tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72166963557582993392024-03-05T00:21:03.771-08:00Kabuki WoogieSamuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-43975843534375154072022-07-02T20:17:00.000-07:002022-07-02T20:17:28.738-07:00ENGEKIKAI #3 (March 2022): Cover and Contents<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDuWUWXG-WMeTbzuHGRZ-uXfpoeaDcPq_awRt1iVCeTq7Ux8aE-GcMgi8udIE2xS3IxtUQGUV0q4oJNrjbE0mzDNIvl2db3nHaETfZ9PzKnO_oqesmwXhzECzXTpgs8gRJxcMMxPzysxEKazWDhxytZZ74IusRRN7ZPobsmGk4PpCK8IC2yAhakCR/s4368/Engekikai%203%20202220220702_20483349.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4368" data-original-width="3279" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDuWUWXG-WMeTbzuHGRZ-uXfpoeaDcPq_awRt1iVCeTq7Ux8aE-GcMgi8udIE2xS3IxtUQGUV0q4oJNrjbE0mzDNIvl2db3nHaETfZ9PzKnO_oqesmwXhzECzXTpgs8gRJxcMMxPzysxEKazWDhxytZZ74IusRRN7ZPobsmGk4PpCK8IC2yAhakCR/w480-h640/Engekikai%203%20202220220702_20483349.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">The late Nakamura Kichiemon II as </span><span style="text-align: left;">Ichijō Ōkura Nagashige in</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;">Ichijō Ōkura no Monogatari. </i><span style="text-align: left;">Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.</span></td></tr></tbody></table> <span> </span><div>Here, as promised, is the cover for the penultimate issue of
the great monthly kabuki magazine, ENGEKIKAI, which has preserved kabuki
history in text and image since early in the 20<sup>th</sup> century, when it
began as ENGEI GAHŌ. This is vol. 3 (March 2022), recording the productions of
January, as seen in the lower right headline covering shows at four kabuki theatres:
Tokyo’s Kabuki-za, Kokuritsu Gekijō, and Shinbashi Enbujō, and Ōsaka’s Shōchiku-za.
But, as the cover photo signifies, the issue’s major contribution is its
memorialization of Nakamura Kichiemon II, one of the greatest modern stars, from the
1960s until his death in November of last year. Designated a Living National
Treasure, he was the son of Matsumoto Hakuō (previously Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII),
a giant of postwar kabuki, and the brother of the still active star, Matsumoto
Hakuō II (previously Kōshirō II). The cover shows him in the role of Ichijō
Ōkura Nagashige in <i>Ichijō Ōkura no
Monogatari</i>.<div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Among other items in the issue is the most recent in
Matsumoto Kōshirō X’s backstage series, “One Thousand and One Nights.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Coming soon: the final issue of ENGEKIKAI. <o:p></o:p></p> <p></p></div></div>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-40282048358673471052022-06-29T09:45:00.004-07:002022-06-29T09:49:11.903-07:00"The Theatres of Japan" by T.J. Nakagawa (1890) <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">This essay was originally going to be part of my book <i>They Saw </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Danjūrō</i></span><i>: Foreign Theatregoers at Meiji Kabuki, </i>a collection of Meiji period writings in English about kabuki, but it was cut when I decided to include only writing by non-Japanese contributors. Although deficient in certain respects, it was one of the more thorough and knowledgeable essays at a time when foreigners writing about kabuki knew little about the form and there were no quality reference sources in English to study in advance. With its commentary and notes, it should give a good idea of how the 62 essays in the book, many of them necessarily condensed, are treated. SLL</p><p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">“The Theatres of Japan”</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></sup></sup></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">
(1890)</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">T.J. Nakagawa</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">T.J. Nakagawa, like Anna
D’Almeida, is someone about whom no easily discernible traces remain. Although
a native Japanese, his fluent English writing suggests he may have been
educated abroad. Certainly, his use of the initials T.J. in his name reflects a
strong Western influence. And the sole other example of his writing I could
find, an article about “Journalism in Japan,” published in the May 1900 issue
of </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Forum
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is, perhaps, a sign that journalism was his
field.<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[2]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nakagawa offers our only indigenous perspective,
providing a capsulized, although generally accurate, version of kabuki history,
beginning with a brief look at its predecessor, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">nō<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, which influenced it, through its broadest
developments up to the late nineteenth century. He reminds us of the low status
actors previously had; notes why women were banned from the stage; touches on
the artistic evolution of dramatic content; and points out, importantly, that,
prior to the Meiji period, Osaka, not Edo was Japan’s theatre center. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This
last is often overlooked by modern admirers of kabuki and its colorful past.
Nakagawa states, though, that with the ascendance in Meiji of Tokyo’s
theatrical power, its stars only rarely visited their provincial brothers, but
this was not quite the case. Tokyo actors often toured to Osaka and Kyoto (and
elsewhere), although the very top actors did so less frequently than their
colleagues, and there was an active interchange between east (Tokyo) and west,
especially once railway connections were installed in the early 1870s. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nakajima offers a surprisingly negative assessment of
kabuki scenography, both artistically and technically, which contradicts the
reports of foreigners who often, if not always, tended to highly praise Japanese
sets. While some influential Japanese thought features like the </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">hanamichi
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inconsistent with the stage’s progress
into modernity, others, and not simply because they were conservative,
recognized the theatrical value of such elements and fought to protect them
from overeager reformers. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Reform was the watchword of the day, and Nakagawa notes
the activity of new societies seeking to raise kabuki to a level of
international respect. The mid-1880s witnessed an eruption of reformism in all
cultural fields. Both Osaka and Tokyo inaugurated Theatre Reform Societies (</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Engeki
Kairyō Kai<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">), of which there were several
follow-up groups into the 1890s. Under the influence of the West, they sought
improvements in playwriting, social status, and theatrical architecture. Even Western-style
oil painters began, occasionally, to design sets. Nakagawa, however, recognized
the danger of the reformers throwing the baby out with the bathwater.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Nakagawa cites a production exploiting a number of
naturalistic effects, although, as elsewhere, he fails to mention the title.
His clues include it being a play about Dutch-scholar martyrs, starring
Danjūrō, performed at the Shintomi-za “several months” earlier. Neither the
titles nor the plots of plays performed at the Shintomi-za in the months prior
to his article of June 1890 suggest anything about scholar martyrs. However, as
Professor Hioki Takayuki of Meiji University informs me,</span></i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[3]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></span></sup></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> if we go back four years, to May
1886, we can find a candidate in </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Yume Monogatari Rosei no
Sugata-e<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, listed in some sources by the
name of one of its heroes, the historical figure Watanabe Kazan</i>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[4]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> This is the play we are looking for.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Watanabe
Kazan (1793-1841), the role played by Danjūrō, was a scholar and painter. As
Seichi Iwao writes, he “became interested in Dutch learning—that is, the study
of European science and civilization as it was conveyed to Japan through Dutch
teachers and textbooks.”</span></i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[5]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></span></sup></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> The physician referenced by Nakagawa
would have been another major character, Takano Chōei (1804-1850), played by
Ichikawa Sadanji I. They and other scholars formed a society called the
Shōshikai, focused on studying European culture and contemporary political
issues in Japan. Kazan and Chōei were critical of the shogunate’s hardline
stance on foreign ships that approached Japan. That is why, in 1839, they and
other members of their group were sentenced to life imprisonment, which is why
Nakagawa calls them “martyrs.” For various reasons, neither served out their
time, but, as the play discloses, both ended up committing suicide. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Nakagawa’s
next reference, to a play in which a realistic earthquake occurs, is also
vague. It was probably </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Jishin Katō<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, whose title means </i>The Earthquake and Katō<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> (a reference to the historical samurai, Katō Kiyomasa [1562-1611]); it
was done at the Shintomi-za in February 1887. And the subsequent comment on
Kikugorō V’s performance as a cormorant fisher has to have been </i>Ukai no
Kagoribi<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, meaning </i>The Cormorant
Fisher’s Basket Fire<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, which premiered at
the Shintomi-za in May 1887, with Kikugorō as both a geisha and a fisherman.</i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[6]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Nakagawa
moves on to discuss kabuki’s revolving stage (</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">mawari
butai<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">) and </i>hanamichi<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, offering this volume’s most comprehensive
and comprehending account of these unique devices. However, for all his
admiration, he is disappointed that kabuki has not done even more to take advantage
of their possibilities. He also explains why the revolving stage was not
available in the West, which he blames on the stage space it requires.
Nevertheless, it would be introduced in Munich in 1896, at a time when things
Japanese were trending abroad. A decade later, Austrian director Max Reinhardt
(1873-1943) would make such innovative use of it that it became increasingly
popular in Europe and America</i>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[7]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Today it is one of the most common
methods of shifting scenes.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Nakagawa
follows up with an interesting overview of the beauty, authenticity, and
expense of kabuki costumes. Kabuki costumes were typically anachronistic and
often far more fanciful than what was actually worn offstage. Danjūrō was
concerned about this and wanted to reform costuming. As Nakagawa explains, not
all his costars were on board. Allow me to expand on his account of the famous
dispute between Danjūrō (whom he refers to by his guild name, or </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">yagō<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Naritaya), and Nakamura Sōjūrō.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Danjūrō was a fanatic advocate of historical realism, like
Charles Kean (1811-1868) in England a bit earlier.</span></i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> He either had the playwright
Kawatake Shinshichi II (Mokuami) write what were dubbed “living history” (</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">katsureki<i>) plays, or adapt existing history plays to
eliminate many of their fabrications in the name of authenticity. That was the
case with the June 1881 Shintomi-za production of </i>Youchi no Soga<i>, which Nakagawa calls </i>The Two Brothers
of the House of Soga<i>.</i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><sup><sup><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[9]</span></sup></sup></a><i> In it Danjūrō used a new way of costuming
Soga no Gorō. It was traditional for him to wear a costume with only a
butterfly and plover design but he changed this to authentic armor, with a
belly band, gauntlets, shin guards, samurai sandals, and leather tabi, all
straight from a Kamakura-period picture scroll. In contrast, the Soga no Jurō
of visiting Osaka actor Nakamura Sōjūrō wore the traditional costume of bare
feet, </i>suō<i> robe, and </i>hakama<i>, with his feet wrapped in straw—the pure
Edo-period style.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">So
the Soga brothers were thoroughly mismatched, throwing the production off
balance, earning sharp criticism, and forcing the management to try to persuade
them to change, with no effect on either. As a result, it was said, “The
younger brother was prepared for a fire, the older brother for a flood,”</span></i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[10]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></span></sup></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> or “the older brother is going to do
his laundry in the river, the younger brother is going to collect firewood in
the mountains.”</span></i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[11]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></span></sup></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Tokyo’s governor, Matsuda Michiyuki,
was brought in to arbitrate, but Sōjūrō refused to compromise. Disgruntled, he
walked out after a single performance, and his role was taken by Ichimura
Kakitsu (later Ichimura Uzaemon XIV; 1847-1893).<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Following
his discussion of costuming, Nakagawa turns to a story famous in kabuki annals
about the actor Nakamura Nakazō I (1736-1790).The story is another one about
how scrupulously kabuki actors of the past were in making their roles as
realistic as possible within the limits of the form’s conventions. The unnamed
play is </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Chūshingura<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, in
whose nearly wordless Act V the villainous young </i>rōnin<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Sadakurō, his face painted deadly white, and his simple black kimono
hitched up to reveal his similarly white legs, kills a passerby on a dark and
lonely road. As he examines the man’s purse, saying but a single line, with
obvious satisfaction, “</i>Gojū ryō<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">” (“Fifty
gold pieces”), he, in turn, is shot by someone else. In one of kabuki’s most
memorable moments, bright red blood trickles from his mouth onto his exposed
white thigh, and he collapses, dead.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">This
simple scene was perfected by Nakazō in 1766 at the Ichimura-za. Originally,
Sadakurō wore the garb of a mountain priest (</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">yamabushi<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">), but Nakazō changed it to the black kimono
he made famous, with a wig showing the hair on his normally shaved scalp half
grown in. Brief though his appearance is, Sadakurō’s mimic possibilities make
the role one many actors long to play.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Nakagawa
moves on to further discuss the extreme methods actors went to in their quest
for believability, and the measures their masters used to inspire such performances.
