

Otokodate Harusame Gasa with Ichikawa Ennosuke I as Tetsushinsai, Nakamura Shikan V as the courtesan Katsuragi, and Ichimura Uzaemon XV as Gyōu. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

The following touches on the situation regarding the choice to revive Fukuchi’s play:

When the previous Kabuki-za program was produced, company president Ōkōchi gathered the stars and said he’d like them to leave the choice of plays and casting for April to him without any complaints from the actors. He said that if they agreed he’d shoulder the loss, no matter how many thousands of yen it took, and that regardless of the damage the actors wouldn’t suffer from it. Not one actor objected and the production went ahead according to this plan.

Four or five days later Harusame Gasa was announced. Apart from Uzaemon being cast as Gyōu, the other roles were assigned only to actors who had played them with Danjūrō IX. Strictly speaking, though, there might have been a complaint about Uzaemon’s casting. However, since an agreement was in place to prevent any complaints, even if there was grumbling in the wings, no one said a thing openly and the show went off without a hitch. [From Kimura Kinka, Kinsei Gekidan-Shi: Kabuki-za Hen.]

The new play, Seishō-kō, written to celebrate Kiyomasa’s life, starred Ichikawa Komazō as the title character, whose historical circumstances he was said to have studied extensively. The result, however, was that the play and his acting were criticized for having made hasty conclusions. However, the publicity clicked and, in recognition of sold-out success throughout the 25-day-run, the theatre hung a white banner in front of the curtain every day, reading, “Today, too, we gratefully thank you for a full house.” There were even enough profits for the Kabuki-za to contribute 3,000 to a Kiyomasa memorial fund.

April was notable for the visit to Osaka’s Naka-za of Konstantin Stanislavsky’s Moscow Art Theatre partner, Vladimir Nemirovich Danchenko. The Meiji-za instituted a box office for buying tickets and hired women to staff it. The Mitsukoshi Department Store formed a youth orchestra. The famous Nakamura-ya bakery in Shinjuku went into business. And, on April 11, the so-called “Japanese Sugar Incident” (Nittō Jiken) occurred. This was a major corruption scandal involving employees of the Dainippon Seitō (Great Japan Sugar Manufacturing) Company who were arrested along with veteran members of the Diet on bribery charges.

On April 24, the important shinpa actor Fujisawa Asajirō’s actor-training center (Haiyū Yōseijō) in Tokyo’s Ushigome section offered its first public performance: Kakumei no Kane (Revolutionary Bell). 

3. May through September 1909

On May 1, the Bungei Kyōkai founded its theatre research institute, with temporary quarters in a private house at Ushigomi, Yochōmachi; classes were held there from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. On May 10, Futabatei Shimei, famed author of Ukigumo (Floating Clouds), died at 46 of tuberculosis in the Bay of Bengal while on his way home from Russia as a correspondent for the Asahi Shinbun. And on June 2, the Kokugi-Kan (National Sport Arena) sumō arena was opened in Tokyo’s Ryōgoku district.

From May 1 to May 3, the Kabuki-za was used for a fundraiser on behalf of the Dai Nihon Bujutsu Kōshū Kai (Greater Japan Martial Arts Training Society). From May 20 to 23, the Engei Kai gave its second program, under the sponsorship of Engei Gahō magazine. The performers included geisha from Shinbashi, Akasaka, Nihonbashi, Shitaya, Kayamachi, etc.; there were recitals by various famous musicians of different traditional schools; and the dances were by kabuki actors, including Morita Kanya, Ichikawa Ennosuke, Ichikawa Danko, and Kataoka Jūzō.

A year earlier, 1910, aging star Ichikawa Danzō had scored a big success during his invited visit to the Kabuki-za, so President Ōkōchi, recalling the profits he earned, decided to invite Danzō back to head the June program. Opening day was June 3, at noon, the program beginning with three acts from the great history drama Ehon Taikōki, “The Banquet,” “Badarai” (“The Horse Trough”), and Act 10’s “Amagasaki Kankyo” (“The Amagasaki Cottage”). Since only the last was usually performed, this was an unusual lineup. Danzō’s Mitsuhide was supported by Shikan’s Misao, Yaozō’s Harunaga, Uzaemon’s Hisayoshi, Ennosuke’s Satsuki, Sōjūrō’s Hatsugiku, and Kikugorō’s Jūjirō.

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It was followed by Fukuchi Ōchi’s Onna Kusunoki (The Female Kusunoki), starring Nakamura kShikan. Then came Segawa Jokō III’s romantic domestic drama of 1853, Yowa Nasake Ukina no Yokogushi, best known as Kirare Yosa after its hero, “Scarface Yosa(burō),” It starred Ichimura Uzaemon XV as Yosa and Onoe Baikō VI as Otomi, roles with which they’d long be identified. Closing the bill was the three-part dance sequence, Setsugetsuka (Snow, Moon, and Flowers), accompanied by tokiwazu and nagauta music: the dances offered were the Shin Kabuki Jūhachiban’s Nakakuni, Sagi Musume (The Heron Maiden), and San Ningyō (Three Dolls), which included the actresses Ichikawa Suisen and her sister, Ichikawa Kyokubai. 

Setsugekka at the Kabuki-za, June 1909. Left, Ichikawa Komazō as Nakakuni, left center, Ichikawa Kyokubai, right center, Ichikawa Suisen, right, Nakamura Shikan V. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

Fauvist painter Kimura Sōhachi (1853-1958) wrote in his memoir:

In the fall of Meiji 42, the year we moved from Kaminarimon to Asakusabashi, the Jiyū Gekijō (Free Theatre) was founded. It was 1909. In June of that year there was a long-awaited revival at the Kabuki-za of Uzaemon’s Kirare Yosa, beginning from the “Kisarazu” scene in which Yosa falls in love at first sight with Otomi. My family and I went to see it, sitting in an orchestra box (masu). I wore a serge kimono for this visit and can still feel the material continually itching my belly button. It was my first time wearing such grownup “silk-serge” clothing. [From Kimura Sōhachi, Tōkyō Konjaku Chō.]

Just before the production Danzō, who was planning to play a “once-in-a-lifetime” performance of the colorful supporting role of Kōmori (“Bat”) Yasu in Kirare Yosa, abandoned it and was asked to play only Mitsuhide; however, the 74-year-old actor, while projecting a splendid presence, was hoarse, couldn’t be heard beyond the audience in the pit, was wobbly on his feet, and gave a disappointing performance. Onna Kusunoki was a relic of Danjūrō IX’s noble-minded efforts and not a soul could refrain from yawning during its performance. Uzaemon’s Scarface Yosa scored highly; with Onoe Matsusuke joining him in his own “once-in-a-lifetime” portrayal of Yasu, the production was considered peerless. Even though Danzō’s work was not highly regarded, his popularity was such that his fans came out to see him anyway, and the program ran its full 25-days with profitable results.

In June, Osaka’s Dōtonbori district Asahi-za held a performance commemorating the 10th anniversary of the founding of the historically important shinpa company, Seibidan, which made important advances in realistic acting through the work of Takada Minoru and Sudō Sadanori. Seibidan had actually been founded at Osaka’s Kado-za in 1896, and its name was abandoned two years later even though the company lived on under the name Shin Engeki (New Theatre). On June 6, Osaka onnagata Kataoka Saemon died at 40. On June 25, Japan’s first movie magazine, Katsudō Shashin Kai (Motion Picture World), began publication.

On June 26, the first president of the Kabuki-za, Inoue Takejirō, died at 61.

Inoue himself produced 65 shows at this same theatre. His last production was in October 1906, when he invited Osaka star Nakamura Ganjirō to head the program. But he was stricken with bladder cancer, became unable to handle his duties running the theatre, handed all his responsibilities over to Ōkōchi Terutake, and retired.

After retiring, he sold all the costumes he owned to the Mitsukoshi firm and, with his family, opened a tai miso (seabream flavored miso soup) shop on the Ginza.

He was an unsociable sourpuss, not easily nodding his head when greeting people. The only people he admired were his brother-in-law, Gōtō Shōjirō, and Danjūrō IX; as for others, they were sons of bitches, blockheads, or jerks. The actors he liked were Yaozō, Kichiemon, and Uzaemon, while he despised Kikugorō V, Shikan (the later Utaemon V), after which he hated the plays of Fukuchi Ōchi.

