ENGEKIKAI (#7) July 2019: Cover and Contents

Kabuki Woogie is devoted to a variety of kabuki-related subjects. It began with a series of essays, including photos and videos, of a research trip to Japan in 2010, subsequently added my 25-chapter history of the first Kabuki-za, and then began a series on Japanese books about kabuki from my collection. It also posts the monthly covers of Engekikai, the kabuki magazine of record. It will soon add occasional essays by guest contributors based on papers they delivered at conferences and symposiums. One can poke around in its archives to find all of these past posts.

The cover for ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of record, for July (#7) 2019, shows Onoe Kikunosuke as Benkei, and his son, Onoe Ushinosuke VII, making his stage debut as Minamoto Ushiwakamaru, in EHON USHIWAKAMARU, performed at the Kabuki-za in May 2019. The issue’s main contents, headlined on the cover, is about kabuki depictions of characters considered fūunji (lucky adventurers or soldiers of fortune). The issue also looks at the debut of young Ushiwakamaru. There’s an interview with Ichikawa Emiya, and a discussion with playwright Mitani Kōki and the actors Matsumoto Kōshirō, Ichikawa Ennosuke, and Bandō Ainosuke about the production of Mitani’s new play, TSUKIAKARI MEZASU FURUSATO, based on the manga FUUNJI TACHI (The Lucky Adventurers). Another article is an interview with actor Bandō Minosuke about the manga kabuki play NARUTO, produced at Kyoto’s Minami-za. One other item listed is an interview with Matsumoto Hakuhō.