The example given, involving instructional methods, while far from the internal
approach taken by adherents of the Stanislavsky system, is reminiscent of the
anecdotes associated with the great American playwright-director, David Belasco
(1853-1931). For example, Belasco would smash a supposedly expensive watch—it
was a fake—to show his exasperation as a means to rouse his actors’ passions. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">And
the incident Nakagawa cites regarding Ichikawa Ichizō III’s playing a villain
with so much truthfulness that it angered a spectator enough to seek to harm
him reminds us of anecdotes about American frontier theatres where audience
members are reported to have shot their pistols at pretend assassins. The
Ichizō incident happened in the second month of 1857, when Ichizō was at the
Morita-za, playing Tenjiku Tokubei in </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Irifune Soga Nihon no
Torikaji. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The story has been covered in
various sources.</i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[12]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Eventually,
Nakagawa’s commentary on acting realism leads him to men playing women, kabuki’s
famed </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">onnagata. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He
praises the high degree of simulation they bring to their art, notes that they
no longer specialize in narrow female types, says that even actors specializing
in male roles have expanded to include females, and comments interestingly on
the then declining custom of </i>onnagata <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">living
their daily lives as much like women as possible. No judgment is passed on the
long-established practice, now vanished. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">He
brings up the subject of actresses to replace the </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">onnagata<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, something of great concern to those
reformists anxious to abandon the old tradition. Nakagawa realizes how
difficult this will be, and points out the training it will require. In fact,
training schools for actresses began to appear not long after the turn of the
century. Regulations against women acting in public were loosened in 1890. The
next year, 1891, saw the appearance of the short-lived but revolutionary
amateur troupe called the Seibikan, in which a mixed company of men and women
performed, actress Chitose Beiha (1855-1918) doing the path-breaking. The
Seibikan was a pioneer in the new genre later called </i>shinpa<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">However,
the earliest example of modern mainstream kabuki using women was at the
Kabuki-za in 1893. This happened when Danjūrō cast his two young daughters, Horikoshi
Jitsuko (1881-1943) and Horikoshi Fukiko (1883-1947),</span></i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[13]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></span></sup></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> alluded to by Nakagawa, as the
butterflies in </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Dōjōji<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.
<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">There
follows a compelling passage about kabuki’s naughty past and the low status it
and its actors were confined to in the pre-Meiji years. Nakagawa introduces the
topic of the theatre’s employment as a place of both moral education and social
value, describing the institution of a necessary censorship to assure things
remain that way. Late Meiji Japan was, he reminds us, more concerned about
propriety, especially in romantic matters, than the West, and he did not wish
to see such standards weakened by foreign influence. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">He
forecasts the construction of a new theatre that will bring Japan into the
modern world, confesses that it will contain actresses as well, and predicts
reforms to playwriting that will soon transpire.</span></i><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[14]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></span></sup></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> This leads to a discussion of a play
Erwin Baelz enjoyed in Chapter 15, Bulwer-Lytton’s 1840 British comedy, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Money<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, the first modern foreign play to be
adapted into a Japanese context. He is afraid that the conventions of such
plays, so unlike those to which audiences are accustomed, may be harmful to the
familiar conventions. As it turned out, the Japanese theatre was flexible
enough to allow for such incursions, while adjusting its old traditions to the
demands and interests of the new world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">[Nakagawa opens by
depicting the origins of kabuki, which grew out of </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">sarugaku<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, the predecessor of </i>nō<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, which he briefly describes. He tells the
familiar story of Okuni, the dancer who, after arriving in Kyoto in 1603,
created the popular form that came to be known as kabuki. She originally
performed in the dry river bed of the Kamo River, giving rise to the pejorative
name for actors “</i>kawaramono<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">” or “riverbed
beggars.” <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He details kabuki’s early development, the official
pressure it faced from its perceived immorality, the banning of women, and the
consequent rise of male specialists in female roles (</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">onnagata<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">). This sparked the form’s maturity as a
dramatic, rather than revue-like entertainment.] </i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">At the end of the eighteenth century Osaka
had become the recognized home of the national drama. This city was the
rendezvous to which all ambitious aspirants were drawn, and no actor could rise
prominently in his vocation unless it were known that he had been trained upon
its stages, and in accordance with its peculiar artistic principles. The
ascendency of Osaka continued undisputed until the restoration of the imperial
government, in 1868. Upon the removal of the court and the seat of
administration from that part of the country to Tokyo, three hundred miles
away, the supremacy of the theatres was likewise transferred, and during the
past twenty years no energy has been spared by the managers and players of the
Eastern capital to elevate their art to the highest grade of perfection. There
are still companies of great merit at Osaka, and in some particulars their
performances are said to surpass those of their successful rivals. But the
taste of connoisseurs has declared itself overwhelmingly in approval of the
Tokyo school. In the majority of the provincial theatres, including at present
those of Kyoto, nothing better can be seen than extravagant and gaudy
reproductions of plays once worthily applauded, but now represented by troops
of wandering players of no standing whatever. It is only on rare and
exceptional occasions that actors of metropolitan repute can be persuaded to
leave their own sphere and participate in entertainments elsewhere. I shall therefore
confine myself, in describing the present condition of the Japanese stage, to a
review of what the leading theatres of Tokyo now provide.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">II<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">It
will first be convenient to speak of scenic and mechanical effects, although it
must be admitted, at the outset, that these are unquestionably defective in
Japan. We have as yet no proper estimate of the importance of pictorial and
structural accessories. The mimic views of landscape, architecture, and
interiors are never intrusted [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sic</i>]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>to really capable hands, but are almost
invariably executed by painters and machinists of mediocre talent. Elaborate
settings, for the purpose of increasing the illusion, are almost unknown.
Gradations of light and shade are rarely attempted, and colored illuminations
were experimentally introduced for the first time only about a year ago, in the
Shintomi Theatre, and then without sufficient care or dexterity to produce a
satisfactory impression.<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[15]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
It is difficult to supply an explanation for the various imperfections in this
department of the theatre. No sustained effort at amendment appears to have
been made in the last fifty years. But occasional indications have latterly
been given of a willingness to introduce practical reforms. A movement has been
set on foot by travelled Japanese who have made themselves familiar with the
theatrical processes of Europe and America, the object of which is to compel
the attention of managers to the required improvements. Societies have been
formed, not alone for the purpose of making good the superficial deficiencies
of the stage, but also to enhance its influence as an instrument of popular
education. If their endeavors have thus far been unproductive of large results,
it is probably because the innovations proposed are of too radical a nature.
The advocates of foreign methods and applicances [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sic</i>] had known little or nothing of the Japanese drama before they
went abroad, for the theatre of their own land was in many cases so degraded by
evil repute that the better class of society was reluctant to patronize it.
Without sufficient investigation, they are eager rather to destroy utterly, and
build anew, than to graft the advantages of Western growth upon the native
foundation. It is unfortunate that they are frequently found recommending a
degree of change which cannot for the present possibly be tolerated by the
community. If the entire system should be remodeled according to their plan,
the theatre would inevitably lose much of its national character, and become in
many respects an imperfect and spiritless exponent of uncongenial principles.
Nevertheless, their exertions have had the beneficial end of directing the
minds of all concerned to the importance of casting off the old-time
conventionalities and traditions, which are utterly inconsistent with a proper
respect for art. Of the immediate consequences of their proceedings a few
examples may be given. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Several months ago, at the Shintomi
Theatre, a new piece was produced, upon the subject of the martyrdom of the
early Dutch scholars. The supposed time of year was the end of November, when
the leaves turn yellow and are blown off the trees by the least breath of wind.
This also is the season of continuous misty rain. It is evening. The scene
reveals a physician’s study, which opens on a small garden entirely exposed to
the weather. At the request of Danjiuro [Danjūrō], the actor who assumed the
principal character, machinery was contrived by which rain was made to fall,
and leaves were shaken from the trees as if by the breeze. The slender branches
of the willows were seen vibrating to and fro; the fragile bamboo fence swayed
from side to side; the wind was heard moaning and wailing, and the raindrops
pattered against the walls of the house and into the pools that had collected
upon the ground. It was a perfectly realistic representation, so far as
external effects were concerned. Unluckily, it had the result of entirely
diverting the attention of the audience from the action of the play. The
performer was not, however, deterred from making further experiments. His next
appearance was in a historical drama, one of the incidents in which was a
destructive earthquake. For the first time in Japanese theatrical history, a
house was built upon the stage in fragments, and was thrown to the ground with a
violence and a disorder which startled the beholders into the belief that an
actual convulsion was in progress. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>During the same season the
celebrated actor Kikugoro, our foremost representative of pathetic characters,
was cast in the part of a cormorant fisherman supposed to be living on the
eastern shore of the Bay of Yedo. In order to acquaint himself with the habits
of life and occupation of this humble class, he took up his abode in the very
neighborhood, and practiced fishing with cormorants until he became an adept in
the pursuit. Toward the end of his rural sojourn he sent for the manager and
the scene-painters of his theatre, in order that an exact likeness of the
locality might be presented to the public. In this instance the result was so
satisfactory that the experiment was soon after repeated on a more extensive
scale. Kikugoro was charged with the preparation of a romantic drama
illustrating the adventurous career of a notorious bandit<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[16]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
who was for years the terror of the district surrounding the famous temples of
Nikko. The natural beauties of this region, as well as the picturesque and
majestic shrines erected in memory of the early Shoguns, are well known to
great numbers of Japanese; and the actor added largely to his reputation for
faithfulness of scenic reproduction by visiting the temples as a pilgrim, in
company with artists and machinists, and securing models of the edifices in and
around which the action of the play was understood to take place. He went so
far as to join, with his associates, in one of the great religious festivals
for which Nikko is celebrated, and was thus enabled to represent the various
ceremonies, processions, etc., with a spirit and a precision which excited the
most unbounded popular enthusiasm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The indifference to ingenious
mechanical devices appears the more remarkable when it is considered that the
Japanese stage has one peculiarity of construction which fits it for effects
that can nowhere else be produced. This is the revolving stage (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mawari-butai</i>), which in any other
country would probably have suggested and [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sic</i>]
infinite variety of interesting and surprising illusions. The greater part of
the stage, in our playhouses, consists of a large circle which can be turned
around so that separate divisions are successively presented to the eyes of the
spectators. Only one-half of this circles [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sic</i>],
at most, is disclosed at any one time. It is customary, while a scene is in
progress before the audience, to prepare the following scene upon the hidden
part of the movable platform. A change of view can thus be effected without
abruptly interrupting a dialogue, or disturbing the continuity of action. In
the favorite play of “Chiushingura,” an adaptation of the historical record of
the famous “Forty-Seven Ronins,” this contrivance is turned to excellent
account. The last scene but one of the chivalrous drama represents the devoted
band of avengers about to break into the fortified mansion of their dead master’s
enemy. It is a chilly December night, and the snow is falling. The assailants’
first endeavor to gain admission by stratagem, but finding the gate strongly
blockaded, they throw aside all artifice and attack the defences with axes and
heavy battering rams. Having forced the barrier and made a sufficient opening,
some of the party rush to the interior, while others scale the walls by means
of rope-ladders or by climbing upon one another’s shoulders. Meanwhile, the
stage turns and the inner court-yard of the edifice comes into view. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ronins</i> are seen in fierce combat with
the ill-prepared and terrified inmates. In no other manner could so stirring
and impressive a picture of assault and conquest be realized in theatrical
representation. The objection to employing this device in European or American
cities is that twice the ordinary space behind the scenes would be required.
Fully one-half of the Japanese stage is never visible from the front. I have
described only the effect produced by dividing the revolving platform into two
parts; but additional subdivisions can be made whenever required. In the
theatres of Osaka, especially, four and even six views are sometimes presented
before the stage completes its circuit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another striking characteristic of
our theatres is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hana-michi</i>,
literally, “flower-path.” This is an open passage extending from the front of
the stage to the extreme rear of the auditorium, at the left of the pit or
parterre. It is about six feet in breadth, and is elevated two feet above the
flooring of the pit, to the level of the shoulders of those who sit in that
part of the house. Under certain circumstances this passage is utilized for the
entrances and exits of actors. If the character is imagined to have come from a
great distance, or if his approach is hurried or precipitate, he proceeds to
his position on the stage directly through the audience, and his arrival is
thus made to appear much more vivid and life-like than if he made his way from
the side. The use of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hana-michi</i>
is, of course, a severe trial even to the most experienced and self-possessed
performers. It is only by the exercise of great discretion, and by a complete
abandonment to the spirit of the part, that the illusion can be preserved. But
the real masters of the stage have proved that the danger of close contact with
spectators is only fanciful, and that by exposing themselves, as it were, to
the very touch of the public they are enabled to exercise a magnetic influence
which can be asserted under no other conditions. When a perfect sympathy is
established between artist and audience, this daring expedient is sometimes
carried to startling extremes. After a scene of great distress and sorrow, the
retiring actors will linger until the surrounding multitude is utterly subdued
by the pathos of his spell. On the other hand, a bold and impetuous advance, in
the execution of some desperate errand, or in obedience to a necessitous appeal
for help, will frequently kindle the wildest excitement. At the close of the
above-mentioned drama, “Chiushingura,” the friends and allies of the besieged
noblemen are made to swarm upon the stage from various directions, with a
remarkable and thrilling increase to the effect of confusion and and [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sic</i>] strife. For most purposes the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hana-michi </i>I have described as running
through the left side of the pit is considered sufficient, but a corresponding
passage exists at the opposite side, of somewhat smaller proportions, which is
opened whenever required for more elaborate evolutions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">III.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As
regards the accuracy and taste of its wardrobe, the Japanese stage is second to
none in the world. No representation is considered worthy of the public in
which the minutest and most patient attention has not been given to every
detail of personal attire. Audiences may always safely reckon upon seeing a
literal and faultless presentment of the dresses of any age or locality
selected for dramatic illustration. In satisfying the requirements of this
department the question of expense is rarely considered. Managers are always
ready to provide the costliest materials and to engage the most skilful workmen
for fashioning the garments selected by the leading actors. It is understood
that the players are in the first place responsible for the choice and style of
raiment, the managers being content to follow their instructions implicitly,
and to be guided entirely by their practiced judgment. Sometimes this blind
faith leads to awkward misunderstandings. A few years ago an old historical
drama entitled “The Two Brothers of the House of Soga” was revived with
exceptional splendor, the leading parts being confided to the distinguished
tragedians Sojiuro and Naritaya,<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[17]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
both of whom are recognized as unimpeachable authorities in matters of costume.