If one had to note what was special about him it would be his extreme frugality with regard to profitable plays. He spent money like water on losing shows. When buying something he would definitely drive a hard bargain but when it came to something for his own pleasure he wouldn’t take a penny off its price. [From Kimura Kinka, Kōgyōshi no Sekai.]

And Tamura Nariyoshi wrote:

v  The Kabuki-za’s Ōkōchi-san, saying that although Inoue-san no longer was associated with that theatre, he had founded its corporation, and continued to be concerned about its fortunes for a long time. He therefore deserved be sent off in as grand a style as possible. So from that point, Miyake [Hyōza]-san, Kimura Matsujirō, and I arranged things with the Kabuki-za’s teahouses, dekata ushers, backstage crew, musicians, the headmasters (iemoto) of the various performance schools (ryūgi), the wig, prop, and costume personnel, as well as the staffs of the Tōkyō-za and Ichimura-za. Of the actors, Shikan and Uzaemon sat in one horse-drawn wagon, Baikō and Kikugorō in another, Komazō and Kichiemon in a third, Yaozō and Miyake-san in a fourth, Ennosuke and Sōjūrō in another, with additional carriages carrying luminaries like Count Gōtō, Inoue Kakugorō, etc. There were hundreds of real and artificial floral arrangements, and I recall a dozen or more birds being set free.

Ø  Really? That’s surprising. A non-theatre person’s funeral is a matter of indifference to theatre people. This was the work of Ōkōchi-san, wouldn’t you say? [From Tamura Nariyoshi, Musen Denwa.]

June also saw Shinjuku’s Nakamura-ya bakery enjoy great success with its Russian bread. On June 23, Shitateya Ginji, boss of Tokyo’s pickpockets, was arrested.

Many years later, Kawatake Shigetoshi, one of Japan’s best-known theatre historians, wrote in his memoirs:

I haven’t had a chance yet to speak about this to anyone, but Nagai-san [Nagai Kafū, who became one of Japan’s foremost writers] hoped to be adopted as a son into the Kawatake Mokuami family. It was 1909 or 1910. Ichikawa Sadanji II purposely visited the Mokuami home (the Sadanji and Mokuami families had a longstanding relationship) to inform them of Nagai-san’s aspirations. He seems to have said that he was not making any particular recommendation. However, my adoptive mother was an extremely forceful person and immediately rejected the proposition. [From Kawatake Shigetoshi, Zuihitsu Gyūho Shichijū Nen.]

This might be something of a Kafū “secret” but Kafū, who in 1900 had served at the Kabuki-za as an apprentice playwright (see the 1900 chapter), began in June to publish monthly translations and explanations of French Symbolist poetry in Subaru, which quickly unfurled its banner favoring the school of aesthetic decadence. On the other hand, novelist Natsume Sōseki, began serializing his novel Sore Kara (And Then . . .) in the Asahi Shinbun through October, creating a model for novels about intellectual heroes from the “idle intelligentsia” (kōtō yūmin).

The following passage comes from Sōseki’s Sore Kara, in which Daisuke is the hero:

Then Umeko turned to him and said, “Dai-san, you’re of course free today?”

“Well, yes, I’m free,” answered Daisuke.

“Then please go to the Kabukiza with me.”

As he listened to his sister-in-law’s words, a certain sense of comedy rose swiftly in Daisuke’s head. But today he lacked the daring to tease her as usual. To avoid any complications, he put on a casual expression and said good-humoredly, “Fine, let’s go.”

Then Umeko asked back, “But you said you’ve already seen it once.”

“Once, twice, it makes no difference. Let’s go.” Daisuke smiled at Umeko. . . .

Between acts, Nuiko would turn to Daisuke and ask him strange questions. Questions which, in fact, were usually unanswerable. Why was the man drinking sake from a wash tub? Or, how could a priest become a general? Umeko laughed every time she heard Nuiko. Daisuke suddenly remembered a review he had seen in the paper two or three days ago by a certain literary figure. According to the article, Japanese plays so abounded in fantastic plots that they were difficult for the audience to follow. When he read this, Daisuke had thought that if he were an actor, he would not care to have people like that come to see him. He said to Kadono that to scold the actor for what the playwright had done was as foolish as wanting to hear Kojirō’s jōruri recitation in order to know Chikamatsu’s works. Kadono, as usual, had said oh, is that right? [From Natsume Sōseki, Sore Kara, trans. by Norma Moore Field.]

Daisuke longs for Michiyo, the beautiful wife of his friend, Hiraoka, but Daisuke’s brother and sister-in-law have set a trap for him at the theatre by arranging for him to meet a young woman of their acquaintance. Nuiko’s questions relate to the June Kabuki-za program starring Danzō in Ehon Taikōki, in particular to Mitsuhide in the “Badarai” scene and to Hisayoshi in the Act 10 scene. Sōseki’s writing here describes the kind of social intercourse that transpired at the Kabuki-za during performances. And the “certain literary figure” mentioned is Sōseki himself, whose critical essays, “Meiji-za no Shokan o Kyoshi-kun ni Towarete” (“Questioned by Kyoshi [Takahama] about My Impressions at the Meiji-za”) and “Kyoshi-kun e” (“To Kyoshi”), in the Kokumin Shinbun (May 15, 1909; June 15, 1909).

In July, Ōkōchi, concerned about a business falloff at the Tōkyō-za, in Kanda’s Mizaki-chō, ever since Shikan returned to the Kabuki-za, initiated a plan he’d been considering of creating a theatre “trust” by signing a three-year contract to control the Tōkyō-za, where shinpa performances had been gaining attention. He began an interior renovation of the Kabuki-za and, on July 1, opened a program featuring all the theatre’s second-ranking actors, but with Danzō as the attraction. It included Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami’s “Kuruma Biki” and “Terakoya” acts; the dance play Renjishi; Chikamatsu’s Yari no Gonza; and Ōmori Hikoshichi. It was performed only once, being defeated by the oppressive heat and the renovation scaffolding.

The only other Kabuki-za offering in July was a three-day movie competition, from July 15-17, with two programs daily.

July saw internationally-famed actress Kawakami Sadayakko’s acting school, the Joyū Yōseisho, taken over by the incipient Teikoku Gekijō (Imperial Theatre) as its resident actress-training institution. July also was when the great writer Mori Ōgai published, in Subaru, the first part of Vita Sexualis, his highly controversial, autobiographical novel inspired by his sexual thoughts since the age of six. It created a scandal and sales of the offending issue were prohibited. On July 5, the Yoyogi Parade Grounds were newly established. On July 6, the annexation of Korea was decided at a cabinet meeting. On July 31, a major conflagration burst out in the northern part of Osaka.

On August 14, a huge earthquake erupted in Shiga Prefecture.

The Kabuki-za was closed throughout August and September for even more renovations, including its exterior. But an important theatrical event occurred in September when Ichikawa Sadanji II revived the long dormant Kabuki Jūhachiban play Kenuki (The Tweezerks) at the Meiji-za, with strong critical approval. Sadanji's accomplishments would hereafter include reviving forgotten old classics and creating new staging for them. He did this while also championing modern drama, thus achieving the best of the old and the new. In resuscitating Kenuki he had the help of playwright Oka Onitarō on the script, with Torii Kiyotada designing the costumes and sets, based on his research, and that of others, including scholars and critics like Ihara Seiseien. A similar approach would be used the following year for Sadanji's revival of Narukami. Today, we think of these two plays as long established members of the Kabuki Jūhachiban but, in actuality, what we see now are works created in the late Meiji period.


September also witnessed Osaka’s Asahi-za offering a production honoring the 25th anniversary of the death of Jitsukawa Enjaku I. On September 4, Takeshiba Manji, resident playwright at the Masago-za, died. Also this month, the Bungei Kyōkai completed its theatre studies institute, constructed on the grounds of Tsubouchi Shōyō’s home; there were 22 students enrolled.

