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.