Kabuki Woogie

The Great Popular Performing Arts of Edo: Kabuki, Sideshows, and Rakugo

By

Kawazoe Yū

Translated by Samuel L. Leiter

Introduction 

Introduction (kōjō)  

This is an adaptation of Edo no Taishū Geinō: Kabuki.Misemono.Rakugo (The Great Popular Performing Arts of Edo: Kabuki, Sideshows, and Rakugo), a beautifully illustrated book by Kawazoe Yū (Kyoto: Seigensha, 2000). It is generally faithful to the original except where explanations are introduced to further clarify passages for readers unfamiliar with this material. The following is based on Kawazoe’s introduction.

There are various possible viewpoints from which to approach Japanese performing arts, but here I have tried looking at them from the perspective of “the performing arts of Edo times,” rather than “traditional performing arts.” This is also a decision to give precedence to the name of the series, “Great Edo.” However, in reality, many people and things flowed from Osaka to Edo, and this book also includes pages on the sideshows of “Going Down to Osaka,” in which Edo things traveled in the opposite direction. That is only natural, and one may say that precisely by adhering to Edo, a view of the opposite side becomes possible.

While being concerned with this question of cities, another thing to which I was particular was the viewpoint of “popular performing arts,” or “popular (= masses).” Needless to say, the masses exist not only in Tokyo but also in remote mountain regions and small islands. The masses are take cities as their center, but they do not exist only in cities. Specifically, in the Edo period (1603-1868), it is possible to think that a popular society of a certain degree had already been formed. However, it is also impossible to discuss Edo after the Genroku period (1688–1704)= when media and popular phenomena such as plays and popular songs produced flourishing cultural politics—apart from their connections to other periods. The heart of this book, however, is the popular performing arts of the period from before and after the Bunka-Bunsei era (1804–1830) to the end of the shogunate. I have tried to engage actively with this urban society called Edo, in which different popular cultures and popular media were mutually connected, and, while becoming involved with one another, advanced dynamically.

The specific genres taken up are the three of kabuki, sideshows, and rakugo. These contain comparative, easy to arrange pictorial documentation. Aside from cultural history, I do not know whether there is much value in these three things placed side by side. Basically, my intention is not to detail a general history, but to attempt to indicate as clearly as possible certain circumstances and distinctive points. Therefore, I think that merely examining the visual materials will be sufficient.

The great popular performing arts (taishū geinō) were loved by the masses. They were enjoyed as “spectacles,” so understanding the circumstances of their “spectators” will be a shortcut to approaching Edo’s popular performing arts. I invite you to take a look from the opening curtain onward.

CHAPTER ONE

THEATRES BURSTING WITH EXCITEMENT: A UNION OF STAGE AND AUDIENCE

Fig. 1.

A Picture of the Great Prosperity of the Theatre (Fig. 1)

(Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I. Three-sheet series of large-format, multicolored woodblock prints. Bunka 14 (1817). National Theatre.)y

This is a picture filled with vitality, depicting the stage of a greatly flourishing theatre and the surrounding audience seats. First, please observe the closeness of the distance between the stage and the audience seats. Surrounding the stage are the partitioned seating boxes (masu seki) of the doma (the pit), and, if one looks carefully, audience seats have also been arranged at the left rear of the stage. Literally, a densely concentrated bodily space in which the spectators envelop the actors, so to speak, conveys the atmosphere of a richly human theatre space in which everyone is “of one mind” (ichiza dōjin).This was what an Edo theatre of former times was like. Incidentally, the stage depicts the lion dance (shishi mai) performed by Ichikawa Danjūrō VII and Iwai Hanshirō V at the Kawarasaki Theatre in the third month of 1817. However, there are also many examples in which the central sheet of such a three-sheet series was replaced with that of a different production.

Spectators Viewing from Directly Beside the Stage (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2

Men and women watching from very close distances view the performance from the front, from the side, and from behind. There was created a bodily space filled with the enthusiasm of actors and spectators united as one, and the spectators became part of kabuki

The forestage, where a performance is in full progress, projects considerably forward. Consequently, as in the picture, there were many spectators who viewed the actors’ performances directly from the side. In the audience seating, one can see people eating meals, drinking sake, and watching the play in a relaxed manner, and the scene is considerably disorderly. They were not gazing intently at the stage in front of them as a serious “place,” as people do today, but there was an underlying sense of unity in the theatre as a whole as a “place,” and in this way they were immersing themselves in the world of kabuki. Incidentally, at the upper right are the sajiki (gallery seats), and on both the east and west sides there were lower sajiki and upper sajiki. A characteristic of Edo’s lower sajiki was that two horizontal wooden bars were attached to them, and because the appearance of people sticking their faces out from between them was said to resemble quails (uzura), they were popularly called “quail sajiki” (uzura sajiki), or, abbreviated, simply “uzura.”