On this occasion their views as to the appropriate garb of the two brothers
were totally antagonistic. Each claimed to have discovered the precise mode of
attire in the period set forth, and each professed to be abundantly supplied
with evidence in support of his pretensions. Neither was willing to yield, and the
play was finally brought out with dresses of undoubted brilliancy and
sumptuousness, but which could not be made to harmonize by any reference to
history or tradition. Theatrical circles were greatly agitated by the conflict
of discussion that ensued, but the question whether Naritaya or Sojiuro were
entitled to greater confidence was never satisfactorily decided.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As an example of the diligence with
which apt and suggestive effects of costume are sought, I may mention an
incident in the career of an actor who identified himself with the wild and
lawless heroes of the stage. In his youth he was cast for the part of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ronin </i>named Sadakuro—the subordinate
vassal of a nobleman who, having been expelled from his master’s service, took
to highway robbery for a livelihood. The conventional dress provided for this
role, which had long been familiar to the public, failed to satisfy the
performer’s conception of what was suitable for a person in the situation of
the discarded retainer. It occurred to him that if he could invent a new and
more appropriate costume, the effect of his impersonation would be greatly
increased. For many weeks, he dwelt upon this subject until it became the
absorbing occupation of his mind. The day of performance approached, but no
satisfactory design presented itself to his imagination. Returning home from
rehearsal one afternoon, he passed the imposing Buddhist temple of Zojo,<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[18]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
in Shiba, in which stood the image of Kuwan-on,<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[19]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
to which many of the populace were in the habit of praying for the realization
of their dearest hopes. Impelled by the thought that he might obtain aid from
this source, the actor entered the shrine and devoutly appealed for guidance in
his dire emergency. For seven successive days he repeated his adjuration in vain;
but on the last day, as he turned away dejected, and was about to descend the
gilded steps of the temple, he was restrained by a sudden downfall of rain.
Having no umbrella or overcoat with him, he stood awhile under the shelter of
the broad, projecting roof. He was presently joined by a young man, apparently
a profligate outcast from some family of rank, who had given himself up to the
most dissolute habits of life. He wore a stained and threadbare robe, which was
caught up to the knees with slovenly carelessness. He had no outer garment; his
feet were bare; he carried in his right hand a torn and broken paper umbrella,
and a pair of swords in tarnished lacquer sheaths were negligently stuck
through his soiled silken sash.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">At
first the actor did not notice the new-comer, but his attention was gradually
attracted, and as he became aware of what was before him his heart beat with
joy and gratitude at the revelation which had been miraculously vouchsafed.
Speeding homeward, he summoned his wife and servants, and impressed upon them
the necessity of imitating with scrupulous minuteness the costume and the
properties which had happily fallen under his observation. The dress was
hastily made ready for the opening performance, and the result of the bold
departure from habitual usage was awaited with lively interest and anxiety. The
secret had been carefully guarded. Upon the first appearance of the ruined <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ronin </i>the audience stared in
astonishment, and for a moment appeared undecided whether to accept or reject
the unlooked-for novelty. But the spirit of truthfulness and propriety soon
prevailed. A tumult of applause testified to the appreciative recognition of
the actor’s intentions, and from that time the costume and general “make-up” of
the character of Sadakuro has been in accordance with the precedent established
by the inspired votary of Kuwan-on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">IV.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Although
the theory of dramatic art in Japan excuses, and even encourages, indifference
to many superficial and external accessories, it is extremely severe in demanding
the closest attention to the illustration of feeling and emotion. Audiences are
accustomed to the most subtle and delicate analysis of character and are
mercilessly critical in all that relates to the portrayal of human life and
nature. An artist is forgiven many shortcomings if he shows evidence of a
determination to identify himself personally with the ideal creation he
endeavors to embody. The method of study adopted in the fulfilment of this
purpose may be exemplified by incidents in the career of those who have
successfully produced it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Two years ago the tragedian Otowaya<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[20]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
was called upon to personate a merchant who had been driven insane by financial
disasters and still heavier domestic calamities. For several days previous to
the general rehearsal this actor began to accustom himself to the conditions of
his part by a complete change in his habits of personal life. He dressed
negligently, selecting the oldest and most worthless of his garments; partook
of indifferent and ill-prepared food; omitted his daily bath, which is a
unheard-of deviation from Japanese usage; became moody and irritable, and
seemed resolved to simulate, in every particular, the actions and demeanor of
lunacy. To such an extent was this carried that those nearest to him became
alarmed, and without his knowledge took counsel with the family physician,
apprehending that his excessive devotion to artistic principle would seriously
endanger his health.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the training of their apprentices
our leading actors are none the less solicitous to inculcate the importance of
the extremist fidelity in depicting strong emotions. The same Otowaya was once
endeavoring to explain to a follower what was required to give appropriate
effect to a hasty and excited entrances upon the stage. A messenger was
supposed to be bringing intelligence of the highest moment to his lord. Many
times the desperate rush of more than a hundred feet along the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hana-michi</i> was repeated, without meeting
the approbation of the exacting teacher. Stung by the ridicule of his
associates, and looking upon himself as the object of some inexplicable spite,
the youthful actor determined to renounce his calling if again subjected to
reproach, rather than persevere in what he believed to be a hopeless task. He
came to rehearsal prepared to resent the affront which he anticipated, and to
break away from his connection in a storm of rage. Bursting in upon the group
surrounding Otowaya in his character of feudal chieftain, he endeavored to
announce his determination with angry vehemence; but his agitation was so great
that he could not utter an intelligible word. While he stood gasping for breath
his instructor rose, and approaching him with a smile, said: “At last you have
done well; continue thus and your success is assured.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is my genuine conviction that the
Japanese actors are fully entitled to the credit they receive for the
delineation of sentiment and passion. Few spectators, however hardened by
experience, could witness unmoved the masterly exhibition of fortitude under
suffering, filial devotion, conjugal tenderness, and patriotic ardor which are
constantly presented for the admiration of the theatre-going multitude. In the
season of 1857, Ichikawa Ichizo was playing the part of a pirate chief who
treats his father with great cruelty and exposes him to shame as well as grief.
The performance was one day interrupted by a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">samurai</i> from a distant province, who suddenly sprang upon the stage
and attached Ichikawa with a dagger, inflicting several wounds before he could
be seized and disarmed. He had been so carried away by the actor’s truthfulness
that he attributed to the man himself, and not to the ideal character, the acts
of filial impiety.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The brilliant romantic actor Yebizo<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[21]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
was once engaged in representing a treacherous fencing-master, who first
assassinates a rival swordsman and afterward murders, under circumstances of
unpatriotic atrocity, the two sons of his victim. During this latter scene of
inhuman slaughter a spectator in the pit flung a heavy tobacco box at the actor’s
head, severely bruising him, and for a short time suspending the progress of
the play. Immediately after the curtain was drawn, at the close of the act,
Yebizo presented himself before the audience, with the tobacco box fastened
upon his head in place of the cap he had worn during the performance. In a few
lively but emphatic words he declared himself grateful for so unmistakable a
proof of appreciation, notwithstanding the extraordinary manner in which it had
been manifested, and professed his determination to make himself worthy,
forever after, of a testimonial the sincerity of which was beyond suspicion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">V.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In
recent years I have had frequent occasion to visit our theatres in company with
foreigners. It was for a long time difficult to make them believe that the
women of the stage were in all cases represented by men. To such perfection
have feminine impersonations been brought, that even those who are familiar
with every artifice of disguise are unable to detect the slightest difference
between the imitation and the reality. This is the result of a method of
training which was once so laborious and painstaking that the actors who
followed it were compelled to renounce all the natural occupations and pursuits
of the male sex, and devote themselves to a life of perpetual mimicry. Not only
in the exercise of their vocation, but in the privacy of their homes, they were
accustomed to wear a modified form of feminine dress, to arrange their hair
after the fashion of women, and to habituate themselves to the use of those
household articles which are ordinarily manipulated by wives and daughters.
Their style of living was like that of ladies of high degree. Their theatrical
dressing-rooms have been compared, though with considerable exaggeration, to
the boudoirs of feudal noblewomen. The lines of study were so carefully
subdivided that one class would devote themselves to the imitation of fair
damsels, while another would assume the guise of matrons, and a third would
deport themselves like aged dames. These fine distinctions are not at the
present day so strictly observed as in preceding generations; and though there
are still numbers who address themselves chiefly to the impersonation of women,
as their special branch, there appears to be growing disposition to enlarge
their sphere so as to include the assumption of male as well as female
characters. One of the proposals of the theatrical reformers before alluded to
is to abolish the custom of assigning feminine roles to men, and to introduce
actresses in accordance with the system of Western theatres. Their arguments
have not yet been sufficient to convince the public that the change is
necessary, and I confess to grave doubts myself, whether it would prove truly
advantageous and wise. There would certainly be great obstacles for some time
to come. Theatrical companies composed entirely of women do already exist in
Japan, and their performances are witnessed with more or less curiosity by
those who seek variety at the expense of artistic refinement. They are popular
to a certain extent among the vulgar, but they can never hope to entertain
cultivated amateurs. Thus far no attempts have been made to unite the two
classes of performers, and it is probable that, before this can be successfully
done, a special training school for actresses must be instituted, and a course
of theatrical education be applied from early childhood until the time when
they are fitted for the difficult duties of their profession. Our first
tragedian, Danjiuro, is said to be rearing two of his daughters with this
object in view. These young ladies are now six and eight years old,
respectively. The inquiry when they will be ready for admission to their
arduous career has often been made, but yet remains unanswered.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">VI.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">It
has long been a contested question whether the theatre in Japan can or cannot
be regarded as an aid to the moral education of the people. I doubt that it has
ever served this desirable purpose; on the contrary, its agency appears to me
to have hitherto been injurious. It was to contravene its pernicious tendencies
that actors were bound by severe restrictions under the government of the
Shogun. They were not allowed to mingle freely with citizens in general, and
were required, when walking in the streets, to wear a peculiar helmet<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[22]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
made of straw, the visor of which completely hid their features. Until fifty or
sixty years ago regulations were posted in all green-rooms giving notice that
actors were forbidden to wear garments of silk; that they must reside in a
quarter especially set apart for them by the authorities; that a particular
license must be procured to enable them to go more than three blocks from their
dwellings; that gambling by them would be punished more stringently than the
same offence committed by other parties; that the incident of suicide from
disappointed love must never by represented on the stage, and much more to the
same effect. These ordinances, however, were by no means implicitly obeyed, and
the influence of the theatre grew to be so deleterious that it was universally
considered a dark blot upon public morality.<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[23]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
After the restoration of the imperial government, some twenty years ago,
energetic efforts were made to improve the character of the performances and to
elevate the condition of the actors. These projects were sanctioned by official
authority, and in some cases the schemes of reform were laid out by responsible
attaches of government. Some of the methods adopted for counteracting the evils
of the playhouses, and purifying the associations of those connected therewith,
were certainly calculated to startle the conservative sense of the community.
Several actors of distinction were invested with the rank and dignity of
preacher of the Shinto faith—the established state religion of Japan. The celebrated
and popular Naritaya, the two Narikomas, father and son,<sup> <a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[24]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></a></sup>
and numerous others still hold those places and occasionally perform the
functions of their sacred office. It may be mentioned, incidentally, that the
services conducted by them are largely attended by young daughters of rather
indulgent parents, and it would probably be difficult to trace any substantial
improvement in social manners or habits directly to this cause.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A regular theatrical censorship has
been instituted by the present government, and every piece intended for
performance in the capital has now to be submitted to the inspection of
officers of the metropolitan police. Delegates from this bureau attend all
representations, partly to preserve order, but also to see that the rules forbidding
offences against propriety are not infringed. Their interference is very rarely
called for. It has come to be understood, in late years, that the indecencies
of a former period must necessarily be banished, in order to secure the
countenance and patronage of the respectable class. Twenty-five years ago no
ladies, and comparatively few gentlemen of position, could be induced to attend
the theatres. Now the families of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">daimios</i>
and the attachés of the Court are frequent occupants of the boxes, and there is
as little fear that their sensibilities will be shocked as in the most
prudently conducted houses of Europe or America. The question of the limit to
which the relations between the sexes may be illustrated has been discussed in
newspapers and debating clubs, at various times, with a good deal of vigor.