This is a poster--titled Tōkyō Haiyū Tōhyō Banzuke (Tokyo Actors' Poll Poster)--listing the results of a poll ranking all Tokyo actors in 1909. It covers actors at six theatres, the Kabuki-za, the Meiji-za, the Tōkyō-za, the Ichimura-za, the Hongō-za, and the Shintomi-za. The actors are ranked according to the sumo terms of ōzeki, sekiwake, komusubi, and maegashira. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

4. October through December 1909

In October, Danzō, Baikō, Uzaemon, Komazō, and Matsusuke remained at the Tōkyō-za while the Kabuki-za decided to cover their absence by inviting Ganjirō from Osaka to star. Tamura Nariyoshi went to Osaka to negotiate for his services with Shirai Matsujirō, one of the twin brothers heading Shōchiku. The last time Ganjirō came to Tokyo to perform he accepted his prearranged earnings in an envelope (tsutsumigane) but now that he was under contract to Shirai he was to be paid a percentage of the profits (bukōgyō). With this substantial agreement, Ganjirō and Shirai went to Tokyo at the end of September. It represented Shōchiku’s first incursion into Tokyo. On the outside, Tamura gave the impression that he was satisfied with the deal but in his heart he wasn’t pleased, wondering how such a young and inexperienced man could make such impertinent demands.

When Shirai and Ganjirō boarded the train for Tokyo on September 26, Danzō, Baikō, Uzaemon, and the others had moved to the Tōkyō-za. Ganjirō wasn’t happy to hear that the remaining stars at the Kabuki-za had formed a company. Shirai protested to Tamura that this was a breach of contract and was on the verge of cancelling Ganjirō’s appearance but Tamura managed to calm the situation down and bring the situation to an amicable conclusion and Shōchiku was thereby enabled to make its inaugural bow in Tokyo.

Opening day was October 3, at 11:00 a.m. The program: 1) Enomoto Torahiko’s new play Kiyogashima Musume no Ikenie (The Girl’s Sacrifice at Kiyogashima); 2) Ōmi Genji Senjin Yakata, a.k.a. Moritsuna Jinya, starring Ganjirō; 3) Sanzen Ryō Omoni no Shukutsugi, which was used by Kataoka Jūzō to announce his assumption of the name Kataoka Ichizō IV; 4) Ganjirō and Shikan in Koi Bikyaku Yamato Ōrai; and 5) Shinobi Yoru Koi no Kusemono, starring Kikugorō and Kichiemon.

Nakamura Ganjirō I and Nakamura Shikan I as Chūbei and Umegawa in Koi Bikyaku. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

Ganjirō’s Moritsuna was appreciated for its considerable realism, even its bloodiness, and was the standard of the day. Likewise, his Chūbei in Koi Bikyaku demonstrated his Kamigata expertise in wagoto roles, this one being the best of them all; its blend of kata handed down from Sawamura Sōjūrō and Jitsukawa Enjaku made it close to perfect. Tokyo’s critics oohed and aahed with appreciation as if seeing the real thing for the first time. The program achieved a rare level of success for the time, completely crushing the Tōkyō-za. But it also seems to have established a sense of ongoing distrust on the part of the Kabuki-za toward Ganjirō and Shirai.

Critic Atsumi Seitarō later wrote:

When it came to this, Tokyoite Tamura Nariyoshi was one of those who knocked Shirai with comments like, “How about that Kansai hick,” setting a tone of disparagement in everything he said. The production was a hit so Shōchiku had to be paid a percentage of the profits. Shirai was staying in Tsukiji at the Suimeikan. Tamura went there and, while he needed only to settle the bill with a check, purposely paid it off with a 50 sen silver coin. This was really petty Edokko behavior. It was because he’d been beaten by Shōchiku. Even Shirai was furious about it.

I think that, until then, Shōchiku was indifferent about getting involved in Tokyo but when Shirai saw this he decided to let nothing stand in his way to become a Tokyo producer. He took the 50 sen silver coin insult calmly and went directly to confer with Nakamura Denkurō [IX], the father of the present Nakamura Shikaku [II]. At the time, Denkurō ran the Shintomi-za. The two negotiated privately and Shirai paid directly in cash to buy the theatre. They didn’t want the Kabuki-za to know about it so they registered the sale in the distant Itabashi part of town. The Kabuki-za went ignorantly about its business while Shōchiku then bought up Tsuchiya’s Hongō-za and Ii’s Meiji-za. Meanwhile, I and other Tokyoites grew angry at the Kabuki-za’s stupidity. [From Atsumi Seitarō, Shibai Gojūnen.]   

Thus did Tamura and Shirai have a direct confrontation. And Shirai, thinking to give Tamura tit for tat by buying up the debt-burdened Shintomi-za, had his brother, Ōtani Takejirō, come to Tokyo where the two decided to make that city’s theatre world their base of operations.

 

The Shintomi-za in 1909. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

According to Ōtani’s reminiscences, there seem to have been episodes like this:

Uzaemon XV was crazy about the naniwabushi singing of Kumoemon, so he found time every day to take a break and go over to listen to him at the Shintomi-za. Without fail, he’d step into his lucky sandals at the Saru-ya teahouse at the front of the [Tōkyō-za] and cross the tram-tracked street. When he entered the door I’d be seated to its left in the box-office. One day, knowing me somewhat from Kyoto, Uzaemon, with twice anyone’s charm and an innocent smile on his face, said to me: “Ōtani-san. It’s about time you began working at the Kabuki-za. I’ll know if you stay quiet.” [From Tanaka Jun’ichirō, Ōtani Takejirō.]

Midway through the October production, Ōkōchi Terutake, president of the Kabuki-za, died of cancer.

The descendent of a socially prominent family, Ōkōchi nonetheless joined the Kabuki-za, gained expertise in producing, and became its president, died of cancer. A bright student at Keiō University, he studied abroad after graduating. On returning to Japan he joined a mail boat company and became a top executive. He should have become a leading businessman but he had an inborn love for theatrical art, while also being crazy about movies and horseracing. He envisioned a large movie company in Asakusa and appears to have been planning a theatre syndicate.

Terutake was the uncle of Viscount Ōkōchi. Despite his lack of mobility in one leg, he was a regular visitor to and connoisseur of the geisha world. Large numbers of geisha always awaited his visits to the Kabuki-za, intruding on his office. He also was well-versed in the arts, had once been a hope of statesman Itō Hirobumi, played a precious jade flute, and was admired by the public. After succeeding Inoue Takejirō as the Kabuki-za’s president, he was associated with 17 productions and never once put the theatre in debt but, regrettably, left behind no significant theatrical achievements when he died on October 9, 1909, at the age of 56. [From Kimura Kinka, Kōgyōshi Sekai.]

*** 

v  So, tell me about the conditions and route that day.

Ø  First off, there was a cortege of carriages carrying artificial natural bouquets and birds; leading politicians Prime Minister Katsura Tarō and Ito Hirobumi; gifts from Yamagata’s imperial advisors (genrō); various cabinet ministers, beginning with Minister of Transportation Gotō; geisha house entertainers; teahouse servants; shamisen case carriers; chivalrous commoners (kyōkaku); and countless carriages bearing family, friends, executives from every company, the Kabuki-za managerial staff, advisors, myself and Miyake [Shūtarō] as reporters, after which came Shikan and Ganjirō, Baikō and Yaozō, Komazō and Uzaemon, Danzō and Kūzō, Kikugorō and Eizaburō, Ennosuke and Sōjūrō, with Danko, Karoku and Kichiemon; with additional carriages holding innumerable sumō wrestlers, Tokyo’s leading geisha rolling crystal rosary beads between their fingers, laudably following in attendance. Well, Mr. President seems to have been on quite good terms with them.

v  You shouldn’t be making fun of him.

Ø  It goes without saying that all the city’s theatres were represented, the Kabuki-za, of course, but also the Ichimura-za, the Tōkyō-za, and so on. The route ran from Atago-chō to Shinbashi terminal where it crossed Hōraibashi and went straight to Miharabashi, from which it proceeded to the front of the Kabuki-za. Then from Zaimoku-chō it went from Nishinaka Dōri straight to Manseibashi. From there it moved to Onarimichi, and from beside Ueno’s Shinobazu Pond it went to the Yanaka funeral hall where a ceremony was held. The coffin seemed to have already been brought there from when the cortege passed before Itō Matsuzaka in Shitaya. Large crowds of sightseers lined the route.

v  Thank you very much for all that. Of course, people turned out thinking they could see the actors but there’d never be such a funeral for someone from a mail boat company or a Diet member. Such was the influence of the president of the Kabuki-za. [From Tamura Nariyoshi, Musen Denwa.]

To handle the problem of replacing him as Kabuki-za president, the board held a special meeting on October 24 at which three members, all alumni from Keiō University, were elected: Inoue Kakugorō, Fujiyama Raita, and Okamoto Teikyū, the arrangement being for the position to remain open with the three men sharing the president’s responsibilities on an alternating basis. Iita Sanji was dismissed from his job as consultant, Kawai Shinji and Sakamoto Shōzō became consultants, Miyake Hyōza became general manager, and Tamura was in charge of production.

