ENGEKIKAI (Nos. 8 and 9: August and September 2020): 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 of covers of and selected photos from Japanese books about kabuki from my collection. 

Kabuki Woogie also posts monthly covers of the kabuki magazine ENGEKIKAI, as here, with details on their contents, and, when available, essays by guest contributors, including papers delivered at conferences and the like.

One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.

Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.

As per the shipping delays from Japan caused by the pandemic (outlined in my last  Kabuki Woogie posting), my copy of Engekikai, a combined issue of numbers 8 and 9 (more Covid-19 collateral damage), arrived three months after being mailed. Its cover picture is a rather unusual one, showing a kabuki performance being produced for a videotaped presentation. In it, Matsumoto Kōshirō X performs the role of Yuranosuke in Kanadehon Chūshingura, while sharing the stage with a video camera, at the right, and a masked stage assistant (kurogo) at the left. The performance was streamed as “Zoom Kabuki.”

The major section of the issue, headlined at the upper left (“Kokoro ni Nokoru Meibutai”), is devoted to 30 writers recalling their greatest memories of kabuki. Each gets an illustrated two-page spread, the remembrances including such things as the Benkei in Kanjinchō performed by Ichikawa Danjūrō XII at his 1985 name-taking (shūmei) performance, or the quick-change of Kataoka Nizaemon in Sakaya. Another big section covers the reopening of kabuki (under limited circumstances) during the plague, with comments by star actors Kōshirō, Ennosuke, Ainosuke, Kankurō, and Shichinosuke. Another piece covers theatre trends of the midyear months, May through July

There also are interviews with Ichikawa Ennosuke and Onoe Kikunosuke, a conversation between actor Nakamura Ichitarō and Onoe Ukon, and the latest in the ongoing series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights.”

 

ENGEKIKAI (Nos. 6 and 7: June and July 2020): 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 of covers of and selected photos from Japanese books about kabuki from my collection. 

Kabuki Woogie also posts monthly covers of the kabuki magazine ENGEKIKAI, as here, with details on their contents, and, when available, essays by guest contributors, including papers delivered at conferences and the like.

One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.

Ichikawa Ebizō XI. Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.

Kabuki Woogie is happy to return to posting cover images of Engekikai, the monthly kabuki magazine of record. Sadly, as might have been expected, Engekikai was unable to continue publishing on a monthly basis because of Covid-19, which, as elsewhere, either completely put theatre production on hold or allowed performances only under very limited circumstances. Thus, we see here an issue covering two months, not one: June and July (#6 and #7). This was mailed to me from Tokyo the first week in August but arrived about two weeks ago. Apparently, mail like this has to go through rigorous custom procedures necessitated by the pandemic. A second issue, for August and September, arrived in the same package and will be revealed here in another week or so.

The near-cessation of live kabuki performance led the editors to change their standard policy of multiple articles and interviews related to recent activity, supplemented by exquisite pictures of the previous month’s performances, to a brief piece about the actor Ichikawa Ebizō XI . This is followed, under the title “Kabuki Haiyū kara Minasama e” (“From the Kabuki Actors to Everyone”), by a list of all practicing kabuki actors, followed by an album of brilliant photos focusing on each of them. The back matter, however, contains the usual valuable data and news about kabuki during these stressful times, but also includes leading actor Matsumoto Kōshirō’s running series “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights” and a detailed overview of a famous play, in this case Gotaiheiki Shiraishi Banashi.

The cover picture shows Ebizō, the extremely popular star who was set to ascend to the name Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII (his father was Danjūrō XII and his grandfather, Danjūrō XII) this past spring. Danjūrō is  kabuki’s most prestigious name, but, because of the pandemic, the three months scheduled to celebrate the name-taking with ceremonies and performances had to be indefinitely postponed.  Here is the handsome Ebizō in one of his line’s greatest roles, Sukeroku, from Sukeroku Yukari Edo no Sakura.  

 

 

ENGEKIKAI (#5) MAY 2020: 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 of covers of and selected photos from Japanese books about kabuki from my collection. The current posting continues that series.