Spectators Viewing from Behind the Stage: “Rakan-dai” and “Yoshino” (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3.

The seats constructed at the far back were called “Rakan-dai” below and “Yoshino” above (or “Tsūten”).Admission was cheap, and the seats were for the most common people, packed so tightly that they were like a stuffed lunch box. From here it was possible to see the actors from behind, and, when the curtain closed, one could see from behind the curtain, so it was also possible to observe the actors who would appear next and the way the large stage units were arranged. The designation “Rakan-dai” came from the way the people sat lined up resembling the Five Hundred Arhats at Honjo Itsutsume in Edo. “Yoshino” was so called because the cherry blossoms on the hanging branches decorating the upper part of the stage came directly before one’s eyes (Nara’s Yoshino was famous for viewing cherry blossoms). Likewise, “Tsūten” was so called because the hanging branches of autumn leaves were directly before one’s eyes (the Tsūten Bridge at Tōfukuji Temple in Kyoto was famous for viewing autumn foliage). Although these names were elegant, the spectators here enjoyed kabuki at inexpensive prices; sometimes quarrels erupted. There were also occasions when, because of a full house, spectators climbed onto the stage; when that happened the acting space disappeared, resulting in a situation described in a senryū as “Performing in a space of about one tsubo because of the full house.” The person sitting on the half-tatami mat in the foreground is the stage attendant, whose role was to restrain noisy spectators and disturbances.

Pictures of the Interior and Exterior of the Nakamura-za (Fig. 4)

(Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I. Large-format, multicolored woodblock print, six-sheet series. Bunka 14 (1817). Waseda University Theatre Museum.)

Fig. 4

The following two ukiyo-e depict the interior and exterior of the Nakamura-za in 1817, the same year as the preceding illustrations. In Fig. 4, the customary New Year’s production of Soga no Taimen (The Soga Brothers’ Confrontation) is being performed; on the hanamichi on the left are the brothers Soga Gorō and Jūrō. The hanamichi, which passes through the audience, was a wonderful creation peculiar to kabuki, established as a permanent feature in the first half of the eighteenth century, creating an acting space on which actors and spectators came into intimate contact. There, the actors’ performance space projects outward toward the spectators, while, conversely, the hanamichi strongly directs the spectators’ lines of sight toward the actors, and the spectators’ bodies, too, approach the side of the stage. Apart from this hanamichi on the lower-hand side (west), there is a passageway on the right-hand side, called the higashi no ayumi-ita (eastern walking board). Eventually called the kari hanamichi (temporary hanamichi) when it became a removable feature, it was a passageway for spectators and vendors and, at the same time, could be used as a special acting space allowing actors to circumnavigate the auditorium.

Fig. 5.

Now, turning our attention to the exterior of the theatre (Fig. 5), at the center of the roof a yagura (drum tower), a large structure measuring nine shaku and four sun square, bearing the theatre’s crest; beneath it are the yagurashita (signboard below the yagura), recording the name of the theatre proprietor, and the atari kanban (big hit signboard), displaying the word ōiri for “full house.” Also, the various painted signboards on the right, the large title signboard (ōnadai kanban) and small title signboard (konadai kanban) on the left, and other details are clearly depicted. This print allows one to look view the theatre building amid the bustle in front of its entrance. At the entrance are also kiyōsha (“stage mimics”), who attract spectators by imitating the gestures and voices of actors, dressed in matching costumes and with their faces wrapped in hand towels. Incidentally, the titles visible here on the signboards and the actors’ faces on the stage do not necessarily correspond to the actual performance. Rather than being based on an actual production, this example may be called a kind of mitate-e (representation by analogy), celebrating the New Year at the Nakamura-za and in kabuki.

