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.