This October saw the passing at age 52 of Morikawa Yahei, who had assumed responsibility for Meiji-za productions on the death of Ichikawa Sadanji I. October also was when naturalistic novelist Tayama Katai published his novel Inaka Kyōshi (Country Teacher). On October 11, the businesses owned by Mitsui, Japan’s then richest family, were reorganized as a Mitsui-controlled holding company, and Mitsui Ginko and Mitsui Bussan became joint stock corporations. On October 26, leading statesman Itō Hirobumi, 69, was assassinated in China at the Harbin Station. 

The funeral procession through Sekigahara for Itō Hirobumi. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

In November, high school girls’ reading came under official scrutiny and such magazines as Bungei Kurabu (Literary Club), Shin Shosetsu (New Novels), Joshi Bundan (Girls’ Literary World), Fujin Gahō (Women’s Illustrated Gazette), and Tōkyō Pakku (Tokyo Puck) were proscribed.

On November 11, a milestone in modern Japanese theatre was established when Osanai Kaoru and kabuki actor Ichikawa Sadanji II, disregarding the latter's previously failed attempts to introduce modern Western-style drama to Japan, created the Jiyū Gekijō (Free Theatre). He and Osanai, a young playwright/director who previously had belonged to Ii Yōhō's company, and who had gone abroad to study Western drama, saw eye to eye on their ideals. 

They offered their first trial performances on November 28 and 28 with Mori Ōgai’s translation of Ibsen’s John Gabriel Bjorkman at the Yūraku-za. The production included mostly kabuki actors, with Sadani as Bjorkman, Sawamura Sōnosuke as Gunhilde, and other roles taken by Ichikawa Sumizō (later Ichikawa Jukai III), and Ichikawa Danko (later Ichikawa Ennosuke II/En'ō I), all of whom, however, were still amateurs when it came to this kind of acting. The company produced eight more programs, mainly translations of foreign plays, through 1919.

The Jiyū Gekijō production of Ibsen's John Gabriel Bjorkman, November 1909. Ichikawa Sadanji II (right) as Bjorkman. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

With his patron Ōkōchi dead, It was rumored that Ichikawa Komazō would leave the Kabuki-za and run to the Meiji-za but Tamura Nariyoshi stepped in. Since the November production already had been planned, he tactfully suggested to the actor that, rather than foul the nest he was about to leave, why not stay and do one more production, playing the great role of Yuranosuke in Kanadehon Chūshingura?

Thus on November 16, at 11:00 a.m., the new program opened with that play, presenting everything from the prologue to Act 7. Also on the program was Kamakura Sandaiki and, as the closer, the tokiwazu dance play here called Meisaku Hidari no Kogatana (The Famous Play of the Left-Handed Short Sword). Komazō’s first performance of Yuranosuke was only physically impressive, Danzō’s villainous Moronao didn’t live up to expectations while, naturally, Uzaemon and Baikō scored strongly as Kanpei and Okaru in Act VI. In Kamakura Sandaiki Shikan was immaculate.

Ichimura Uzaemon XV as Miuranosuke, Ichikawa Yaozō VII as Sasaki Takatsuna, and Nakamura Shikan V as Toki-hime in Kamakura Sandaiki. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-shi.

The production aimed to make a contribution to a shrine honoring Ōishi Kuranosuke, the historical figure on whom Ōboshi Yuranosuke was based but, with low turnout, the show closed after only 20 days.

On November 14, theatre critic Yamada Shuntō died at 49. On November 25, the Tōkyō Asahi Shinbun began a literary and arts column featuring writers such as Abe Yoshishige, Abe Jirō, Morita Sōhei, Suzuki Miekichi, and Komiya Toyotaka, who were part of the Seinen Daigaku Ha (Young University Faction).

k

On December 5, Komazō transferred to the Meiji-za, leading to the Kabuki-za’s board of directors stripping him of his membership in its star status (kanbu) group, a decision made known to everyone associated with the actors. Also this month, Nagai Kafū’s publishing his story Sumidagawa (The River Sumida) in Shin Shosetsu and Reishō (Derision) in Tōkyō Asahi, where they were serialized through February 1910. And on December 27, Yoda Gakkai, Chinese literature specialist and theatrical reformist, died at 77.

In 1909, 470 people in Tokyo owned automobiles. Popular things this year included a kind of women’s kimono underskirt worn for protection from the cold, and songs about bicycles and high collars. Kerosene heaters and improved ovens began to be advertised. Plays about the 47 samurai were popular this year in both Tokyo and Osaka, while people flocked as well to shinpa plays about adultery. Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar’s play Liliom premiered this year and André Gide published Strait is the Gate (La Porte Étroite).

For world cultural and political events of 1909 see here. For international theatrical events click here. 

THE FIRST KABUKI-ZA (1889-1911): Chapter 22. 1908 (Meiji 41)

Kabuki Woogie began in 2010 as a way to record my research trips to Japan funded by a Mellon Fellowship in 1910 and 1911. My day-to-day experiences on that trip, including videos and photos, can be found at the beginning of the blog by using the archive menu at the right. For the past couple of years, Kabuki Woogie has been used to post entries based on my research into the first Kabuki-za, Japan’s leading kabuki playhouse, founded in 1889, and still on the same site. It continues to be extremely successful, albeit after multiple reconstructions.

Samuel L. Leiter

Chapter 22

1908 (Meiji 39)

Ichimura-za Age Begins

[Note: This is Chapter 22 in a series devoted to the early history of the Kabuki-za (1889-1911). It is largely based on Vols. 1 and 3 of the Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi (A Hundred Year History of the Kabuki-za), edited by Nagayama Takeomi (1995). A team of 10 writers worked on that project although none are identified in the books for specific contributions.

Each chapter includes not only data on the Kabuki-za but information regarding each important theatrical development of the specific year, including non-kabuki genres such as shinpa, shingeki, and so forth. Also cited are the major cultural and political developments of each year, as well as notifications of the deaths of important figures, mainly theatrical but often from other fields as well.

Some material has been cut, some expanded, and other material has been added from different sources. Links are given selectively and usually only for items not so identified in previous entries. Prof. Kei Hibino of Seikei University offered helpful comments and answered translation queries during the preparation of this and all previous entries. Corrections and documented additions are always welcome.]

Miki Takeji. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

No sooner had the New Year begun than, on January 3, the Tokyo Stock Exchange crashed. On January 10, Miki Takeji (né Mori Tokujirō), Japan’s first modern theatre critic and editor-in-chief of Kabuki magazine, died of an ulcerous pharynx. The brother of the great writer Mori Ōgai, he was only 42. His own coverage for the periodical included criticism, the recording of performance kata, and the introduction of Western drama; in particular, the unique and thorough format of group criticism he created was of such high quality it established a standard for the future.

At this time Kabuki-za President Ōkōchi’s perpetual carousing in the Shinbashi geisha quarters led to daily throngs of happily jabbering geisha at the theatre’s box office, while backstage the contemporary horse racing craze enthralled the actors so that it even pulled their attention from the stage. Taking advantage of this fascination, one of the plays on the January program actually focused on a horse race. [From Kimura Kinka, Kinsei Gekidan-Shi: Kabuki-za volume.]

Opening day was January 14, at noon, with the first piece being the celebratory Kichirei Soga no Ishizue (Annual Soga Cornerstone), a version of the play best known as Soga no Taimen, with Nakamura Shikan as Kudō, Onoe Baikō as Soga Jūrō, and Ichimura Uzaemon as Gorō. It was followed by Kawatake Mokuami’s 1869 history play, part of Danjūrō’s Shin Kabuki Jūhachiban collection of hits, Zōhō Momoyama Banashi (a.k.a. Jishin Katō), with Ichikawa Yaozō as Katō Kiyomasa. Its closing scene featured two child actors who became famous traditional dancers (nihon buyō), Onoe Kikutarō (later Hanayagi Jusuke II) and Fujima Kakitarō (later Fujima Tōtarō). Then came Enomoto Torahiko’s horse racing play, Kurabe Uma Haruno Sakigake, with the final work being a dance called Tsūzoku Saiyūki (A Popularized “Journey to the West”).