Kabuki Woogie also posts monthly covers of the kabuki magazine ENGEKIKAI, with details on their contents, and, when available, essays by guest contributors, including papers delivered at conferences and the like.

One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.

Nakamura Baishi as the apprentice courtesan Matsugae in Kuruwa Sanbaso at the Kabuki-za, October 2019. Photo: Sasayama Kishin.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, kabuki, like theatre in most countries, was forced to close down in April until health conditions improved. This led to the fifth issue of Engekikai, 2020, being delayed both in publication and shipping, and to the issue itself, for the first time, forgoing a gallery of photos documenting the previous month's productions. Most of the beautiful color photos included instead are devoted to the careers of a group of rising stars who specialize in playing young women's roles (wakaonnagata). The cover shows Nakamura Baishi, a rising young wakaonnagata, in a role he played last October.

  

The only kabuki productions described and documented in the depressingly slim issue are brief, irregular ones: 1) a four-day production of Nobunaga, a new history play about Oda Nobunaga, its story fancifully heightened with vampires, from February 13 to 16 at the Otsuka Museum of Art's (Ōtsuka Kokukusai Bijutsukan) Sistine Chapel, a perfect recreation of the Vatican’s world-famous Renaissance site, where it was the tenth annual such presentation of kabuki; and 2) a month-long tour from January 31 to March 1 of Ichikawa Ebizō intended to present his final performances under that name of one of his family's most popular plays, Kanjinchō, before he ascends to his family's greatest name as Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII. 

The ceremony honoring that accession was scheduled for May but is still in abeyance. Ebizō's program, also included the dance play Hagoromo (The Feather Robe), which did not include Ebizō, and a formal scene of greetings from the star and his company. Their tour visited Nagoya, Komatsu, Kanazawa, and Hakata.

The headlines on the cover, announcing the issue's chief contents, begin with the one at the upper right, pointing to the long section on "The Blossoming of Young Onnagata." The young onnagata (female-role specialists) discussed, along with many photos, are Nakamura Baishi, Nakamura Kazutaro, Bando Shingo, Onoe Ukon, Nakamura Yonekichi, Otani Hiromatsu, Nakamura Kotaro, and Nakamura Kangyoku. 

In the lower right corner, the headline announces a section devoted to archival material. This turns out to be an article taken from the January 1934 issue of Engei Gahō, the predecessor of Engekikai, called "Hyaku Makuuchi Hyakutai" (This and That about Leading Actors"). In it, 37 stars several paragraphs each discussing how they spend their dressing-room time. Each is also shown in one of his favorite roles.

"This and That about Leading Actors" from a 1934 issue of .Engei Gahō

There is also an article, noted at the lower right, about the forthcoming name-taking ceremony of Danjūrō XIII, and the debut of his son, Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII. Finally, at the left, we see a headline announcing an interview with the actor Matsumoto Kōshirō X.  

The articles listed here are only representative of the contents, which include other material as well, including an essay on the effect of Covid-19 on the Japanese theatre world. 

14. KABUKI BOOK COVERS: ICHIKAWAWA EBIZO: NARITAYA NO IKI TO TSUYA

This magazine-style book contains numerous photos of the actor Ichikawa Ebizō XI, who is scheduled to attain kabuki’s most renowned name, Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII, this year. It was published by Shōgakukan in 2010 and, as explained to me by Prof. Kei Hibino, was compiled for a bimonthly cultural publication called Waraku Mook. Waraku means "peace and harmony" and "mook" is a neologism for a combination of "book" and "magazine." I see no author's name. 

The book also contains a rather thorough English-language essay on the actor, and even an English-language title. Whereas the Japanese title could be rendered Ichikawa Ebizō: The Style and Luster of Naritaya (the last word being the family’s guild name or yagō), the English title given is Ichikawa Ebizō: “Ichikawa Ebizō XI, a young leader of kabuki for the 21^st Century: Ebizō and the Ichikawa Danjūrō family.”

The photos are credited to Sasayama Kishin, the chief photographer of Engekikai, the kabuki magazine of record whose monthly issues are chronicled in this blog.