Some extreme purists, like the classical scholar Yoda,<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[25]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
have gone to the length of asserting that all love-scenes should be rigorously
excluded, and only historical or religious episodes be permitted. It is true
that the latitude of love-making which is recognized as natural and becoming in
Western countries would not be legitimately possible with us in real life, as
Japanese society is now constituted. Young people are not permitted to meet and
converse unreservedly, and the growth of affection is never sanctioned until
after a formal betrothal. More commonly it is kept in restraint until the
actual ceremony of marriage is performed. Ardent and passionate demonstrations
would therefore either have no meaning, or would be suggestive of a licentious
disregard of social laws. The tender attachments of husband and wife; the
boundless devotion of children to parents; the fervent and self-sacrificing
loyalty of the servant to his master—all these may be depicted with the utmost
intensity of feeling; but it is only in the illustration of loose intrigue or
illicit intercourse that amatory scenes are represented.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is to be expected that the
gradual adoption of Western ideas and principles will make itself apparent in
the theatre as in other institutions of Japan, but not, I trust, to the extent
of interfering with its thoroughly national characteristics. Its value as a
popular recreation would be greatly impaired by confining it too rigidly to a
purely aesthetic purpose. According to time-honored custom, a visit to the
playhouse is an affair not of a few hours, but of the entire day. Families or
parties of friends take their places early in the morning and remain until
nightfall, partaking of refreshments which are served between the acts from
neighboring restaurants. Among the projects contemplated by the reformers to
whom I have once or twice alluded, there is one which threatens destruction to
these easy and comfortable habits of indulgence. A building is to be
constructed with accommodations for spectators like those provided abroad, and
with a stage admitting of the most elaborate foreign effects. The performances,
in which women will take part as well as men, are to be given only in the
evening, and the several acts are to follow one another in rapid succession. If
the existing dramatic libraries do not furnish pieces that are suited to these
innovations, a new repertory will be created to meet every requirement.
Adaptations of exotic plays may be found desirable, and a few preliminary
attempts in this direction have already been made.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bulwer’s comedy of “Money” has been
submitted to the audiences of Tokyo, but not, it must be acknowledged, with the
most convincing results. It will be a difficult task, in my opinion, to set
aside the forms and methods of amusement which have become endeared to the
public by long and happy association, and to secure the acceptance of strange
and novel features, however meritorious in themselves, in place of the
cherished drama of history, adventure, or domestic romance, with its continuous
and measured development, and its protracted course of action relieved by
interludes of brilliant dancing and pantomime (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shiosa</i>).<a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><sup><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[26]</span></sup><!--[endif]--></span></sup></a>
But I am bound to say that the societies which have taken upon themselves the
work of elevating and improving the stage are entitled to respect for the
honesty and uprightness with which they prosecute their plan, and as they have
secured the co-operation of many eminent actors, and declared themselves ready
to be guided by practical counsel in matters in which they are inexperienced,
it is not unlikely that their efforts will at least prepare the way for future
benefits. If they can broaden and strengthen the edifice of dramatic art
without weakening its foundations, they will deserve the gratitude of the
theatre-loving community throughout Japan. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">***<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">From T.J. Nakagawa, “The Theatres
of Japan” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scribner’s Magazine</i>, 7:5
(May 1890): 603-620. Reprinted as pamphlet (n.d.) from which this chapter is
taken.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> I use the male
pronoun as a convenience, not a certainty.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> My thanks to Professor Hioki, and
to Professor Kei Hibino, of Seikei University, who put me in touch with him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> It is also known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Watanabe to Chōei</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Seiichi Iwao, ed., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Biographical Dictionary of Japanese History</i>,
trans. Burton Watson<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(Tokyo and New
York: Kodansha International, 1978): 270.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> As we see, Nakagawa’s references
to recent events in Japan are several years behind the appearance of his
article.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> This is not to deny even
earlier—albeit occasional, not permanent—uses of revolving (or turntable)
stages, some historians even considering the ancient Greek <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">eccyclema </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the origin of the technique.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> See</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Richard W. Schoch, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shakespeare’s
Victorian Stage: Performing History in the Theatre of Charles Kean</i>
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> It is more usually (and
accurately) known as</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
Soga Brothers’ Night Attack</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Toita Kōji, “The Kabuki, The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shinpa</i>, The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shingeki</i>,” in Komiya Toyotaka, comp. and ed., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Japanese Music and Drama in the Meiji Era</i>, trans. and ad. by Edward
G. Seidensticker and Donald Keene; Vol. 3 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in
Japanese Culture in the Meiji Era</i> (Tokyo: and Donald Keene (Tokyo: Ōbunsha,
1956): 202.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Nishiyama Matsunosuke, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ichikawa Danjūrō </i>(Tokyo: Yoshikawa
Kōbunkan, 1960): 282. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> For a fuller account, in Japanese,
see Ihara Toshirō (Seiseien), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kabuki
Nenpyō</i>, Vol. 7 (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1962): 39-40.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -0.5in; tab-stops: 117.0pt;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">Jitsuko later
became Ichikawa Suisen II, while Fukiko became Ichikawa Kyokubai II. Although
known as kabuki-style dancers and actresses in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shinpa</i>, they never achieved kabuki acting careers. On the other
hand, a female Danjūrō disciple, Ichikawa Kumehachi (1846-1913), previously
mentioned, gained a respectable reputation as a kabuki actress or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">onna yakusha</i>, as explained in Chapter
11. See, also, Loren Edelson, “Revisiting the Female Danjūrō: The Acting Career
of Ichikawa Kumehachi,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Journal of
Japanese Studies </i>34:1 (Winter 2008): 69-98.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> The Teikoku Gekijō (Imperial
Theatre), which opened in 1911, fulfilled Nakagawa’s predictions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn15" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn15;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> A reference to lighting effects
with colored filters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn16" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn16;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Plays about bandits, known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shiranami mono</i>, were an important
subgenre of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sewamono </i>category.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn17" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn17;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[17]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Danjūrō. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn18" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn18;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[18]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Zojōji, still a major Tokyo
temple.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn19" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn19;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[19]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Kannon, goddess of mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn20" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn20;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[20]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Kikugorō V.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn21" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn21;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[21]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Ichikawa Ebizō (1791-1859), better
known as Ichikawa Danjūrō VII, the father of Danjūrō IX. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn22" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn22;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[22]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Actually, a woven, basket-like hat
with an opening for the eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn23" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn23;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[23]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Theatres were classed as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">akusho</i>, places of ill repute, along with
brothel districts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn24" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn24;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[24]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Naritaya was Danjūrō IX and the
actors referred to as Narikoma (i.e., Narikomaya) were Nakamura Shikan IV
(1831-1899) and his son, then Nakamura Fukusuke IV (1865-1940), later Shikan V,
and, finally, Utaemon V.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn25" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn25;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[25]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Yoda Gakkai (1834-1909), a very
important figure in the Theatre Reform Movement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn26" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/T.J.%20Nakagawa%20essay.docx#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn26;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[26]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shosa</i>, lit. “posing,” but, loosely, “movement.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-25135152558694936022022-06-11T09:08:00.002-07:002022-06-11T09:08:51.841-07:00ENGEKIKAI #2 (February 2022): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIq0X5zTC07n4OJtfndH4ON_RPmLjZiTkhNP65XdfwCaM33J6Q6KT5PImTlmosSm3xpfGouGA58v0mgT7VOhCMJH1dGXEM6ngpa1bTYPG3CoiQkNkIXNwpNFre1BBKT9EUA7vWjRf8tNT2cmPHsYlveU4CLwvEpMM7WUGe-tgrlsLRtNiKSikIcBTt/s4400/Ortolani20220611_11473858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4400" data-original-width="3232" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIq0X5zTC07n4OJtfndH4ON_RPmLjZiTkhNP65XdfwCaM33J6Q6KT5PImTlmosSm3xpfGouGA58v0mgT7VOhCMJH1dGXEM6ngpa1bTYPG3CoiQkNkIXNwpNFre1BBKT9EUA7vWjRf8tNT2cmPHsYlveU4CLwvEpMM7WUGe-tgrlsLRtNiKSikIcBTt/w470-h640/Ortolani20220611_11473858.jpg" width="470" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onoe Ukon II as Sakurako in <i>Meoto Dōjōji. </i>(Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;">Thanks to the ridiculously slow
progress of sea mail from Japan, I have finally received the last three issues
of the historically important kabuki magazine, <i>Engekikai</i>, which ended publication in April. It was founded in 1943
when wartime conditions forced the government to consolidate magazine
publishing. It succeeded <i>Engei Gahō</i>,
which similarly focused on kabuki, while also finding room to cover most other
forms of Japanese theatre. Over the years, kabuki became its exclusive focus. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;">Among its extremely important features
was its listing of all the previous month’s kabuki productions, with
titles, casts, curtain times, ticket prices, etc. Now that it’s gone, scholarship will lose an
extremely important record of kabuki performance, one I have made
extensive use of over the years. For my essay on the magazine, and the
evolution of its covers, please see “<i>Engekikai</i>:
Kabuki’s Magazine of Record,” Impressions: The Journal of the Japanese Art
Society of America, No. 37 (2016), pp.74-87, which can be accessed through
JSTOR.Org. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;">Postings on these final issues
will appear over the next week or so. We begin today with the February 2022 issue,
whose cover shows Onoe Ukon II as Sakurako in Meoto Dōjōji, an unusual
adaptation of the classical Dōjōji story in which two actors, instead of one, seek
revenge on a priestly lover. One, as in the picture, however, turns out to be a
man. For more information on this dance-play, <a href="http://www.kabuki21.com/meoto_dojoji.php">see
this link.</a> It was performed in December 2021 at the Kabuki-za. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;">The main article in the issue,
noted at the bottom, right, is an illustrated overview of last year’s kabuki
world. Other entries include a piece about the actor Nakamura Shidō, about what
was then an upcoming New Year’s performance in which his young son, Ogawa
Haruki, was to make his debut. The issue also has reviews of various
productions, including at Kyoto’s Minami-za, the latest installment of actor
Matsumoto Kōshirō’s series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights,” and an
overview of the career of the late Nakamura Kichiemon II, one of the great
stars of the last six decades. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F0F2F5;">T<span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "inherit",serif; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-18111113508512225292022-06-08T07:32:00.010-07:002022-06-09T04:44:15.586-07:00"The Opening of the Rebuilt Ichimura-za, Tokyo, 1888" (From the Japan Weekly Mail)<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">From
the</span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Japan Weekly Mail<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“The Opening
of the Rebuilt Ichimura-za, Tokyo, 1888”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Introduction by</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Samuel L. Leiter</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In
the course of collecting materials for my book-in-progress, tentatively titled </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">Foreign
Theatregoers in Meiji Japan: A Kabuki Anthology,<i> I searched for English-language essays in memoirs, encyclopedias,
diaries, travelogues, and magazine articles—whatever was written about kabuki
during the years following Perry’s opening of Japan in 1853 to the end of the
Meiji period (1868-1912). Not a single book of the period was devoted entirely
to Japanese theatre—not even the one by Osman Edwards called </i>Japanese Plays
and Playfellows <i>(1901)</i> —<i>but I discovered forty or so essays that
will appear in the book, all with my detailed introductions and annotations.</i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">They
offer a fascinating view of how Westerners viewed or thought about kabuki at a
time when no scholarly work was available to explain it to them. The mistakes
abound, of course, but nothing else comes quite so close as do many of these
essays to recreating what it was like to be a foreign theatregoer seeing kabuki
in the days when you had to sit on tatami mats, squeezed in with four or five
others, eating, drinking, and smoking within a tiny box which could only be
accessed by balancing along narrow wooden shafts separating one box from another.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Because
of their scarcity and difficulty of access, not to mention concerns about the
book’s length, I chose to omit newspaper articles, most of them not
particularly useful anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>There
were several English-language newspapers available in Meiji Japan. Among them
was the </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Japan Weekly Mail<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,
</i>A Political, Commercial, and Literary Journal. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It was the weekly version of the </i>Japan Mail<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">founded in Yokohoma in
1870, and said to be the most widely read such paper in Asia. It was a
forerunner of the still publishing </i>Japan Times. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fortunately, a good number of its archives are online, although not
always easy to use. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">One
of the more valuable pieces is this one, </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">from the</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Japan Weekly Mail<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, January 14, 1888, describing</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> the reopening that year of Tokyo’s
Ichimura-za, one of the three major venues formerly called the Edo Sanza (Edo’s
Three Theatres), the others being the Nakamura-za and the Morita-za (renamed
the Shintomi-za in 1875). The original title is simply “Ichimura.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Its
anonymous author has no fondness for the simple, essentially unadorned,
traditional kabuki theatre’s appearance, although certain other foreigners of
the day were more admiring. Most significant to the writer was the presence of Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (1838-1903), the leading star, whom many Westerners
considered not only a great actor, but one of the greatest in the world. Writer
after writer compared him to England’s foremost actor, Sir Henry Irving, a
comparison I wrote of in detail many years ago before I’d even read these
accounts. Danjūrō’s presence was so significant that a sizable contingent of invited
government officials showed up for the occasion.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Of
unusual interest is the article’s moralistic tone, especially with regard to
the writer’s belief that Danjūrō, brilliant as he was in straight drama, was
demeaning himself by dancing a piece he calls </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Sanba<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, which would be </i>Sanbasō<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. There were several variants of this
auspicious dance, which originated in the ritualistic proto-nō piece called </i>Okina<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. They were always performed at the opening
ceremonies of kabuki theatres. This one was produced under the ceremonial title
</i>Shin Kaijō Umeda Kamigaki<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">It
also notes the presence of electric lighting, although the first Tokyo theatre
generally said to have used electricity, for arc lighting, was the Chitose-za,
a year earlier. Since the writer mentions “an electric light” in the singular,
it, too, is likely to have been an arc.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The
article gives a good idea of what it was like to be there on this occasion. The
unnamed play was Kawatake Mokuami’s </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Kaikei Genji Yuki no Shirahata<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, newly written for this production. It was
a two-act “living history” (</i>katsureki<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">)
play. Nakamura Fukusuke IV (later Shikan V and Utaemon V, the foremost </i>onnagata<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> of the pre-World War II years) was
Yoshitsune.</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p><i> (Note: the original spelling has been retained.)</i></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">On Tuesday afternoon an interesting
reunion of Japanese and foreigners took place at the Ichimura Theatre, Asakusa.