Enomoto’s horse racing play was an adaptation (hon’an) of a French play into Japanese circumstances. Overcoming resistance from the Metropolitan Police Department it went so far as to use real horses and was a sell-out throughout its 25-day run. Ihara Seiseien wrote that:

It was a shinpa play inspired by the horse racing of the day, a business ploy designed to compete with the star package at the Tōkyō-za and the reform drama at the Meiji-za but its characters were coarse, its tone low, and both its writing and acting flopped. Only the final piece, Saiyūki, succeeded, with its amusing “flying” (chūnori) part featuring Ennosuke I.]

Street program/poster (tsuji banzuke) for March production at Kabuki-za. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

The Meiji-za production, opening the same day, featured Ichikawa Sadanji II, recently back from his year abroad, which had made him the first kabuki actor to visit the West. What he’d seen abroad convinced him that Japan’s theatre was backward and needed radical updating. Among his managerial reforms was changing the old practice of obtaining seats through an affiliated teahouse by introducing a reserved-seat ticket system, and abandoning the traditional dekata usher system, which had given the dekata the job of finding seats for theatergoers. The ushers were now to be paid a fixed salary and not to depend on tips and the like. Also, eating and drinking in the auditorium were forbidden. All of these changes did not go down well with Tokyo’s theatergoers.

Sadanji's reformist program--which he planned with the advice of his “brain,” playwright Matsui Shōō¸ also just back from a foreign study tour, playwrights Oka Onitarō and Kimura Kinka, and Meiji-za administrator Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VIII—included Shōō’s Kesa to Moritō (Kesa and Moritō) and Sadanji as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.

The former was an attempt at modern playwriting that emphasized character portrayal; it used realistic staging and Western scenic and lighting methods, the latter introducing the Western spotlight, a major change from traditional lighting methods. Further, actresses played the female roles, including the late Danjūrō IX’s daughters, Horikoshi Jitsuko (later Ichikawa Suisen) and Horikoshi Fukiko (later Ichikawa Kyokubai); Gonnosuke’s’s daughter, Sadako; and Sadanji’s sister, Kazuko.

However, on opening day there were loud shouts of disapproval as well as heckling from the audience during Kesa to Moritō. The police had to be summoned to quiet the unruly crowd. Another factor in the audience’s misbehavior was a rumor that the Hisamatsu Bashi bridge, built by contributions from theatre teahouses, would be burned down. These factors led to the production’s failure and its closing after 21 days, with Sadanji having realized it was still too soon for his managerial reforms. Similar notions, however, went unchallenged when the Teikoku Gekijō opened in 1911. Meanwhile, Sadanji’s March production allowed the teahouses to operate as the had before.

When the program flopped, it was only partly because of the managerial reforms regarding teahouses and dekata. Even more influental was a widespread reaction against Sadanji and his cohorts for having become too westernized in their ideas. Matsui chose to take responsibility by retiring from the Meiji-za and joining a temple.

On January 17, the Tokiwa-za in Asakusa burned down. Also this month, Onoe Eijirō—son of Bandō Hinasuke and, briefly, the adopted son of Onoe Kikugorō V before returning to his birth family—joined the Kabuki-za company.

From February 17-23, beginning at noon, the Class NK (Nihon Kaiji Kyōkai, literally Japan Maritime Association), using the Kabuki-za’s resident company, sponsored a benefit production to raise money for the construction of battleships; for this presentation, the winning play from the previous autumn’s Class NK playwriting competition was performed. That play, which was awarded 500 yen, was Kaōmaru (The Ship Called King of Flowers), by Hasegawa Shigure, a work based on Japanese pirates. Then came two Mokuami selections, the first being the “Torime no Shisha” (Envoy from Torime) scene from Mokuami’s 1864 history drama Kokoro no Nazo Chūgi no E-awase. The second was the 1870 nagauta dance Mochizuki. It was followed by the 1772 jōruri classic Hade Sugata Onna Maiginu, with the final piece being the dance play Kumo no Ito Oyozume Banashi (Story of the Spider’s Web and the Night Watch).

Hasegawa Shigure was modern Japan’s first female playwright, the production of her play thus being a major historical event. The program was so successful it played to full houses for seven days.

From February 25, for three days, beginning at 2:00 p.m., performances were held celebrating the first full year of publication by the major theatre magazine, Engei Gahō. The show included suodori dances (wearing formal kimono and hakama but not costumes) featuring Onoe Baikō, Ichikawa Komazō, Ichimura Uzaemon, Ichikawa Ennosuke, Onoe Kikugorō, etc., along with musical selections in the several kabuki styles. Geisha from Shinbashi, Akasaka, and Yoshiwara also took part.

Also in February, on the 11th, Mikimoto Kōkichi, later known as the “King of Pearls,” obtained a patent to produce cultured pearls.

In March, the so-called “smoke incident” (baien jiken), a failed suicide attempt by novelist/scholar Morita Sōhei and Hiratsuka Raichō, took place, an event Morita novelized in Baien. The same month is remembered for the “peeping Tom incident” or, as the Japanese expression has it, the “bucktoothed turtle incident” (debakame jiken), involving a voyeur named Ikeda Kametarō, who had attacked a number of women, killing one named Kōda Oen, in the Okubo district near Tokyo; he was also known to have peeked in through knotholes at women in public baths. Kōda, in fact, was accosted on her way home from the bath, where Kōda had seen her and gone wild with desire.

From March 3-8 the Kabuki-za hosted gidayū (puppet chanting and shamisen) concerts featuring geisha from Osaka and Kobe, each program beginning at 4:00 p.m. This month, the Meiji-za hosted the name-taking of Ichikawa Raizō VI, previously Ichikawa Eitarō.

For the April production, which began at noon on April 24 and ended on April 22, manager Tamura Nariyoshi, who had begun negotiations the previous year, managed to lure Ichikawa Danzō VII back to the Kabuki-za. The 73-year-old Danzō, who had left Tokyo nine years earlier, spent the first part of March relaxing at the villa of President Ōkōchi in Itagami, where he had stopped on his way to Tokyo. On March 19, he left the villa by electric train for Shinagawa; from Shinagawa he took a streetcar to Shinbashi but ran into major congestion because of the inclement weather. This being the day he was supposed to arrive at the Kabuki-za, he had to take a horse-drawn carriage to get there in time.

The April program started with the classic history drama Meiboku Sendai Hagi, then moved on to a prize-winning new play by Yamada Keika called Daigo no Hanami (The Flower Viewing at Daigo). It was followed by the familiar “Suzugamori” part of the domestic drama Gozonji Banzuin Chōbei (The Well-Known Story of Banzuin Chōbei). The program ended with the tokiwazu dance play Haru Gasumi Sora mo Sumiyoshi, written by Mokuami, which had several earlier names but is best known as Kappore.

Onoe Matsusuke IV as  Watanabe Gekizaemon, Ichikawa Danzō VII as Nikki Danjō in Meiboku Sendai Hagi. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

Danzō starred as the villainous Nikki Danjō in Sendai Hagi. “Suzugamori” was offered as a memorial performance in honor of the 50th anniversary of the death of Ichikawa Ebizō (Danjūrō VII), Danzō’s mentor. His son, Ichikawa Momotarō—who played Shirai Gonpachi to his father’s Chōbei in “Suzugamori”—used the occasion to take the name Ichikawa Kuzō IV (later Danzō VIII), while Onoe Kōnosuke, son of Onoe Kōzō, changed to Onoe Monzaburō and was promoted to billing status. Their kōjō ceremony was held right after Sendai Hagi, with Shikan, Yaozō, Baikō, and Kikugorō offering support by their participation.

On March 27, Danzō sponsored memorial services at his family temple, the Jōshō-In in Shiba Park, in commemoration of Danjūrō VII’s 50th death anniversary.

In the writings of tanka poet Miya Shūji (1812-1986) is a passage where he links a poem of his own to one in which his teacher, Kitahara Hakushū, wrote about seeing, in his youth, the character of Nikki Danjō in a production of Sendai Hagi. During the performance, the old-time sashidashi (a.k.a. tsura-akari) convention of lighting an actor by a candle on a bamboo pole was reintroduced.

My teacher, Kitahara Hakushū, in a piece about his youth, wrote a poem about a snowy evening in early April when Danzō’s otherworldly Nikki was seen in the naked flame of candles.

