ENGEKIKAI (#4) April 2019: Cover and Contents

The cover for ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of record, for April (#4) 2019, shows Onoe Shōroku III as Igami no Gonta, in the Sushi-ya scene of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, as produced in February at the Kabuki-za, on a program honoring his father, the late Onoe Tatsunosuke. The issue’s principal contribution, headlined on the cover, is a gorgeously illustrated (with woodblock prints) section on “Great Actors of 100 Years Ago,” tying today’s theatre to the kabuki world of a century earlier. Other contents include memorials to Tatsunosuke, with commentary from actors Ichikawa Danzō, in particular, and Onoe Senroku, Onoe Matsutarō, and Onoe Tatsuroku. There also are interviews with Kataoka Kōtarō, Nakamura Senjaku, and Onoe Kikunosuke about their March performances, the first at the Kabuki-za, the latter two at the National Theatre. An extensive interview with Kataoka Ainosuke is another feature, as is the next entry in Matsumoto Kōshirō’s monthly series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights.”

Onoe Shōroku III as Igami no Gonta. Photo: Sasayama Kishin.