This is one of the oldest theatres in Tōkyō. Its remote and inconvenient
position, miles away from the centre of the metropolis, may probably be taken
as an indication of the low esteem in which the histrionic art was held by the
Japanese of former days. Neither is the penalty of distance compensated by
immunity from fire. Quite recently the Ichimuraza was burned to the ground. Its
restoration and reopening were the occasion of the ceremony of Tuesday. No
doubt there was a strong desire to mark the newly recognised status of the
drama by a corresponding departure from the antiquated fashion of a wooden
shanty, wholly without comforts or adornments, But an equally antiquated
trouble strangled these aspirations in the cradle—funds failed. The theatre was
therefore reconstructed on the old lines, which statement will be understood by
our readers to exonerate us from any detailed description of architectural
features or internal fittings. The former are very ugly; the latter,
proportionately rude. A brave attempt was made, however, to embellish the
approaches. Arches of greenery and festoons of many-coloured lanterns diverted
the gaze from less pleasing objects of contemplation. Nor should we forget to
note that the theatre is supplied with an electric light—emblematic, may we be
permitted to say, of much that one witnesses now-a-days in Japan; the sparkle
of modern progress amid the sombreness of archaic surroundings. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">To the embarrassed and temporarily
crippled condition of its much larger sister, Shintomiza, the Asakusa theatre
owed the good fortune of being able to enlist the services of the great actor
ICHIKAWA DANJURO. And to DANJURO'S cöoperation is probably due the new
departure made at the opening ceremony on Tuesday—all the foreign officials and
foreign employés of the Japanese Government were invited to be present, and a
large number availed themselves of the invitation. The whole of the gallery
directly facing the stage was prepared for their accommodation. This part of
the theatre corresponds to the “Gods” in English parlance. Its disadvantages in
respect of hearing being of small importance to persons who cannot understand
though they hear, it was doubtless chosen for the foreign audience on account
of its commanding view of the stage. The invitations were issued for two
o'clock, but nearly two hours elapsed before the performance began. The ennui
of long waiting was, however, relieved by the strains of two military hands,
one on either side of the stage, which played alternately with admirable taste
and execution. There is no good wholly unmixed. We ourselves cannot have a
second opinion as to the rashness of prefacing the recitative of a Japanese
orchestra by a full concert of Western wind instruments. When the swelling
cadence of the latter was suddenly succeeded by the reedy flutes, shallow
drums, and unearthly falsetto of the former, it was impossible to compare the
two with becoming gravity. Was the contrast intentionally contrived? Scarcely,
we think. Its effect, however, cannot have failed to impress the Japanese
audience, but whether in a radical or a conservative sense, who shall say?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Those of our readers who
are familiar with the ways of Japanese theatres, will be prepared to learn that
the performance commenced with the well-known dance of the Samba. Let us not
omit, however, to note that this was preceded by a parade of the whole company
of actors. They came upon the stage dressed in swallow-tails, self-possessed
and free from gaucherie, as Japanese invariably are, but not much less puzzled
to dispose of their hands conveniently than Europeans would have been under
more favourable circumstances. At their head was ICHIKAWA DANJURO himself. He
read, with his usual perfect elocution, a short address thanking the audience
for their attendance, and commenting in well-chosen terms on the immensely
improved status of the Japanese stage and the Japanese actor in recent years.
The next time the spectators saw DANJURO, he was posturing and capering as
SENZAI in the Samba dance. Here was another startling contrast. The moral it
suggested was that no efforts to elevate the position of the Japanese actor can
be thoroughly successful until he himself acquires a true sense of the dignity
of his art. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">It will of course be
urged that dancing in Japan is not as dancing in Europe or America. Perhaps
not. There may be less degradation in waving one’s hands and swaying one's body
than in cutting a double shuffle or pirouetting on the points of one's toes.
But both are purely physical exercises, demanding no moral effort whatsoever,
and utterly unworthy of such</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">an actor as DANJURO. The stage in Japan must remain where it is until it raises itself. Our readers will scarcely credit us when we say that on the day preceding that of which we write, many of the leading Japanese residents of Tōkyō, being invited to the theatre, presented handsome pecuniary douceurs to the actors, which were gratefully and humbly accepted. While such humiliation is submitted to, the old-time opprobrium can never be removed,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How easily one forgot to moralize, however, when DANJURO came upon the stage in the character of Yoritomo. The meeting of the BAYARD of Japanese history, YOSHITSUNE, and his elder brother YORITOMO, after the latter has gained his first great victory over the Heike forces, is a favourite scene in the histrionic repertoire of Japan. Yet it owes its whole interest to association. In the scene itself there is not so much as one striking situation, or one bit of stirring action. The brothers have not met since as children they were separated by the orders of their father’s conqueror, KYOMORI. YOSHITSUNE has been living under the protection of HIDEHIRA, chief of Oshú; YORITOMO, in exile in Suruga. After years of waiting and planning, the latter at length raises his standard—the “snow-white pennon”—and defeats the troops sent against him by a vassal of KYOMORI [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sic</i>]. YOSHITSUNE, hearing that swords are unsheathed, rides in hot haste from Oshú, in defiance of HIDEHIRA'S injunctions, and, arriving at the camp of Uki-no-shima, among the plains and vallies [sic] of Fujisan’s southern slope, succeeds with some difficulty in procuring audience of his brother. The meeting of the two men is the scene represented. They do not run into each other's arms or clasp fervent hands after the fashion of the West. YORITOMO sits impassive, imperturbable, at the head of his chief captains. YOSHITSUNE, carefully observing all the minutiae of cold etiquette, bows his way to a seat, three paces from his brother's dais. Only when the young man’s likeness to his father recalls some memory of the past, does YORITOMO falter, and for a moment the two brothers, gazing into one another's eyes, forget that they are soldiers. A slight touch of nature in truth, but incredibly magnified and accentuated by the unbending sternness of its circumstances. Then the captains introduce themselves to the new-comer; by their desire he is appointed to the command of the van; and Yoritomo tells him that they shall not meet again until the overthrow of the House of TAIRA is accomplished. Of such simple materials is the scene constructed. To an audience familiar with the subsequent history of the two brothers, there cannot but be elements of deep pathos in a representation recalling so much that can never be forgotten as long as Japan has a history. Yet it would be difficult to place upon the stage any piece less calculated to appeal to vulgar taste.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There followed a dance exceedingly graceful and picturesque. Performed by a number of lads, sons of actors, and combining characteristics of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mai</i> and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No</i>, it enjoyed the distinction of being a novelty in old garments, Of course we need not attempt to describe it. The beauty of such things—and it was both beautiful and artistic—depends upon situations that cannot be portrayed in speech. The whole affair partook somewhat of the nature of a revival. It was permeated by an atmosphere of antiquity, seen through which the parade in swallow-tails and the brass bands receded to the end of a long, long vista. Would it be better that they should remain there permanently? Let others answer the knotty question. For us it is enough that we were privileged to witness a performance which we recommend our readers to see as soon as possible.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 117.0pt;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 117.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">***<br clear="all" style="break-before: page; mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: #ffa400;"> </span></o:p></p>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/JAPAN%20DAILY%20MAIL.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> Its title was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shinkyoku Ōyamato Mai</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/sllei/OneDrive/Desktop/JAPAN%20DAILY%20MAIL.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: JA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mai</i> generally refers to the kind of stately dance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nō</i> theatre, while <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">odori </i>is used for the livelier dance of kabuki.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-49939972115582880622022-04-24T08:30:00.001-07:002022-04-24T08:35:23.885-07:00ENGEKIKAI #1 (January 2022): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqUXmDf4GvRxgrLDA8i5ddZioiHyaENaAOFvCzKxts1q1V4yMPN-4Zg8gQltjPCgfEZ3HEm7buQFdv6PdSvl3kglDGoQrXpfr_nv8B5E76chi0AZ5_ecY2xQcw2XeLXHcKnKvBHEKLlNplJTDvVjmJkhZ4IWhljXWNA8FUQvTNJo-3vbH8kwpL2kj/s3300/engekikai%201%20202220220423_15070099.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqUXmDf4GvRxgrLDA8i5ddZioiHyaENaAOFvCzKxts1q1V4yMPN-4Zg8gQltjPCgfEZ3HEm7buQFdv6PdSvl3kglDGoQrXpfr_nv8B5E76chi0AZ5_ecY2xQcw2XeLXHcKnKvBHEKLlNplJTDvVjmJkhZ4IWhljXWNA8FUQvTNJo-3vbH8kwpL2kj/w466-h640/engekikai%201%20202220220423_15070099.jpg" width="466" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bandō Minosuke as Soga no Gorō in <i>Kotobuki Soga no Taimen</i>. Photo: Shinoyama Kishin. <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>This is the cover for the January 2022 issue of <i>Engekikai</i>, the great kabuki magazine of
record that ends its remarkable well-over a century reign (it began as <i>Engei Gahō </i>in 1909) this month (April
2020). (I have an advance copy but will wait to show its cover and contents following the arrival of the February and March issues, which are presently floating to me by sea mail.) It shows Bandō Minosuke II in the <i>aragoto
</i>role of Soga no Gorō in the classic play <i>Kotobuki
Soga no Taimen </i>at the Kabuki-za in November 2021. It was part of a memorial
program honoring the seventh anniversary of the death of Bandō Mitsugorō X,
Minosuke’s father. The issue’s main contents, as listed on the cover, include a
gallery of well over 100 photos of famous actors making their theatrical debuts
as children, covering the years from the Taishō (1912-1926) to Reiwa (2019- )
periods. Such photographic galleries are among the enormously valuable measures
by which this marvelous magazine has helped sustain kabuki theatre in modern
times.<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also in the issue, as noted at the top of the cover, are interviews
and conversations with actors participating in the recent annual <i>kaomise </i>performances at Kyoto’s Minami-za.
Participants are Kataoka Nizaemon, Nakamura Ganjirō, Nakamura Senjaku, Nakamura
Shikan, Kataoka Kōtarō, Matsumoto Kōshirō, and Kataoka Ainosuke. There also
are articles about the great actors Bandō Tamasaburō V and Onoe Kikugorō VII
regarding their December 2021 performances at the Kabuki-za. At the left of the
cover is mention of a kabuki calendar, which accompanied purchase of the issue,
showing the cover photos for each month of the previous year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-33346550528031191192022-04-15T08:45:00.004-07:002022-04-15T08:45:44.350-07:00ENGEKIKAI #12 (December 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkAA_3k067wA6iy27c3EJY3MaQqWGHBK8Pjzs6cfC1uiodac2vxKIHq6gp-rb7uLF3_fRQvTP68RWBgOcA8FzoVl8SKgWAfCetsNCZIwnMo515NtClS0BLHqpFeAv6szCMBCFeLpRIRwQNJTTFQ0Ac-3HVCE8rpAP3_KqElqc1Gz8saCUXf3WJwwZ/s3264/engekikai%2012%20202120220415_10361684.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2430" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkAA_3k067wA6iy27c3EJY3MaQqWGHBK8Pjzs6cfC1uiodac2vxKIHq6gp-rb7uLF3_fRQvTP68RWBgOcA8FzoVl8SKgWAfCetsNCZIwnMo515NtClS0BLHqpFeAv6szCMBCFeLpRIRwQNJTTFQ0Ac-3HVCE8rpAP3_KqElqc1Gz8saCUXf3WJwwZ/w476-h640/engekikai%2012%20202120220415_10361684.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nakamura Baigyoku as Fukuoka Mitsugi in <i>Ise Ondo Koi no Netaba. </i>(Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The legendary kabuki magazine <i>Engekikai</i> published its last issue this month (April). I’m in possession
of three of the last five issues and will be posting images of each, with a selected
list of their contents. First will come the December 2021 issue, then the
January 2022 issue. I’m waiting for the February and March issues, which, as
usual during the pandemic, are taking an extremely long time to arrive. When
they do, they’ll be posted. A friend who wasn’t aware I had a subscription sent
me the final issue, which, apparently, sold out quickly as a collector’s item.