My friend with a candle on a pole (tsura-akari) 
Under Nikki’s face along the hanamichi. 
[From Miya Shūji, “Nikki Yakusha,” in Kikan Kabuki, No. 4.]

This is included in Miya’s first poetry collection, Kiri no Hana (Paulownia Flowers). However, questions lingered about what night was being referred to, what year, month, and day, and what theatre Hakushū saw this at. The mystery was cleared up in Kuzō’s biography of his father, Shichidaime Ichikawa Danzō (The Seventh Ichikawa Danzō).

The Cellar Sashidashi

It was late April and the flowers were in full bloom but it was snowing heavily, electric and steam train transportation was suspended, electricity was cut off, and people all over Tokyo were buying up every candle in the city on the day the show opened. It was thought that attendance would be light on this day but, surprisingly, the house was full before the program started. On this day, Nikki’s “outside-the-curtain” exit in the cellar scene was too dark, so two sashidashi were used, which, however, only served to heighten Nikki’s spookiness. Furthermore, the old style was very theatrical and criticism was extremely positive, so even after the electricity was restored when the outside-the-curtain exit was performed the lights were turned off and the sashidashi appeared. [From Ichikawa Kuzō, Shichidaime Ichikawa Danzō.]

This makes clear the inspiration for Hakushū’s tanka and gives us its backstory. There are also these comments spoken at a roundtable of kabuki old-timers recalling the impression Danzō made that “snowy evening.”

Toita: We just mentioned electricity but during the April 1908 production it was cut off because of a serious snowstorm. This was just when Nikki was making his exit in Sendai Hagi. Hanayagi Shōtarō says he happened to be there, watching Nikki from the agemaku room at the end of the hanamichi. He says that words can’t express how effective it was when the tsura-akari were brought into use.

Fujiura: That’s the old style, isn’t it?

Toita: It was springtime but it was snowing. The moon was full and the confluence of snow, moon, and flowers was highly praised. [From Fujiura Tomitarō, Toita Yasuji, Suzuki Osahiko, “Zadankai: Meiji Taishō Shōwa Sandai o Kataru” in Kabuki-za Kaijō Kyūjū Nenki Tokushū Go.]

Barrels of sake were piled high outside the theatre, the shopfronts across the way were displaying their noren half-curtains, and the decorations attracted great popularity. Business conditions were at their peak and the production had a long run of 30 days, 23 of them sold out. Even on April 9, the night of the snowstorm, the sajiki galleries were packed. The profits were an unheard of 50,000 yen so, as a congratulatory bonus the management gave each of the leading actors (kanbu haiyū) a gold watch worth over 200 yen and engraved with the Kabuki-za crest (mon). The lesser actors, without exception, received something for their efforts. This was truly the high point of the Ōkōchi presidency at the Kabuki-za.

However, Atsumi Seitarō wrote in Shibai Gojū Nen (Fifty Years of Theatergoing) that Ōkōchi, who was earning a large monthly salary of 70 yen, jointly purchased with Miyake Hyōza around 30,000 yen worth of stock, which let them rake in profits of 5 or 6,000 yen for a single production. All the money was then by them spent partying nightly in Shinbashi, to the irritation of their colleagues. According to Atsumi, their professional ignorance forced Tamura Nariyoshi to take charge of things at the theatre.

April was marked by the move to Tokyo from Hokkaido of soon-to-be celebrated young tanka poet and writer Ishikawa Takuboku (1886-1912), for whom it was a turning point in his literary career. On April 25, Ajinomoto seasoning went on the market. And on the 28th, the first emigration of Japanese to Brazil occurred, involving 781 people. (Brazil now has the world’s largest Japanese population outside of Japan.)

From April 23-25, the Kabuki-za stage was given over to the two shows daily of the American trick unicyclists, William and Laura Elgit (?). On April 27, a general meeting of the Kabuki-za shareholders was held and the theatre’s 22nd balance sheet was presented. From October 1907 through the end of March 1908 the profits were 18,089 yen, 77 sen, 4 rin.  

April 1908 also witnessed the name changing at the Meiji-za of Nakamura Tokizō I to Nakamura Karoku III, and of Nakamura Kashō I to Nakamura Tokizō II. At the same time, Karoku’s relative, Nakamura Eijirō became Nakamura Moshio, and Ichikawa Kojaku took the name Ichikawa Komonji II.

For 10 days, beginning on May 1, the Kabuki-za hosted the Azuma Odori festival featuring 700 Shinbashi geisha, with two shows daily, day and evening. Mitsukoshi supplied the brand new costumes. It was intended as Tokyo’s answer to the geisha dance festivals of Kyoto, with its Miyako Odori, and Osaka, with its Ashibe Odori.  It was so popular that its planned seven days were extended by three. This was the predecessor of the Azuma Odori performed annually in April at the Shinbashi Enbujō since April 1925.

The next regular program at the Kabuki-za opened on April 21, beginning with the “Torii Mae,” “Tōkaiya,” “Daimotsu Ura,” and “Michiyuki” scenes from Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura. The following piece was the late Fukuchi Ōchi’s Retsujo Shikinami (Shikinami the Heroine), after which came another Fukuchi piece, Ninin Bakama, adapted from a kyōgen play. Then came Mokuami’s Yuki no Akebono Homare no Akagaki, with the closing work being a new comedy (kigeki) by Masuda Tarōkaja called Hoken Girai (The Insurance Hater).

Danzō played both Tomomori in Senbon Zakura and Akagaki in the Mokuami play but his Akagaki was deemed better than his Nikki Danjō, or even his Tomomori or Chōbei; he may have been aging but he was now receiving renewed appreciation for his artistry. Okumura Shikō wrote ecstatically that “Tomomori, like the simple elegance of a Kano school painting, is a deity of ideal skillfulness. Akagaki was like the work of a brilliant ukiyo-e artist, like the art of ultimate truthfulness.” Oka Onitarō, however, was a tad sour, saying “Danzō’s Akagaki was quite fine but slightly doddering.”

On June 12, Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Tadasu attended the Kabuki-za together. Danzō, having accrued much honor, then went on tour with his troupe, playing in Yokohama before returning to the Kamigata area.

On June 16, Oshun, the 67-year-old mistress of the Kabuki-za’s Sansuke teahouse, known as the “Female Chōbei,” passed away. The same day a theatre party was held, beginning at 7:00 p.m., for pioneering German bacteriologist Dr. Robert Koch and his wife, in honor of which Uzaemon and Baikō, playing the fox-Tadanobu and Shizuka Gozen, performed the Yoshino Yama Michiyuki dance from Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura; Uzaemon as Jūrō and Komazō as Gorō did Youchi Soga; and a bevy of Shinbashi geisha danced the nagauta piece Ninin Dōjōji for an audience of foreign visitors. Leading author Mori Ōgai even went so far as to write up synopses and explanations in German for their assistance.

On June 20 and 21, the Old Music Club (Kyū Ongaku Kurabu) was revived for a benefit on behalf of famed photographer Kajima Seibei, who had fallen on hard times. Danjūrō IX’s daughters danced Dōjōji, Komazō, Jūzō, Dan’emon, Shinjūrō, and others danced Tanjōbi (Birthday), and a tokiwazu instrumental selection Waga Sennin (Our Hermit) was offered. From June 24-30, the theatre was used for a program of Parisian movies.

June was also when Ichikawa Sumizō’s son Ichikawa Danjirō took the name Dankurō at Asakusa’s Miyato-za, and when, on the 23rd, Kunikida Doppo, poet and leading naturalistic novelist, died at only 38.

The company’s top actors (kanbu haiyū) took off in July, so Onoe Kikugorō VI and Nakamura Kichiemon became the chief draw by leading the Ichimura-za’s young actors (wakate)—Onoe Eizaburō and Morita Kanya among them—in the Kabuki-za’s summer program (bon kōgyō). Kichiemon starred in Taiko no Oto Chiyū Sanryaku (a.k.a. Sakai no Taiko). Then came the dance play Tsuchigumo, starring Kikugorō as the monstrous spider, followed by Kikugorō making his first appearance as Sakanaya Sōgorō, which would be one of his best roles, in Shin Sarayashiki Tsuki no Amagasa.