ENGEKIKAI (#4) April 2020: 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 of covers of and selected photos from Japanese books about kabuki from my collection. The current posting continues that series.

Kabuki Woogie also posts monthly covers of the kabuki magazine ENGEKIKAI, with details on their contents, and, when available, essays by guest contributors, including papers delivered at conferences and the like.

One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.

Photo: Sasayama Kishin.

The cover for the April 2020 issue (#4) of ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of record, pictures Kataoka Nizaemon XV as Kan Shōjō in the “Dōmyōji” scene of SUGAWARA DENJU TENARAI KAGAMI as produced in February 2020 at the Kabuki-za. The issue’s leading section contains illustrated articles about “Kabuki Gidayū,” the style of narrative accompaniment used in plays, like SUGAWARA, adapted by kabuki from the bunraku puppet theatre, where aone or more narrators and shamisen players provide the auditory part of the performance. The music is also called takemoto, and the “Appeal of Takemoto” forms a major part of the discussion. Interviews with the gidayū chanter Takemoto Aoidayū II and shamisen master Tsuruzawa Shinji are included. The issue also contains an interview with actor Nakamura Kankurō, an archival segment providing photos and discussion of famous actors of the late 20^th century when they were kids doing fully staged children’s productions kabuki, “Chibiko Kabuki,” an explanatory overview of the kabuki play KOKORO NO NAZO TOKETA IROITO, and the latest installment of actor Matsumoto Kōshirō’s monthly series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights.”

ENGEKIKAI (#3) March 2020: 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 of covers of and selected photos from Japanese books about kabuki from my collection. The current posting continues that series.

Kabuki Woogie also posts monthly covers of the kabuki magazine ENGEKIKAI, with details on their contents, and, when available, essays by guest contributors, including papers delivered at conferences and the like.

One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.

Photo: Sasayama Kishin.

The March 2020 issue (#3) of ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of record, returns to a traditional character and play, showing Nakamura Shikan as Abe Sadato in ŌSHŪ ADACHIGAHARa (SODEHAGI SAIMON), seen at the Kabuki-za in January. The boldest headline on the cover announces a section covering the first productions of the New Year, in January, at the Kabuki-za, the Kokuritsu Gekijō, the Shinbashi Enbujō, the Asakusa Kōkaidō, the Misono-za, and the Ōsaka Shōchiku-za. At the lower right is the headline for an interview with Kataoka Nizaemon on his performance in SUGAWARA DENJU TENARAI KAGAMI, one of kabuki’s foremost classics, in connection with a memorial production recognizing the 17^th anniversary of the death of his father, Nizaemon XIII. Finally, although the issue contains considerably more than what’s on the cover, there’s the latest installment of Matsumoto Kōshirō’s series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights” and a guide to the kabuki play KOI NO YAMI UKAI NO KAGARIBI.

ENGEKIKAI (#2) February 2020: 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 of covers of and selected photos from Japanese books about kabuki from my collection. The current posting continues that series.

Kabuki Woogie also posts monthly covers of tprhe kabuki magazine ENGEKIKAI, with details on their contents, and, when available, essays by guest contributors, including papers delivered at conferences and the like.

One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.

Onoe Kikunosuke as Naushika in Kaze no Tani no Naushika. Photo: Sasayama Kishin.

The February 2020 issue (#2) of ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of record, is a pathbreaker, showing not the usual traditional kabuki play but one of the increasingly common productions that seek to take kabuki theatre into the 21^st century with stories and techniques inspired by the contemporary world. This movement, born in the mid-1980s, when Ichikawa Ennosuke II created his lavish productions—half Las Vegas spectacle, half kabuki conventions—has recently become a mini-flood with leading actors vying for new and exciting ways to bring young audiences to the theatre. A good recent discussion of the phen)omenon is available here.

The cover, then, is a photo of the December Kabuki-za production of the play whose 1984 anime original, created by Hayao Miyazaki, is known in English as NAUSICÄA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Kaze no Tani no Naushika). Starring as Naushika is the kabuki actor Onoe Kikunosuke. 