Why Depict the Theatre? The Spectators Also Took Center Stage

The Development of Ukiyo-e Theatre Pictures

Ukiyo-e genre pictures began with early modern paintings executed in ink, and include works depicting the interior and exterior of theatres throughout the ages, in the form of ink paintings (sumizuri honpon), lacquer paintings (urushi-e), red-and-brown paintings (benizuri-e), and full-color prints (nishiki-e). Particularly from the 1740s onward, illustrations of theatre interiors became a favorite subject among woodblock prints known as uki-e, which employed the Western method of perspective. That development continued even into the late Edo and Meiji periods. When we consider that ukiyo-e prints were commercially published products, we realize that theatre pictures were published because many people wanted them. In this connection, what is particularly different about pictures depicting specific actors or plays in performance and pictures of the theatre itself, is that the subject of the latter was the theatre building itself as a “place” or “space.” Because this was so, it was naturally not only the actors and performances on the stage but also the spectators who became subjects of depiction. In other words, in theatre pictures, “the spectators also took center stage.” Therefore, when the common people of Edo looked at pictures of theatres, it was very natural for them to imagine themselves in the sajiki or thinking about going there. Furthermore, the idea that a theatre exists only when there’s an audience present, and the fact that spectators ultimately came to think about the origins of the word shibai (“theatre”) as “sitting on grass” (the word’s literal meaning) are fundamental matters. The development of Edo theatre pictures can therefore be understood as something that also represents the culture of the common people of Edo.

Ichimura-za Jōnai-zu Byōbu (Folding Screen Depicting the Interior of the Ichimura-za) (Fig. 6)

Fig. 6

(Four-panel folding screen, one screen. Kyōhō 18 (1733). Waseda University Theatre Museum.)

This is a work in which we can understand the appearance of the western sajiki and the doma before the latter became divided into masu (boxed-in seating). Originally, the basic forms of audience seating were these areas, and there were periods when the sajiki were on only one level, as well as periods when there were sajiki up to the third floor. From approximately the middle of the Kyōhō era onward, there was a two-level arrangement of upper and lower galleries, as in the picture, and the middle portion was especially expensive, with the audience consisting principally of people of rank and members of wealthy merchant households. Here can also be seen spectators who appear to be accompanied by geiko (young men). Moreover, in the two kinds of prints from the late Bunka era introduced earlier, the figures of palace ladies-in-waiting were conspicuous in the better sajiki seats. The audience seats in this picture being filled predominantly with male spectators is greatly different from today, Edo kabuki’s being premised upon a large male audience. The play is Hanabusa Bunshin Soga (The Distinguished Soga Doubles), at the Ichimura-za in January of Kyōhō 18 (1733). Ichikawa Danjūrō II, as Soga Gorō, appears on the hanamichi. We see in these pictures a preoccupation with what were called “Soga plays” (Sogamono), plays about the Soga brothers, especially Shibaraku (Wait a Moment!). These depict the exaggeratedly masculine performance style called aragoto associated with Edo kabuki, typically presented within such important temporal and spatial settings as the season-opening kaomise (face-showing) productions and New Year performances.

Shibai Kyōgen no Zu (Picture of a Theatre Performance) (Fig. 7)

Fig. 7.

(Urushi-e [lacquer-style print]. Around the Kanpō era (1741–1744). National Theatre.)

This picture of the Nakamura-za’s interior is a comparatively early uki-e (perspective-picture). Although it is completely roof-covered, the vestigial existence of the hashigakari (bridgeway) upstage right, the gabled roof above the stage, and other features make it readily apparent that the kabuki stage developed from the Noh stage. Speaking in terms of the larger development, both the hashigakari and the gabled roof, which originally had clearly existed, gradually declined, becoming formalized and reduced to mere vestiges.

Uki-e Edo Sakai-chō Shibai no Zu (Perspective Picture of the Theatre in Edo’s Sakai-chō) (Fig. 8)

Fig. 8.

(Artist: Rekisentei Eiri. Large-format nishiki-e. Around the Kansei era (1789–1801). National Theatre.)

This is an uki-e of the interior of the Nakamura-za, with the spectators depicted like tiny beans. Of course, counting these tiny beans and calculating how many spectators there are is nonsense, but taking into account the artist’s intention to fill the picture with these tiny figures is necessary to “reading the picture.” The point behind this “constructed expression,” in a word, was to stress “theatre prosperity,” so, within the perspective format, even if the spectators became tiny beans, it was important to pack the space with large numbers of spectators. This is a work that, in.\;one respect, represents the importance of the audience’s presence. The passage extending across the left and right of the foreground was the naka no ayumi-ita (middle walkway), and behind it was the naka no ma (middle space), consisting of the cheap, crowded seating. In the picture, the spectators here are depicted with richly expressive faces. The actor performing Shibaraku on the hanamichi is Ichikawa Danjūrō V. Note that the pit has not yet been divided into boxed off sections, which are present in the next image.