Nakamura Kichiemon I as Sakai Saemon no Jo in Sakai no Taiko. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

In Sakai no Taiko Kichiemon, playing Sakai Saemon no Jō, overcame his slightness by employing the kata of Danjūrō IX and was applauded by his fans but he was criticized for slackness in the role’s key points. As Sōgorō Kikugorō followed his father’s style precisely, leading critics to say that the late Kikugorō was happy even in his grave. Good houses continued for 20 days, with opening day charging a flat admission fee of 30 sen. Lavatories were installed for this production on the second floor, with toilets made of Paleozoic age striped limestone and white marble. Tamura Nariyoshi declared that this production was the actual beginning of the famed Kiku-Kichi combination formed by Kikugorō and Kichiemon.

Onoe Kikugoro VI as Torii Hiko'emon in Sakai no Taiko. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

Nariyoshi also pointed out that:

The Kabuki-za again appeared in poetry. However, while I’m unable to comment on the quality of the writing let’s take a look at what poet Yoshii Isamu’s friend, poet Kitahara Hakushū published in the February 1909 art magazine, Hossun (Square). It was written in roman letters (romaji) under the title “Makuaki Mae” (Before the Curtain Opens). It records the moments before the curtain opened at 11:00 a.m. and is a rare example of a romaji poem among Hakushū’s work. The title is printed as “Maku-aki Mae” by “Kitahara Rukichi." Rukichi refers to Kitahara’s real name. It begins:

Toki, 41nen, 7gwatu, 9niti.

Basyo. Kobikichō, Kabukiza.

(Time: 1908, July 9.

Place: Kobiki-chō, Kabuki-za.)

Here, Tamura tells the reader he will transpose the difficult-to-read, old-style romaji into standard Japanese writing.

11:00: Green, black, faded red, horizontally striped curtain (dandara maku). The sound of a plectrum creating constant sounds like the crying of katydids.

The pounding of the ōdaiko (large drum).

11:10: Stifling yellow tobacco. The busy coming and going of people in the pit (doma).

Red, tawny cushions.

Every now and then, a slight ruffling of the curtain, the voice of a zoo bear

Men calling across to friends.

11:15: The ōdaiko stops pounding.

The fragrance of hair, people looking up.

Ornate golden hairpins, faded iron arms, descend from the ceiling,

Wild, Medusa-like hair surrounded by

24 shaded bulbs shining weakly. Like the demon

Of illness. Even the lights don’t burn.

On the empty ceiling, a ceiling painting.（うつけたる天井の、天井の絵。）
Breathing the distracted air.

The sultry evening's rain and clouds

Like the steamy outside light.

The gloomy atmosphere and Western women’s feathered hats

And flowers—praise for a spot of carmine.

11:30: Young men carrying seats come and go on the hanamichi.

Again, a bear’s voice. And a security guard’s response.

11:35: The ushers (dekata) in black, peering out at the audience from a gap in the curtain near the stage right pillar.

A refined gent in a vertically striped outfit. Holding the end of the curtain, one hand on the stage pillar, he idly surveys the distant connoisseurs’ seats (ōmukō). A breeze as the curtain billows open. A small, black room suddenly seen, no one there, lights up.

Someone carrying a long, thick, square board. . .

Sound of the board being placed on the stage floor.

The third-floor balcony erupts noisily.

The sound of the ki clapper, a shout . . . katan . . . battari . . . katan . . .

In front of the small, black room is placed a paper wall painted with tree trunks. An open window between the tree trunks. Where the musicians’ play, just like a jail cell!

The sound of nails being hammered.

11:50: The curtain’s hem billows. Lights up.

[From Noda Utarō, “Shitamachi,” Vol. 1, in Tōkyō Bungaku Sanpō, Vol. 2, Tsukiji, Ginza, Nihonbashi Neighborhoods]

Interesting as is this firsthand description of the time preceding the opening of the curtain at the Kabuki-za, it should be noted that the July production didn’t open until the 13th and that the show started at 2:00 p.m., not 11:00 a.m.

In July, the Shōchiku Company took over direct control of Kyoto’s Nishijin district Iwagami-za, marking the beginning of a broad sweep of Shōchiku acquisitions. On July 14, the first cabinet of Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi, in office since 1906, was replaced by the second one of of Katsura Tarō, which lasted until 1911.

In August, the Kabuki-za was closed as the actors abandoned the place during the summer heat and went on tour to the provinces or vacationed in cooler places. One of the touring actors, Nakamura Moshio, took sick and passed away while at a hot springs spa in Fukuoka.

September’s first Kabuki-za program was a showing on the second of hand-painted color movies produced by M. Pathe. This was a Japanese company formed by Shokichi Umeya, who, without permission, borrowed and slightly revised the name of the European company called Pathé. According to Joseph L. Anderson and Donald Richie’s The Japanese Film, Pathe’s 1908 movie was a costume spectacle based on the kabuki drama Soga Kyōdai Kariba no Akebono (Dawn at the Soga Brothers’ Hunting Grounds). “Accompanied by a full orchestra and singers as well, this film starred an all-girl Kabuki troupe.” 

Kabuki itself returned with the October production, opening at noon on September 26 and closing on October 19. The curtain raiser was Takeshiba Kisui’s Nishi Higashi Nishiki no Irodoki. The second play was Enomoto Torahiko’s adaptation of French playwright Eugene Scribe’s drama about the famous actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, which was Japanized as Onna Kabuki (Women’s Kabuki), and told the story of a Japanese actress. Then came a traditional play, Karukaya Dōshin Tsukushi no Iezuto, the “Kōyasan” scene. It was followed by another standard, Edo Sodachi Omatsuri Sashichi.

Nakamura Shikan V as Kiri Okuchikura in Onna Kabuki. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

Sawamura Tosshō took the name Sawamura Sōjūrō VII during the production, the kōjō announcement ceremony being held before the first play on the program with all the actors seated in rows on the stage, and with Karukaya Dōshin serving for the new Sōjūrō’s celebratory performance. The new Sōjūrō’s eight-year-old son, Sawamura Yūjirō (later Tanosuke V), made his debut playing a food-delivery boy, Shinji, in Omatsuri Sashichi.

Suketakaya Takamaru as Ishidōmaru and Sawamura Sōjūrō as Shigeuki in Karukaya Dōshin. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

Sōjūrō’s non-actor son, Sawamura Mikio, who became president of Bungei Shunjū, Japan’s leading literary magazine, wrote an essay, in which he noted:

When my father, Sōjūrō, took that name he was 36, a time when an actor is at the peak of his powers. Karukaya is a Sawamura family specialty (oie gei). Sōjūrō first performed it when he was 19, continuing to learn it. The sixth time he performed it, using the kata of his late adoptive father Sawamura Takasuke, he played with the childlike spirit he brought to the three times he’d played the young boy’s role of Ishidōmaru with him. [From Sawamura Mikio, “Meiji Yonjū-Ichi Aki Shibai,” in Kabuki-za Kaijō Kyūjū Nenki Tokushū Go.]

The general opinion held that Sōjūrō scored a perfect 10 as Karukaya Dōshin (in reality Katō Shigeuji). The play based on Scribe’s French original was praised both for its script and cast, Kimura Kinka said that: “All in all, the exquisite costumes and scenery, as well as the fine actors in the new play at this theatre, were like the unfolding of a gorgeous picture scroll.” Uzaemon XV’s performance as Sashichi in Omatsuri Sashichi was considered unparalleled, Baikō looked lovely as Koito, and the sexual chemistry between the lovers was lauded. Nevertheless, the attendance was disappointing and the show came to a close after 24 days.

Kawakami Sadayakko's Imperial Training School for Actresses. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

Meanwhile, on September 15, Kawakami Sadayakko held an opening ceremony for an Imperial Training School for Actresses (Teikoku Joyū Yōseijō). From more than 100 applicants, 15—including future actresses Mori Noriko (1890-1961), Murata Kakuko (1893-1969), Fujima Fusako (1877-1954), Kawamura Kikue (1870-1973) and Hatsuse Namiko (1888-1951)—were selected for a two-year program based on what Sadayakko and her husband, Otojirō, had observed both in France and at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. The idea of professional actresses was still controversial and the school led to considerable public discussion. Sadayakko’s school lasted until 1923 when the Great Kantō Earthquake ended its existence after it produced seven graduating classes.