The headlines on the cover announce the issue’s major contents, beginning, at the upper left, with an article about performances judged by a roundtabe panel to be deserving of 2019’s Personal Favorite Kabuki Grand Prize (Kyokushiteki Kabuki Taishō). If anyone can offer a better version of this prize's name, please let me know on the Facebook kabuki page, or otherwise. Perhaps there's an official English name I'm not aware of. 

At the lower right we’re informed of an article about Kataoka Nizaemon in the “Yoshidaya” scene of KURUWA BUNSHŌ, while next to it is mentioned the latest installment of actor Matsumoto Kōshirō’s ongoing series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights.” This is followed by an article on the recent production of KOMORI NO YASU-SAN, about a kabuki adaptation of Charlie Chaplin’s 1931 film, CITY LIGHTS, in which a popular kabuki character called “Bat Yasu” (Komori no Yasu-san), is converted to a Japanese version of the character played by Chaplin (see the entry for last month’s issue). Other articles are an interview with Kataoka Kamezō and an introduction to the traditional kabuki play KEISEI YAMATO SŌJI. Finally, notice is given of reviews for December productions at the Minami-za, the Kabuki-za, the Kokuritsu Gekijō (National Theatre), Shinbashi Enbujō, and elsewhere.

ENGEKIKAI (#1) January 2020: 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 of covers of and selected photos from Japanese books about kabuki from my collection. The current posting continues that series.

Kabuki Woogie also posts monthly covers of the kabuki magazine ENGEKIKAI, with details on their contents, and, when available, essays by guest contributors, including papers delivered at conferences and the like.

One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.

Nakamura Baigyoku, Nakamura Kangyoku in Kiichi Hōgen Sanryaku no Maki. Photo: Sasayama Kishin.

The January 2020 issue (#1) of ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of record, has a cover showing Nakamura Baigyoku IV (left) as Chienai (in reality Yoshioka Kisanta), and his disciple, the newly named Nakamura Kangyoku I, formerly called Nakamura Umemaru, during this production of KIICHI HŌGEN SANRYAKU NO MAKI at the Kabuki-za in November. The issue’s chief contents, headlined on the cover, include a major section called “Good Luck to Kabuki in 2020!” It contains discussions between actors Kataoka Nizaemon and Kataoka Sennosuke, and between actors Nakamura Tōzō and Nakamura Tamatarō. It also includes interviews with the actors scheduled to appear in January’s Asakusa Kabuki program: Onoe Matsuya, Nakamura Kashō, Bandō Tomoenosuke, Bandō Shingo, Nakamura Yonekichi, Nakamura Hayato, and Nakamura Hashinosuke. On the right of the cover is an announcement that purchasers of the issue will receive a kabuki actor calendar, each month of which is graced by the cover photo used for that month in 2019.

Kabuki and Chaplin

Of greatest interest in this issue is the title at the bottom of the cover “Kabuki X Chaplin,” a section devoted to Charlie Chaplin and kabuki. It describes the background to a production that actually came off in December of a play, KOMORI NO YASUSAN (Bat-man Yasu), written by Kimura Kinka as a kabuki version of Chaplin’s 1931 City Lights. Its first performance was at the Kabuki-za in August 1931, only months after the film itself was released, with Morita Kanya XIII as the Chaplinesque tramp, Komori no Yasu (a popular character in the kabuki play GENJIDANA). 

Matsumoto Kōshirō X as Komori no Yasusan.

Charlie Chaplin.

The 2019 revival was the work of actor Matsumoto Kōshirō X and writer Ono Hiroyuki. “From Chaplin to Kabuki,” a fascinating talk by Ono, in English, about how the show came to be is here. I regret not having been in Japan to see the production but Ono’s excellent talk—written when the project was in its preparatory stages—should prove of considerable assistance in describing it.

Left: Sidney Chaplin (Charlie's brother), Nakamura Kichiemon I, and Charlie Chaplin; right: Sidney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin, and Onoe Kikugorō VI.