Tōto Meisho Saruwaka-chō Shibai (Famous Places of the Eastern Capital: The Theatres of Saruwaka-chō) (Fig. 9)

Fig. 9.

(Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige I. Large-format nishiki-e. Around Kaei 3 91850]. National Theatre.)

Under the Tenpō Reforms (1841-1843), Edo’s theatre district was relocated to Asakusa’s Saruwaka-chō (discussed later); this picture shows a theatre interior during the late Edo period (bakumatsu) following that relocation. It doesn’t depict any particular theatre; rather, Hiroshige illustrates the appearance of an Edo theatre as a “famous place” (meisho). It is, essentially, a generalized theatre picture, and the play depicted is likewise the typical Soga no Taimen, with Gorō and Jūrō on the hanamichi. It is interesting as a kind of “symbolical” theatre picture.

Le Théâtre: Scène de danse (The Theatre: A Dance Scene) (Fig. 10)

Fig. 10.

A Late Edo Period (Bakumatsu) Theatre as Seen by a Foreigner (Fig. 10)

(From Aimé Humbert’s Bakumatsu Nihon Zue (Illustrated Japan at the End of the Shogunate). Meiji 3 (1870). Author’s collection.)

This is an illustration included in Bakumatsu Nihon Zue: Le Japon Illustré, published by the French firm Hachette after Swiss diplomat Aimé Humbert, who came to Japan from in Bunkyū 3 (1863), returned to his country. It shows the interior of a theatre at the very end of the bakumatsu period. The title reads “Grand Theatre: Dance Scene — LE THÉÂTRE: SCÈNE DE DANSE.” Although there are several problems regarding the accuracy of the details, I think it captures the impression of the space, which must have appeared unusual to a foreigner, quite well.. The theatre interior, where sunlight was the basic source of illumination, would have been quite dark if the weather was bad.  On the hanamichi, a shosagoto (dance piece) featuring harukoma (spring-horse dancing) is being performed, and omote-akari (face lighting), in which a candle is placed on the end of a long, slender pole and held before the face, is being used. Although this black and white depiction differs considerably from the brilliant nishiki-e, I think it too conveys one view of the truth, while the splendor of the nishiki-e presents another view related to the sensibility of the people of Edo. The essay in which Humbert discusses kabuki, errors included, is reprinted in the translator’s book, Meiji Kabuki: Japanese Theatre through Foreign Eyes.

Audience Reputation — Shikitei Sanba’s Kyakusha Hyōbanki (An Audience Critique). (Fig. 11)

Fig. 11.

The enthusiasm of the spectators, together with the stage, creates the universe of kabuki and the playhouse. . . . The person who was keenly conscious of this “theatre that exists because of the audience,” and, conversely, “the audience that exists because of the theatre”—spectators who cannot live without theatre—was Shikitei Sanba (An’ei 5 [1776]–Bunsei 5 [1822]), a writer of popular fiction who was passionately fond of theatre. Sanba is generally known for two works of kokkeibon (comic fiction), Ukiyoburo (The Floating-World Bathhouse; Bunka 6 [1809]–10 [1813]) and Ukiyodoko (The Floating-World Barbershop; Bunka 8–9 [1811–1812]), but he also produced numerous works taking the theatre as their subject, such as Gijō Kinmō Zui (An Illustrated Guide to the Theatre; Kyōwa 3 [1803]), introduced here, and Gijō Suigen Maku no Soto (Theatrical Witticisms Outside the Curtain; Bunka 3 [1806]). He even went so far as to produce Kyakusha (also Kakusha) Hyōbanki (An Audience Critique); Bunka 8 [1811]), inspired by the annual actors’ critiques (Yakusha Hyōbanki), which evaluated spectators the same way. In it, following the example of the Yakusha Hyōbanki), he ranks types of audience members and describes their manners with affection, sometimes with tongue in cheek, sometimes admiringly, and sometimes while projecting himself into them. Please enjoy the world of old-time theatre spectators that follows. (A thorough description of these works is in Jacob Raz, Audience and Actors: A Study of Their Interaction in the Traditional Japanese Theatre [1983]).

Nuregoto-ba o Miru Tei (The Manner of Watching a Love Scene) (Fig. 12)

Fig 12.

(From the first volume of Kyakusha Hyōbanki.)