So, eventually, I will have two copies when my subscription is completed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The cover for the December 2021 issue shows veteran Nakamura
Baigyoku IV as Fukuoka Mitsugi in the classic Osaka drama, <i>Ise Ondo Koi no Netaba</i>, a translation of which by Stanleigh H.
Jones is in my and James R. Brandon’s four-volume series <i>Kabuki Plays on Stage</i>. This production was seen in October 2021 at
the Kokuritsu Gekijō (National Theatre). Almost every previous <i>Engekikai </i>cover used a photo from a Kabuki-za
production, so this one represents a shift from tradition.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The selected contents listed on the cover include a section
devoted to articles about dramatizations of the story of the 47 rōnin, perhaps
kabuki’s most frequently staged event. But these essays are not about the
classic version of the story, <i>Kanadehon Chūshingura</i>,
of 1748, but about variant versions dealing with different characters in the story,
with anecdotes about actors who appeared in them. Star actor Matsumoto Kōshirō continues
his series, “Kōshirō’s 1001 Nights”; a photo essay about the seventh-year
memorial production of <i>Soga no Taimen</i>
honoring the late Bandō Mitsugorō X (1956-2015), starring his son Bandō Minosuke
as Gorō; and discussions of their current performances between the great star
Kataoka Nizaemon XVIII and his 22-year-old great-grandson, Kataoka Sennosuke; and
the brothers Nakamura Kankurō and Nakamura Shichinosuke, two of today’s most
popular young stars.<o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-91897870081017490482021-12-28T14:17:00.002-08:002021-12-28T17:08:25.263-08:00ENGEKIKAI #11 (November 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEika6Jjq9fV8rknYqkfJNAU0OSRC86G3aDHaEC2Qz0MHmIGF_eW4H_GrfY4JufAxKNRsAX-c45nfq3Gf0evPsaaBCpYZJRxKP8bNVwdaL2GlffCid4fqqga6fyzMSCzcjHtccbdjzDe9mUgjw1o10-GiRV9byyfGDFVFOx-BLgHtB8o9l6cMbNXD0nd=s3288" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3288" data-original-width="2429" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEika6Jjq9fV8rknYqkfJNAU0OSRC86G3aDHaEC2Qz0MHmIGF_eW4H_GrfY4JufAxKNRsAX-c45nfq3Gf0evPsaaBCpYZJRxKP8bNVwdaL2GlffCid4fqqga6fyzMSCzcjHtccbdjzDe9mUgjw1o10-GiRV9byyfGDFVFOx-BLgHtB8o9l6cMbNXD0nd=w472-h640" width="472" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nakamura Fukusuke as Tokiwazu Mojifuku. (Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The cover for the November 2021 (#11) issue of ENGEKIKAI,
the monthly kabuki magazine of record, shows Nakamura Fukusuke as Tokiwazu
Mojifuku in O-Edo Miyage, as performed at Tokyo’s Kabuki-za in September 2021.
The issue’s main contents are listed on the cover (there are more inside), the
chief feature being the headline at the upper left announcing a section on
Bonds and Destiny among Women in kabuki, which features an illustrated series
of brief essays on leading female characters. Other items mentioned are an
interview with actor Kataoka Ainosuke on his then forthcoming program at Osaka’s
Shōchiku-za; an article about the production activity of Onoe Matsuya; a
discussion among four actors of the shinpa genre—an early form of modern
Japanese drama that emerged in the 1890s—about their special forthcoming revival
honoring the memory of great shinpa star Hanayagi Shōtarō; and the latest in
the series of essays by star Matsumoto Kōshirō called “Kōshirō’s Thousand and
One Nights.”<o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKxkV9fTx8PVQjN1qUnEldGeTzprVMw6uPopOD1xPxxIijT0Zie82QTIvVQUVirr69IcsJLFLA_10qLAnXo86D9W0K3ZsNgRox3vFfFOsa8NaCmbQtP2se6iHYKkqXx3sDtVizftjgdxseisYrIzZjVML_2BMk3GH6OWfr1M3RRpnKSIsmYBHHQtmY=s3288" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3288" data-original-width="2333" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKxkV9fTx8PVQjN1qUnEldGeTzprVMw6uPopOD1xPxxIijT0Zie82QTIvVQUVirr69IcsJLFLA_10qLAnXo86D9W0K3ZsNgRox3vFfFOsa8NaCmbQtP2se6iHYKkqXx3sDtVizftjgdxseisYrIzZjVML_2BMk3GH6OWfr1M3RRpnKSIsmYBHHQtmY=w454-h640" width="454" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper left and left middle: Morita-za hand warmer. Upper right: Morita-za yagura kanban. Below: Kokusenya Kassen at the Morita-za.</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal">Each issue of ENGEKIKAI begins with an item memorializing
some artifact of kabuki history. Those featured here are a yagura kanban
(theatre signboard) and a teaburi (handwarmer). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve adapted the accompanying Japanese text by
Kodama Ryūichi explaining what these are:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Edo period
(1603-1868), the name of each theatre’s producer (zamoto) was written on a
signboard placed beneath the drum tower (yagura) over the theatre’s front. The
number of major theatres was limited to three, the Edo Sanza as they were
called, the Nakamura-za, the Ichimura-za, and the Morita-za, the last having
the weakest track record of them all. Whenever business plunged at any theatre and
the management had to close up shop, an alternative theatre (hikae yagura) was
allowed to produce in its place. The alternative theatre for the Morita-za was
the Kawarasaki (or Kawarazaki)-za, managed by a line of men called Kawarasaki
Gonnosuke. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1856, the Morita-za, which had been shut down, once more was
allowed to put up its drum tower, a sign that it had official permission to
operate. However, on the ninth day of New Year’s month, 1858, a fire broke out
on the third floor of the Morita-za and spread to other nearby streets in
Asakusa’s Saruwaka-machi theatre district, destroying both the Morita-za and
the Ichimura-za. The Nakamura-za, which survived unscathed, decided to cancel
the rest of its New Year’s run. With each of the Edo Sanza unavailable, the
young star Bandō Hikosaburō V departed Edo for Osaka’s Naka no Shibai, in the Dōtonbori
entertainment district. Soon after, his father, Bandō Kamezō (formerly Hikosaburō
IV), followed. Hikosaburō performed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Musume
Dōjōji </i>and was highly praised but on the twenty-fifth day of the second
month, the nearby Kado-za caught fire and all the Dōtonbori theatres, other
than the Nishi no Shibai, were burned down. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s hard to imagine today, but theatres—built entirely of
wood—were constantly being destroyed by fire in those days. According to one
source, if one looks only at the Edo Sanza, the first half of the nineteenth
century witnessed fifteen theatre fires, a pattern that didn’t let up, even in
the second half of the century, when more modern construction methods were
being used. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Morita-za was soon rebuilt and opened on the seventh day
of the seventh month of 1858, but from this time on it changed the character
for “mori” from <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">森</span> to <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">守</span>, thus turning the <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">森田座</span><span lang="JA"> </span>into the <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">守田座</span>. Producer Morita Kan'ya altered
the spelling of his name accordingly. This also meant that the wooden signboard
with the theatre’s name also had to be revised. On the surviving signboard, the
rear side has the Japanese date (Manji 3) for 1660 engraved on it, that being
the year the first Morita-za was founded. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even after the new Morita-za was built, it burned down again
in 1864 and 1876. We don’t know what happened to the signboards of those
theatres, but in February 1875 (after the adoption of the Western calendar) the
theatre’s name was changed to the Shintomi-za (which would be one of most
renowned venues of its time) so we can confirm Morita-za items from before that
time, which makes them extremely valuable. One such is the Morita-za kanban
shown in the picture at the upper right.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another is a triptych woodblock print by Umeda Kunimasa
(Utagawa Kunimasa IV), “Tōkyō Shintomi-chō Morita-za Ōiri no Zu” (Picture of a
Full House at the Morita-za in Tokyo’s Shintomi-chō) depicting a production of Kokusenya
Kassen in October 1872. Standing on the bridge at center in the role of Watonai
is Kawarasaki Gonnosuke VII (later Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, one of the three
greatest stars of the Meiji period), while Kanki is played by Ichikawa Sadanji
I (part of the same triad of stars), and Kinshōjo is taken by Iwai Hanshirō
VIII. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the lower right side of the picture is a young woman,
standing on the secondary hanamichi runway as an usher shows her to her seat.
In the usher’s hand is a “teaburi” (or “hakohibachi”), a<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>wooden box holding a charcoal brazier and used for heating and
pipe smoking. An actual example of one from the Morita-za is seen in the
accompanying photos. It belongs to the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum at
Waseda University in Tokyo. The words in black on its back say “Saruwaka-machi
Morita-za,” using the later spelling of Morita. The words on its side say “daidai
kanau,” which is short for “senshū banzai daidai kanau,” an imprecation
formerly used in both kabuki and sumō meaning something like “Full houses
forever!” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The drawer at the bottom is lined with copper onto which
were placed ashes and charcoal, with a copper-lined grating (sunoko) over them through
which passed heat from below. You placed your hands over it to warm them. The
grating was also a safety measure, intended to prevent sparks from flying out. These
offered a modicum of comfort to spectators on a cold winter day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Items like the teaburi were such commonplaces in theatres
that no one seems to have bothered to write anything about them. It’s very
fortunate that someone thought enough about preserving this artifact to donate
it to the museum. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">yJ<o:p></o:p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-51246703813369154122021-12-09T17:42:00.000-08:002021-12-09T17:42:17.868-08:00ENGEKIKAI #10 (October 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7BlfTAuhGa4JUnqlJcSGE-ZHS5lN8jayN_dzt574jXzqbWO9t0WlojHqFtilxXS_0m3ufpwumUFf2y3TWkxTIT3-XSjGP3wmb7SCgsp03NymVvijCb4zSowkfS5ZlxgReXhF2RC0rHsd-6gdKrYYcf9eZXcDIPFMZlPMMWiLheMKSjWZoN-_LjuMX=s2048" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1504" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj7BlfTAuhGa4JUnqlJcSGE-ZHS5lN8jayN_dzt574jXzqbWO9t0WlojHqFtilxXS_0m3ufpwumUFf2y3TWkxTIT3-XSjGP3wmb7SCgsp03NymVvijCb4zSowkfS5ZlxgReXhF2RC0rHsd-6gdKrYYcf9eZXcDIPFMZlPMMWiLheMKSjWZoN-_LjuMX=w470-h640" width="470" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Matsumoto Kōshirō as Kisō no Senjō Yoshikata </span>(Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p class="MsoNormal">The cover of the recently arrived October (#10) 2021 issue
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Engekikai</i>, the kabuki magazine of
record, depicts Matsumoto Kōshirō as Kisō no Senjō Yoshikata in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Genpei Nunobiki no Taki: Yoshikata Saigō</i>,
as performed at Tokyo’s Kabuki-za in August. The leading feature of the issue,
noted at the upper right, is titled “Let’s Read Geidan,” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">geidan </i>being books containing actors’ comments on their work.
Leading kabuki actors have long left records of their thoughts on and approaches
to the roles they play; these form an important resource for later actors. In
addition to a well-illustrated survey of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">geidan</i>,
there’s a discussion about them by actors Ichikawa Ennosuke and Onoe Ukon.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Other contents listed on the cover (there are many more inside)
include comments on the late, great <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">onnagata
</i>(female-role specialists)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>stars
Nakamura Utaemon VI, who died 20 years ago, and Nakamura Shikan VII, who passed
10 years ago. Those remembering them are Nakamura Baigyoku, adopted son of
Utaemon, and Shikan’s son, Shikan VIII. The issue also contains a report on the
Odori no Kai (Dance Association) of Nakamura Tanenosuke, and a piece about another
young actor, Ichikawa Kōtarō, about his independent production of scenes from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura</i> last summer.