Kawakami Otojirō turned producer this month, presenting two reformist programs. One was at the Meiji-za starring Ichikawa Sadanji in Okamoto Kidō’s virgin effort, Ishin Zengo (Before and After the Restoration). The other one was at the Hongō-za featuring Sadayakko in Nihon no Koi (Japan’s Love). Kawakami, whose visits to the U.S. introduced him to the accomplishments of the great American producer, Charles Frohman, was determined to be “the Japanese Frohman,” hoping thereby to buck the kabuki establishment with his own productions. [See Joseph L. Anderson, Enter a Samurai: Kawakami Otojirō and Japanese Theatre in the West for fascinating details on these ventures.]

On October 5, the Kotobuki-za in Honjo burned down. On October 16, Japan instituted its first fingerprinting law, with every prisoner in Japan required to have his prints taken. The law later became controversial many years later because of claims it was used to discriminate against Koreans and other non-Japanese peoples. Also this month, Yanagawa Shunshō’s dramatization of Izumi Kyōka’s Onna Keizu (A Woman’s Pedigree) was given at the Shintomi-za, starring shinpa greats Ii Yōhō and Kitamura Rokurō, after which it was frequently revived as a representative work of the genre.

On October 22, the Tokyo Bank Family Association (Tōkyō Ginkō Kadankai) sponsored a theatre event at the Kabuki-za in honor of the visiting American fleet. Beginning at 8:00 p.m. it included Hoshi no Chigiri (Vow to the Stars), performed by a troupe of Shinbashi geisha; stars Yaozō, Baikō, Uzaemon, Ennosuke, Sōjūrō, and Kikugorō in Kosode Maku Genroku Moyō, a 1905 dance play; Miyakoshima Ryū Tsukikage (Moonbeams on Miyakoshima), with Baikō, Sōjūrō, Uzaemon, and Shikan; and Momiji no Bashi (Autumn Leaves Bridge), danced by Shinbashi geisha.

October 25 to November 3 saw the Kabuki-za occupied by 1908’s second Shinbashi geisha production. On October 27, it was announced at the Kabuki-za’s stockholders’ meeting that business had been good enough to permit a 20 percent dividend.

In mid-October the Ichimura-za, in Shitaya, was renovated inside and out, opening on November 17 with a mostly traditional repertoire of popular pieces, Shiki Sanbasō, Ichinotani Futaba Gunki (a.k.a. Kumagai Jinya), Kuruma Biki, Gosho no Gorozō, and Koji to Inu. The program failed but it was the beginning of one of kabuki’s most glorious decades, known as the Ichimura-za Age (Ichimura-za Jidai).The theatre had been operating as an alternate or substitute theatre (hikae yagura) for the Kabuki-za, under President Ōkōchi’s control, with its programming the responsibility of Tamura Nariyoshi, and its leading players Morita Kanya XIII and Bandō Mitsugorō VII. Now Nakamura Kichiemon I and Onoe Kikugorō VI were made its stars. Thus the period also was called the Kiku-Kichi Age.

The Ichimura-za Age/Kiku-Kichi Age

Following the passing of Morita Kanya XII, Tamura Nariyoshi evolved into Tokyo’s foremost producer, providing his services to the Kabuki-za for a spell while also running the Ichimura-za. From April 1907, its stars were Morita Kanya XIII and Bandō Mitsugorō VII, along with Onoe Fujaku (later Onoe Kikujirō III), Nakamura Komasuke (later Ōtani Tomoemon VI), Onoe Eizaburō (later Bandō Hikosaburō VI), and other rising young kabuki actors. In 1908, Tamura purchased the theatre for himself, renovated it, and hired the 23-year-old Onoe Kikugorō VI and the 22-year-old Nakamura Kichiemon I to lead its company. The opening production was in November, with Kichiemon playing Kumagai in Kumagai Jinya and Kikugorō starring as Gorozō in Gosho no Gorozō.

Thereafter, from the end of Meiji through the following Taishō period, Tamura fostered the development of Kichiemon’s artistry as a specialist in history plays (jidaimono), at the top of the program, and Kikugorō’s in domestic dramas (sewamono), at the bottom, with Kikugorō and Mitsugorō featured in each program’s dance plays.

As Miyake Shūtarō wrote:

Tamura had a rare love for kabuki theatre, an abiding respect for scholarly depth, and a thorough talent for direction. He was a leader in the acquisition of hard-to-get knowledge of modern kabuki, which he demonstrated by using the success of the late Dan-Kiku (Danjūrō IX-Kikugorō V) as an ideal to produce the superb pairing of Kiku-Kichi. It was only natural that the Ichimura-za would enjoy a golden age. [From Engeki Gojū-Nen Shi.]

Tamura continued to manage both the Kabuki-za and the Ichimura-za, providing the Ichimura-za actors the Kabuki-za stage when the older actors at the latter went on summer vacation. When the Teikoku Gekijō was opened in 1911, it, the Kabuki-za, and the Ichimura-za became the Taishō era’s three major theatres. Only when Kichiemon offered his resignation to Tamura’s son in 1921 (Tamura died in 1920) so he could join Shōchiku did the great popularity of the Ichimura-za come to an end.

Tamura, who had to retire in 1913 for a time because of illness, wisely made use of the talents of Kikugorō and Kichiemon, even sometimes furthering a rivalry between them by producing plays in which they alternated daily in the leading roles, thereby stirring great audience interest. His policies were right on target and the sparks that flew from each actor’s artistry enflamed the passions of their respective fans, bringing growing success to the theatre.

Yūraku-za. From Kabuki-za Hyakunen-Shi.

On November 1, Japan’s first Western-style theatre, the Yūraku-za, opened in Yūraku-chō, near Sukiyabashi, in Tokyo’s Kōjimachi district. Equipped with chairs throughout and dining establishments as well as lounges, it “was originally designed as a small theatre for high-grade drama, and from its stage much of the Meiji and Taishō Shingeki was introduced.” [From Japanese Drama and Music in the Meiji Era.] 

Other important November events included the acquisition by the growing Shōchiku Company of the Asahi-za in Osaka’s Dōtonbori entertainment district. There was also the showing of a new dramatic movie, Ono ga Tsumi (My Sin), at the Sanyūkan movie theatre in Asakusa, which made it the precursor of many shinpa-based films. And, finally, Fujisawa Asajirō, a longtime colleague of Kawakami Otojirō, opened his Tokyo Actors’ Training School (Tōkyō Haiyū Yōseijo) for a males-only student body.

The November Kabuki-za production opened at 12:30 p.m. on the 12th. Opening the show was Kabuki Jūhachiban piece Kagekiyo (a.k.a. Rōyaburi no Kagekiyo or Kagekiyo Breaks out of Jail), restored after years of not being performed. Second on the bill was Mokuami’s 1872 history drama Sangoku Busō Hisago Gunbai, in whose “Daitoku-Ji” scene Ichimura Uzaemon’s 13-year old apprentice Bandō Uzaburō made his debut, playing a noble’s page. The next selection was the better- known Modori Bashi, which preceded the famed puppet play about a fox-woman, Ashiya Dōman Ōuchi Kagami (a.k.a. Kuzu no Ha), with the takemoto instrumental Shinoda Zuma (Wife of Shinoda) completing the bill.

Komazō looked good as the powerful hero of Kagekiyo, his tone was right, and everything he did clicked. The combination of Sōjūrō and Shikan as Yasuna and Kuzu no Ha did nothing to sully the theatre’s reputation but, midway through the run, the box office began to suffer, with losses greater than any since the management had been reorganized; somehow, though, the show managed to stay alive for 25 days, closing on December 6.

December 12 saw the founding by poet/sculptor Takamura Kōtarō and others of the Pan no Kai (Pan Society), a group of modernist visual and literary artists named for the mythological satyr-like creature. Participants included Kitahara Hakushū, Kinoshita Mokutarō, Nagata Hideo, Yoshii Isamu, and others. Later, director Osanai Kaoru and actor Ichikawa Sadanji II became active participants. Meanwhile, in contrast, Japanese literature was inundated with the tides of naturalism, achieving its crowning period of glory. Moreover, in the world of tanka poetry, the magazine Araragi followed in the path of Ashibi, from which it broke away. The next year, Itō Sachio and Saitō Mokichi became its editors, making it the chief poetry magazine of the Taishō and early Shōwa years.

At the Kabuki-za, for seven days from December 11-17, a bunraku troupe led by Takemoto Setsudayū performed a wide variety of puppet dramas to packed houses.

In 1908, the Meidi-ya (Meiji-ya) grocery chain began using advertising vehicles, Matchbook collecting became popular this year. For world events of 1908 click here, and for specifically theatre-related events click here.

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