A nuregoto (love scene) enacts sexual love between a man and a woman; the picture presents spectators in the dō-sajiki watching one in a dazed manner, among others. Shikitei Sanba writes (upper right), “Enraptured by the love scene of the gently falling spring rain, before they know it, saliva dribbles from their lips.” Incidentally, the dō-sajiki were boxes at the front of the second level, at the rear of the theatre, away from the stage. The front portion of these was also called hikifune.

Kankyaku no Kuraizuke (Ranking the Spectators) (Figs. 13, 14)

(From the first volume of Kyakusha Hyōbanki.)

At beginning of the illustration of Fig. 13, on the right, it says “Three Theatres of Flourishing Edo: Critique of Theatre Spectators, Complete List of Spectators.” This section ranking spectators after the model of the actor critiques. In essence, it replicates the rankings of the “Leading Male Roles Section” of the three theatres. Beginning with these, the rankings continue through “Supreme Upper-Upper Excellent: Regular Devoted Patron, Hero,” “White Supreme Upper-Upper Excellent: One Who Loves Shibaraku, Devotion,” “True Upper-Upper Excellent: Patron” . . . and “Upper-Upper Excellent: Theatre Connoisseur, Prosperous Growth,” while at the end of the scroll comes “Great Upper-Upper Excellent: Spectator in the Mat-Floored Boxes, Honesty.” Since the leading “Regular Devoted Patron” will be explained in the next section, the “Mat-Floored Boxes” of the final Great Upper-Upper Excellent ranking are seats behind the second-floor front boxes, inexpensive crowded seats so far from the stage that the dialogue cannot be heard, as indicated by the accompanying words “the moon dim in the heavens.” In this way, one can perceive Sanba’s distinctive insight into the passion of spectators who try to come into contact with the atmosphere of the theatre, even if only a little. Furthermore, at the beginning, the words “Patrons: The Eight Hundred and Eight Towns; Bathhouses in Every Town; Barbers; Within Four ri in Every Direction; Hairdressers at Every Street Corner” symbolically indicate the spread of theatre enthusiasts throughout Edo. Bathhouses and hairdressers’ shops were places of social intercourse for the common people of Edo, and this was the world in which Sanba, who wrote Ukiyoburo and Ukiyodoko, was most at home.

Hanamichi no Deha o Miru Kenbutsu no Omomuki (Spectators Watching an Entrance on the Hanamichi) 

Figs. 15a, top, 15b, bottom.

(From the first volume of Kyakusha Hyōbanki.)

Spectators in the upper sajiki, on the audience’s left, leaning forward enthusiastically to peer at an actor who on the hanamichi. Splendid food being brought in is visible, and to the left is written “Western Upper Boxes: Tayū.” Tayū was the highest-grade second-floor seating; proceeding from the side nearest the stage, there was the uchigōshi (inner lattice), next came this tayū, and the more distant section was called hira (ordinary). Moreover, the term tayū-sajiki became generalized and was used to mean a particularly good seat with an excellent view. Although the occupants of the best seats are not necessarily connoisseurs, the spectators in the picture are watching very intently.

Ureiba o Miru Kenbutsu no Tei (Spectators Watching a Sorrowful Scene) (Fig. 15b, bottom)

 (From the first volume of Kyakusha Hyōbanki.)

This, on the other hand, shows the lower boxes on audience left, popularly called the kamo-sajiki. The lower boxes, in order from the places nearest the stage, were the uchi-suiren (inner bamboo blinds), shown here; the tayū; and, in the lower-ranked places, the soto-suiren (outer bamboo blinds) and shin-gōshi (new lattice). Also, the area slightly higher than the ordinary ground-floor seating in the foreground was called the taka-doma (raised pit seating); these seats were also established beneath the eastern (audience right) and western boxes around Kyōwa 2 (1802), and their price was twenty to thirty percent higher than that of the ordinary ground-floor seats. In any case, observe how deeply the spectators watching the “sorrowful scene” emotionally identify and sympathize with the play.

Onna no Ko no Hiiki (Girl Fans) (Fig. 16a)

 (From the middle volume of Kyakusha Hyōbanki.)

Children love theatre as much as adults do. In the illustration, a couple of girls, with actor pictures before them, hold a shamisen and play with dolls. Following a section in which Sanba humorously describes adults who boast to one another about their favorite actors, Sanba also amusingly depicts the innocent rivalry of young girls who imitate the adults in their devotion to actors.

Otoko no Ko no Hiiki (Boy Fans) (Fig. 16b)

(From the middle volume of Kyakusha Hyōbanki.)