Finally, there’s an interview with the veteran star Kataoka Nizaemon XV concerning
his then upcoming performance at the Kabuki-za of Iemon in the famous ghost
play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yotsuya Kaidan</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Among the issue’s interesting articles is one describing Tokyo’s
two excellent theatre bookstores. The first shows Junichi Kobayashi in his tiny
store, the Kobikido Shoten, in Higashi Ginza, across the street from the Kabuki-za. As the accompanying
photo shows, the place is stacked high with books, magazines, posters, photos, records,
and all sorts of printed memorabilia of kabuki. It’s a fascinating place to
wander around in as long as you’re careful to keep your elbows close. Two or
more customers at the same time can prove hazardous. Kobayashi-san is on FB and
often posts photos of stuff he has for sale on one of FB’s kabuki pages.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtI-zj8wC0Ac0GlATvQP38Uk9SVONoXK_U42CCvDpTsB9sAniqKm5I4ENlIuCixNyJoNyysdzxv-O0_RA8x787QI3PBXlpnJI6I5Xh3AgRT4OKg6gE7kq0QOaqg9beKwwuasWczuPpiMFhFG8wvbc-AIMlfMGf3nDjs0_oClCuRUFWmYtPrCLFUtv7=s1188" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1188" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtI-zj8wC0Ac0GlATvQP38Uk9SVONoXK_U42CCvDpTsB9sAniqKm5I4ENlIuCixNyJoNyysdzxv-O0_RA8x787QI3PBXlpnJI6I5Xh3AgRT4OKg6gE7kq0QOaqg9beKwwuasWczuPpiMFhFG8wvbc-AIMlfMGf3nDjs0_oClCuRUFWmYtPrCLFUtv7=w640-h498" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Junichi Kobayashi in the Kobikido Shoten.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6bVehzeN7dUJBrCdLgKuMLwwVLZlwVerCEBFmz-T52yOiU7svBjXHQTKajXSqrGIAzDa7E1a34Id06U7W727zmOYGq2lZ-g0pdxL5DHNth0ZTW7KA76xCORFGpNvjXaCB3dzPC_w32o-q_txH3Mv6p_pj7xJNUfnnKIJP75kc-JEhT9sVLamLvHa_=s1314" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1314" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6bVehzeN7dUJBrCdLgKuMLwwVLZlwVerCEBFmz-T52yOiU7svBjXHQTKajXSqrGIAzDa7E1a34Id06U7W727zmOYGq2lZ-g0pdxL5DHNth0ZTW7KA76xCORFGpNvjXaCB3dzPC_w32o-q_txH3Mv6p_pj7xJNUfnnKIJP75kc-JEhT9sVLamLvHa_=w640-h450" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tezuka Osamu in the Tezuka Shob<span style="text-align: left;">ō</span>.</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal">The other store shown, the Tezuka Shobō, is located on a backstreet in
Jinbochō, Tokyo’s amazing bookstore neighborhood. As the photo shows, it’s a
more orderly, well-organized shop, and has books not only kabuki but on all
other forms of Japanese traditional theatre. The man in the picture is the
proprietor, Tezuka Osamu (no, not that one). The first time I visited the
place, about ten years ago, I was taken there by my friend and former PhD
student, Prof. Hibino Kei. While I was searching the shelves, I noticed a
young, attractive foreigner. Assuming her to be American or English, and,
thinking she must be a Japanese theatre specialist, I struck up a conversation.
She turned out to be a Polish scholar of kabuki named Dr. Iga Rutkowska and,
when I introduced myself, knew precisely who I was and was extremely happy to
meet me. I’ll never forget the meeting, which was one of the most serendipitous
of my life. Since then Iga and I have become good digital friends, the only
time we ever spent any real time together being when we took part in a Japanese
theatre conference in Israel a couple of years ago.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-64742544462455227752021-12-04T09:42:00.003-08:002021-12-04T09:42:33.961-08:00ENGEKIKAI #9 (September 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4izn6LG5-Jw-mpWr3_XHSBZOjQuL7LnWNiTK5dyg-qQVRKYfk19wf0gDS-k5l230p2GlD7YuTubTVO64vcNZK5HOU6StK8spj7pEdoRMG6sv8Fvv-932-yjdssC3WWLQGV50ruBo-Lq0/s2048/Engekikai+9+202120211201_10525158_0371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1489" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4izn6LG5-Jw-mpWr3_XHSBZOjQuL7LnWNiTK5dyg-qQVRKYfk19wf0gDS-k5l230p2GlD7YuTubTVO64vcNZK5HOU6StK8spj7pEdoRMG6sv8Fvv-932-yjdssC3WWLQGV50ruBo-Lq0/w466-h640/Engekikai+9+202120211201_10525158_0371.jpg" width="466" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ichikawa Ebizo as Hayakumo in <i>Narukami Fudo Kitayama Zakura</i>. Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">The September and October 2021 issues of <i>Engekikai</i>, the
kabuki magazine of record, have finally arrived. Surface shipping from Japan
takes about two months these days. Thank you, Prof. Kei Hibino, for forwarding
these!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">We’ll start with the September issue, whose brilliant cover
shows Ichikawa Ebizō as Prince Hayakumo, the nobleman villain, in the
full-length (<i>tōshi kyōgen</i>) production of <i>Narukami
Fudō Kitayama Zakura </i>at the Kabuki-za in July. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The issue’s main feature is an illustrated tour through
kabuki plays showing travel to various places in Japan. If you lived in the Edo
period, and were restricted from traveling because of all the hardships
involved (including having to walk, no matter how far, unless you could afford
to be carried in an uncomfortable palanquin), kabuki could take you there with
plays set all around the country, from the seashores to the mountains, and to
all the famous temples, shrines, and castles that were principal destinations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The issue also has an interview with star Matsumoto Kōshirō X
re: his then upcoming August production, and an interview with young actor
Nakamura Tsurumatsu. There’s also a conversation with Ichikawa Enya about his
performance in the Broadway musical <i>Anything
Goes </i>at Tokyo’s Meiji-za in August.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The last item mentioned on the cover is of a production
titled <i>Ibuki,</i>. Assuming this means something
like “a breath of fresh air” (it’s written in syllabic script rather than
kanji), the added comma at the end was intended to suggest that it’s meant to
be continued, with new iterations. That’s because the show was presented by top star Ichikawa Ebizō on
behalf of young actors whose opportunities for stage experience was being
constrained by the decrease of productions during the pandemic. <i>Ibuki,</i> was
given at Kyoto’s Minami-za in seven performances over four days in June 2021,
and was a two-part program including two scenes from the classic history play <i>Imoseyama Onna Teikin </i>and a well-known dance play, <i>Noriaibune Ehō Manzai</i>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Every issue of the magazine contains a photo essay on an interesting kabuki-related artifact. Below is the actual costume custom-built for Ichikawa Sadanji II, the first kabuki actor to visit the West, where he went to study foreign theatre in 1904. It was created in Rome, in preparation for when he'd return to Japan and play Marc Antony in <i>Julius Caesar</i>, at a time when Shakespeare was beginning to make an impression on Japanese theatre. </p></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXw40Vc7IfAOrVqnGBoP06JxmbbzS2FDpurQNDYFwpPXKRXUMLL3Va-gGjivT4Vy0_oH-K34to5o2yH8UW_cb5n0b-wKso55pk-FaOuYzj3UEfLYbefzyhyphenhyphenDQAKdwre2emqRgeZazzYVc/s2048/Engekikai+9+202120211204_12100128_0372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1241" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXw40Vc7IfAOrVqnGBoP06JxmbbzS2FDpurQNDYFwpPXKRXUMLL3Va-gGjivT4Vy0_oH-K34to5o2yH8UW_cb5n0b-wKso55pk-FaOuYzj3UEfLYbefzyhyphenhyphenDQAKdwre2emqRgeZazzYVc/w388-h640/Engekikai+9+202120211204_12100128_0372.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-26789939277921611802021-10-06T09:04:00.003-07:002021-10-07T04:54:12.697-07:00ENGEKIKAI #8 (August 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MR8qbTPnl78zcPT7lvEk-Y4fIFJFtIUXrnr4VWp1rCPPcNQ_R_NwyzzJyS4w5KJHYAZbjgMkyyJ82pnXcsA48ZoKD0oeTtz0Mkwcqo220LkbTLVW6FCIyT7B29GHeI9WBOiQI-YkzaU/s2048/Engekikai+8+202120210910_12253335_0302.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1541" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7MR8qbTPnl78zcPT7lvEk-Y4fIFJFtIUXrnr4VWp1rCPPcNQ_R_NwyzzJyS4w5KJHYAZbjgMkyyJ82pnXcsA48ZoKD0oeTtz0Mkwcqo220LkbTLVW6FCIyT7B29GHeI9WBOiQI-YkzaU/w482-h640/Engekikai+8+202120210910_12253335_0302.jpg" width="482" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ichikawa Ennosuke IV as Priest Nichiren. Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The August issue of ENGEKIKAI, kabuki’s monthly magazine of
record, features a cover photo of Ichikawa Ennosuke IV as the priest Renchō
(later Nichiren) in the new play <i>Nichiren—Ai
wo Shiru Hito</i> (Nichiren—A Priest Who Knows Love). It was produced on part 3
of the June 2021 Kabuki-za program, celebrating the 800<sup>th</sup> birthday
of Nichiren, one of Japanese Buddhism’s most important figures. The Kabuki-za’s
online synopsis says:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>This play is set in
the 13th century, a time of great turbulence caused by raging wars, a series of
natural disasters, starvation and epidemics. In the depths of night on Mount
Hiei, ascetic monks gather in front of the main temple hall. Inside, Renchō has
remained confined for ten days without eating or drinking, and now his voice
chanting the sutras can no longer be heard. In contrast to the other monks who
are repulsed by Renchō’s uncompromising attitude, Jōben is moved by Renchō’s
passion and is now concerned about him. Jōben breaks down the door to enter the
hall. Please look forward to the kabuki production commemorating the 800th
anniversary of Saint Nichiren’s birth. It will shine with the light of hope and
bring the power of his thoughts into your hearts.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The cover provides a partial list of the issue’s contents, which offers numerous photos and reviews of this past June's productions. Most prominent of the items on the cover is a section devoted to the late Osaka-based kabuki actor, <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2021/05/27/entertainment-news/kabuki-actor-kataoka-hidetaro-national-treasure-dies/">Kataoka
Hidetarō</a>, a Living National Treasure, who died this year at 79. Other
features include interviews with actors Kataoka Nizaemon, Ichikawa Chūsha, and
pieces about actors Nakamura Tanenosuke and Ichikawa Emisaburō. Finally, the issue
contains the latest in the series by star Matsumoto Kōshirō, “Kōshirō’s
Thousand and One Nights.” <o:p></o:p></p><p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-6844446237268605542021-09-09T09:44:00.008-07:002021-09-10T08:39:20.742-07:00ENGEKIKAI #7 (July 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkU9O6jy0zDlwXDXixIxm3byRNe2et9JAQdqHnaSg2cUVUumdZkyGJ5ASLdp-3BWRhZKqabgKB3raYfbHhq_df7gEB0N7yND-QvORE-iNDTM3bLCaJqeGt2b-VJtHCUaC7_evnGhYYTak/s2048/Engekikai+7+202120210909_11522841_0301.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1541" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkU9O6jy0zDlwXDXixIxm3byRNe2et9JAQdqHnaSg2cUVUumdZkyGJ5ASLdp-3BWRhZKqabgKB3raYfbHhq_df7gEB0N7yND-QvORE-iNDTM3bLCaJqeGt2b-VJtHCUaC7_evnGhYYTak/w482-h640/Engekikai+7+202120210909_11522841_0301.jpg" width="482" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onoe Shōroku II as the spirit of the Earth Spider in <i>Tsuchigumo</i>. (Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The cover for the July 2021 (#7) issue of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Engekikai</i>, the monthly kabuki magazine
of record, shows Onoe Shōroku II in the role of the monstrous Earth Spider in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tsuchigumo, </i>as performed at the Kabuki-za
in May of this year. The main section of the issue, as noted on the cover at
the right, is a collection of essays and exquisite photos devoted to “The World
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sakura-hime Kuruwa Bunshō</i>,” a
major early 19<sup>th</sup>-century drama of sex and violence by Tsuruya
Nanboku IV, the greatest playwright of his generation. You can see an abridged version of the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5bIvMxThck"> recent Kabuki-za production here</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Among featured articles
on the cover, representing only a partial list of the issue’s contents, is one about a filmed performance (in the Cinema Kabuki series) of Mishima Yukio’s
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>Iwashi Uri Koi no Hikiami</i>,” one of the
best modern kabuki plays, starring the great female-role specialist (onnagata) Bandō
Tamasaburō V. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another beautifully illustrated piece focuses on two child
actors, Onoe Ushinosuke and Bandō Kamesaburō, and their performance in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kagami Jishi</i>. Also present is another in
the long-running series by actor Matsumoto Kōshirō, “Kōshirō’s One Thousand and
One Nights.” Sad news for fans of bunraku awaits them in the essay devoted to
the retirement at 88 of the great puppeteer, Yoshida Minosuke III, whose
handsome face is so evident in thousands of production photographs taken during
his lengthy career. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Finally, there’s an essay on the revision by one of today’s
top stars, Nakamura Kichiemon II, of a 19<sup>th</sup>-century bunraku play, “Hachijin
Shugo no Honjō,” later adapted for kabuki, which Kichiemon starred in at the
Kabuki-za in May. Kichiemon’s interest was stirred by the character of Katō
Kiyomasa, a famous samurai hero who had appeared in several kabuki plays and
was one of the roles most closely associated with his predecessor, Kichiemon I. For his writing credit, Kichiemon II used the pen name, Matsu Kanshi. The first Kanshi was an
Edo-period bunraku playwright, but Kichiemon, while using the name, doesn’t
designate himself as the second in the line. <o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-87918415291857214762021-08-11T09:21:00.002-07:002021-08-11T09:23:29.602-07:00ENGEKIKAI #5 (May 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p><span style="color: red;"><b>Note:</b> it has come to my belated attention that the last posting in this series was listed as May (#5) 2021. However, that was my careless mistake, as it should have said June (#6) 2021, while the actual May issue is described below. The June issue has been corrected as well.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRjkcJ_32ISUNM5zxq3gnTRGwSRqJP_dnCD8LU75ttBH8r4_hkPr_-_HSS3o6dH3FwE0h7yVxzaJwKMtz2WMOd9kZ9itd5yKmGswIPMHU69eeaY10jxP76Vk_6uap8a2SF1PwhlIbq62g/s2048/Engekikai+6+202120210728_12135622_0300.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1528" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRjkcJ_32ISUNM5zxq3gnTRGwSRqJP_dnCD8LU75ttBH8r4_hkPr_-_HSS3o6dH3FwE0h7yVxzaJwKMtz2WMOd9kZ9itd5yKmGswIPMHU69eeaY10jxP76Vk_6uap8a2SF1PwhlIbq62g/w478-h640/Engekikai+6+202120210728_12135622_0300.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kataoka Nizaemon XV as Kumagai Naojirō. (Photo: Shinoyama Kishin,)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The cover for the May (#5) 2021 issue of ENGEKIKAI, the
kabuki magazine of record, shows Kataoka Nizaemon XV as Kumagai Naojirō in <i>Kumagai Jinya</i>, as performed in March
2021 at Tokyo’s Kabuki-za. The selective list of contents headlined on the
cover is led by the titles on the lower left, announcing a series of
exquisitely illustrated sections about “The Children of Kabuki.” As indicated
by the four section titles shown, there are presentations about “Twelve
Selected Plays” featuring children’s roles, “Child Actors Currently Active,” “Memories
of Productions,” and “Famous Actor When They Played Children’s Roles.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On the lower right, the titles point to a discussion between
father and son stars Matsumoto Hakuō II and Matsumoto Kōshirō X regarding their
then upcoming April production, and reviews of March productions at several theatres.