Mischievous boys are not to be outdone. When they agree to play at theatre, it quickly turns into a scene like the one seen here. The boys naturally favor the bombastic style of aragoto, and they dispute who is stronger, Susanoo no Mikoto or Benkei, or Benkei or Kintoki; then they ask which would be more powerful, Benkei and Kintoki together or Danjūrō, and their talk takes an exaggerated turn as they conclude. Sanba writes, “The more they’re scolded, the less the temple-school children listen; the teacher is forced to deal with those who imitate actors’ gestures and voices.”

Audience as Supporters — Shikitei Sanba and the Mimasu-ren

In Shikitei Sanba’s Kyakusha Hyōbanki, at the beginning of the section on leading male roles, is the designation for the “Supreme Upper-Upper Excellent: Regular Devoted Patrons.” These were spectators who patronized a particular actor with unwavering devotion and invariably attended that actor’s performances. When such like-minded spectators gathered together in an organized fashion to support a particular actor, they became a renjū (fan club). In fact, many such kabuki renjū existed. For example, let’s look at the Utei Enba (Kanpō 3 [1743]–Bunsei 5 [1822]) and the Mimasu-ren (Mimasu Association). Utei Enba will appear frequently hereafter. His original occupation was master carpenter, but he was a versatile, talented man also active as a popular-fiction writer, a jōruri playwright, a financial backer of entertainments, and a key figure who opened the way for the revival of rakugo. Enba was a leader who organized activities; ardently favoring Ichikawa Danjūrō, he organized the Mimasu-ren (mimasu, three sake measuring boxes inside one another) being Danjūrō’s standard family crest), and became its central figure. First and foremost of his duties was mobilizing audiences to attend plays in which Danjūrō appeared; in addition, the association carried out a wide variety of activities, such as compiling collections of kyōka (comic waka poetry), haikai, and the like (ten collections altogether, with approximately 1,400 contributors). Incidentally, Shikitei Sanba is said to have been a disciple of Utei Enba, both being passionate theatre enthusiasts. Furthermore, Enba published an earlier work called Kyakusha Hyōbanki, a sharebon (witty books about brothel life) published in An’ei 9 (1780). This was a comical critique of the pleasure-seekers visiting the licensed quarters.

Hana Edo Kabuki Nendaiki (Chronicle of Kabuki in Blooming Edo), First Series, Volume One (Fig. 17)

Fig. 17.

(Written by Utei Enba. Illustrated by Katsukawa Shuntei. Bunka 8 (1811). Waseda University Theatre Museum.)

Although Enba’s book may be called the first history of kabuki, it was, above all, a history of Edo kabuki centered on the Ichikawa Danjūrō line, and was written for Danjūrō’s sake. Danjūrō VI died prematurely in Kansei 2 (1790), Danjūrō VII succeeding to the name at only ten. Danjūrō V, who had retired, died in 1806. Enba became a supporter of the young Danjūrō, worked desperately to promote him, and helped make him representative of Edo.

Fig. 18.

Utei Enba at Home (Fig. 18)

(From Utei Enba’s Edo Kakki Danjūrō Hiiki (Edo Ardor: Devotion to Danjūrō), Tenmei 9 [1787]. National Theatre.)

This illustration to which considerable elegance has been added, depicts the residence of Utei Enba, named Danshūrō. Enba, who was a master carpenter, skillfully incorporated Danjūrō’s mimasu crest into the ceiling and interior decorations. Even his kimono bears the mimasu crest. There is also a hanging scroll of Danjūrō, making an environment totally devoted to Danjūrō.

Utei Enba’s New Year’s Greeting for Bunka 8 (1811) (Fig. 19)

Fig. 19.

(By Utei Enba. Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I. Shikishiban surimono (privately printed sheet in square format). Private collection.)

Saitan (New Year’s Day) refers to works made to celebrate the New Year. This is a surimono of a daishōgoyomi (calendar of long and short months) by Utei Enba. Daishō refers to the “large months” (thirty days) and “small months” twenty-nine days or fewer) in the lunar calendar. Such privately published prints ingeniously indicated which months were large and which small (the arrangement of months changed each year in the lunar calendar). Enba continued producing and distributing New Year’s prints for several decades. Here, the pictorial motif is Ichikawa Danjūrō VII: the twenty-two-year-old Danjūrō VII is depicted using gold and silver, and the small months are recorded on his collar. In this way, Enba, acting as a behind-the-scenes fan, persistently used various means to promote the star. A member of the audience could thus be a figjure of considerable importance.