<o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-62603993800440544632021-07-26T17:30:00.001-07:002021-08-11T09:07:57.110-07:00ENGEKIKAI #6 (June 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRWRcgLCZFvVqHQF4KKvVWH5wdJ8KPt75TvZ5JeGVnWnpGEqfLS09FKayienMtI5Eymc_qigdFTe0gnsRT28iEKi-dw0CToiMDi0_QyqFVn4AjqHmG0kX3-Y1MrGNQ5JnYfuZeHiON-E/s2048/Engekikai+5+202120210726_19581717_0299.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1528" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRWRcgLCZFvVqHQF4KKvVWH5wdJ8KPt75TvZ5JeGVnWnpGEqfLS09FKayienMtI5Eymc_qigdFTe0gnsRT28iEKi-dw0CToiMDi0_QyqFVn4AjqHmG0kX3-Y1MrGNQ5JnYfuZeHiON-E/w478-h640/Engekikai+5+202120210726_19581717_0299.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matsumoto Hakuō II as Benkei in <i style="text-align: left;">Kanjinchō. </i><span style="text-align: left;">(Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">The June 2021 cover of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Engekikai</i>, the kabuki magazine of record, shows the great Matsumoto
Hakuō (formerly Matsumoto Kōshirō IX), who once played the lead in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of La Mancha </i>on Broadway, as Benkei,
the heroic warrior-priest, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kanjinchō</i>,
as performed in April at the Kabuki-za. The lead segment, listed at the upper
right, is called “Masculine Dignity,” and consists of a series of essays on the
most famous pairings of characters who are well-matched opponents in kabuki
classics, something like the pairing, for example, of Othello and Iago. They
include Benkei and Togashi, Nagoya Sanza and Fuwa Banzaemon, and so on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">The issue also contains an article on the
veteran star Onoe Kikugorō VII and his then forthcoming May appearance at the Kabuki-za.
At the bottom right is a conversation with four young stars, Nakamura Kankurō,
Nakamura Shichinosuke, Onoe Matsuya, and Nakamura Chōzaburō, who were appearing
at Shibuya’s Cocoon Kabuki. Other materials found in the issue, which includes
lots more, include the latest in the series “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights,”
a piece on a kabuki actor named Nakamura Kyōzō, who recently toured abroad with
lecture-demonstrations of his art, and a piece on the dark nineteenth-century
classic, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sakura-Hime Azuma no Bunshō</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">An unusual item in the issue is a color photo of an exquisite model of the original Teikoku Gekij</span>ō (Imperial Theatre), the revolutionary theatre, built in 1911, that was Japan's first fully Western playhouse. It still stands on the same spot, near the Imperial Palace, albeit in a much altered form. Part of the original architect's blueprint accompanies the photo.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-46656380585370550862021-07-03T08:45:00.005-07:002021-07-03T08:50:27.800-07:00ENGEKIKAI #4 (April 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMq84lCoEQo_X0v7t_49cHLhquo233RNawTd52JYlJIyiziOoAcL-L3WQ1OLkiAaw6drF9wAswyDlHZ8SgscAM2F7ofzGNmwJvJb9LUZ4Q8RutflVwSh_4vkWOfmXNZbns9xK64NIrflk/s2048/Engekikai+4+202120210703_10502754_0297.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1543" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMq84lCoEQo_X0v7t_49cHLhquo233RNawTd52JYlJIyiziOoAcL-L3WQ1OLkiAaw6drF9wAswyDlHZ8SgscAM2F7ofzGNmwJvJb9LUZ4Q8RutflVwSh_4vkWOfmXNZbns9xK64NIrflk/w482-h640/Engekikai+4+202120210703_10502754_0297.jpg" width="482" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Renjishi </i>(left); <i>Sodehagi Saimon</i> (right). Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The cover for the April (#4) 2021 issue of ENGEKIKAI, the
kabuki magazine of record, is split into two images. The issue is largely
concerned with kabuki production in February 2021. The picture on the upper left is of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Renjishi</i> (Two Lions), the
spirit of the father lion portrayed by Nakamura Kankurō VI, the spirit of the child
lion by Kankurō’s son, Nakamura Kantarō III. The picture at the lower right shows <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ōshū Adachigara </i>(a place name),
also known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sodehagi Saimon </i>(Sodehagi’s
Lament). Kankurō’s brother, Nakamura Shichinosuke II, is the blind Sodehagi, and
his nephew (Kankurō’s other son and Kantarō’s brother), Nakamura Chōzaburō II,
is her daughter, Okimi. Tokyo’s Kabuki-za has been producing three bills a day lately,
and these plays were on the third part of February’s program.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The principal focus of the issue is, as the lower left
headline asserts, the classic play <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yoshitsune
Senbon Zakura</i> (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees), a mid-eighteenth-century
work originally written for the bunraku puppet theatre, soon adapted for
kabuki, and now one of the so-called three masterpieces of bunraku-kabuki (all
by the same playwrights), the other two being <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kanadehon Chūshingura </i>(The Treasury of Loyal Retainers) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami </i>(Sugawara’s
Secrets of Calligraphy). The issue contains multiple, beautifully illustrated
views of the play’s production history and values, supplemented by a narrative
about the play by perhaps its foremost modern performer, Ichikawa En’o II
(formerly Ennosuke III). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also in the issue, among other features, are discussions with
actors Nakamura Kazutarō, Onoe Ukon, Nakamura Yonekichi, and Nakamura Hashinosuke
about their then upcoming March program at Kyoto’s Minami-za, focused on these rising
“young stars” (hanagata). Finally, the issue includes the latest in actor
Matsumoto Kōshirō’s long-running series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-26066810626875241852021-06-11T16:11:00.004-07:002021-07-03T08:42:12.490-07:00ENGEKIKAI #3 (MARCH 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAPXLfPk0Enaxejn6Xg8BBm5m8cIrpJKeEJyHCaBbWugnRAoN5jD3VGykRAZW5q2YQTlzjUmhh6kaZsv5kPt5I9TYiQW7hl34TyBFuS5z9fNSc21w_vBMFGs8lhqUbwOQ_It-Mp5gjiY/s2048/ENGEKIKAI+3+202120210611_0245.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1537" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQAPXLfPk0Enaxejn6Xg8BBm5m8cIrpJKeEJyHCaBbWugnRAoN5jD3VGykRAZW5q2YQTlzjUmhh6kaZsv5kPt5I9TYiQW7hl34TyBFuS5z9fNSc21w_vBMFGs8lhqUbwOQ_It-Mp5gjiY/w480-h640/ENGEKIKAI+3+202120210611_0245.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onoe Matsuya as Soga Gorō. (Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.) </td></tr></tbody></table><br />The cover for the March (#3) 2021 issue of ENGEKIKAI, the
kabuki magazine of record, shows Onoe Matsuya as Soga Gorō in the celebratory
Meiji-period dance KOTOBUKI TE HANAGATA HASHIRA DATE. The word hashiradate refers
to the old custom of performing a ceremony to celebrate the first raising of a pillar during the construction of a new home. It was performed at Tokyo’s Kabuki-za in February. Soga Gorō is a historically-based hero who has attained
mythical power in Japanese history—and especially in kabuki—because of a famous
vendetta he and his brother Jūrō carried out in the twelfth century.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The issue’s leading contents (there are others), listed on
the cover, are dominated by the headline at the upper left, meaning the First
Show of the Year. This refers to a gorgeous section of color photos of all the
major plays given in February at the Kabuki-za, the National Theatre (Kokuritsu
Gekijō), the Shinbashi Enbujō, and Osaka’s Shōchiku-za. At the lower right is
listed a section on the haiku poems of famous actors. At the center, bottom,
are the names of four actors who offer their thoughts on February’s memorial
production honoring the death thirty-three years ago of the great star Nakamura
Kanzaburō XVII. To its left is the title of a section about an independently
produced dance recital featuring Onoe Ukon and his Ken no Kai group. Finally,
there’s a discussion between two stars, Matsumoto Kōshirō X and Ichikawa
Ennosuke IV about “Zoom Kabuki.” Yes. Zoom is part of Japan’s theatre scene as
well.<o:p></o:p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-77856184245836867212021-06-02T15:01:00.001-07:002021-06-02T15:01:40.217-07:00ENGEKIKAI #2 (FEBRUARY 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5QTBXUHEaCJnjekYrxSNTMVnHLnkXgpSjxpxMHkOyZlBEI8-pDdRx-bG83AwIcSatshmfXq0rgAMBPoQNN8-7nUNJhzZrhBfhNztqYp1gfhI6goMEiSBKeMW7YMvVG2g4SZzG3iwYFE/s2048/ENGEKIKAI+2+202120210405_0068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1508" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5QTBXUHEaCJnjekYrxSNTMVnHLnkXgpSjxpxMHkOyZlBEI8-pDdRx-bG83AwIcSatshmfXq0rgAMBPoQNN8-7nUNJhzZrhBfhNztqYp1gfhI6goMEiSBKeMW7YMvVG2g4SZzG3iwYFE/w472-h640/ENGEKIKAI+2+202120210405_0068.jpg" width="472" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sakata <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakata_T%C5%8Dj%C5%ABr%C5%8D_IV" style="text-align: left;">Tōjūrō</a>. (Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The cover for the February (#2) 2021 issue of ENGEKIKAI, the
kabuki magazine of record, shows the late, great Kamigata (Osaka/Kyoto) actor, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakata_T%C5%8Dj%C5%ABr%C5%8D_IV">Sakata Tōjūrō
IV</a>, who died last year at 89. As the headline on the lower right
demonstrates, the issue has a large, lavishly illustrated section celebrating
and describing his brilliant career as a specialist in the wagoto style of
gentle, young men, and charming, beautiful young women, as seen in the photo of
him as Ohatsu, the Tenmanya courtesan in Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s classic double
suicide play, <i>Sonezaki Shinjū </i>(The Love Suicides at Sonezaki). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Other
materials headlined on the cover (the issue contains even more)
are reviews of the January productions at the Minami-za, Kabuki-za, Kokuritsu Gekijō,
and elsewhere; a piece on the Hakata-za theatre; the latest in actor Matsumoto
Kōshirō’s series, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights”; and a report on the debut of
child actor Ogawa Taisei, son of actor Nakamura Baishi.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Finally,
there’s a large section devoted to an overview of the world of kabuki in 2020,
subtitled “Looking Back on an Unprecedented Year.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-82837556750969083762021-05-19T16:22:00.004-07:002021-05-19T20:14:01.917-07:00ENGEKIKAI #1 (January 2021): COVER AND CONTENTS<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7Eg8lUczWwHXKLKUqjhB-S865i3665FMpyFv3Nnj2cMKnpRQWDKSvhiRIUljw5algD3E5Lejpm7InfF4ykOqqaWweEE9E3sVrNuFWk0Qbt0edcTBL-4kswqHwphbXswKrZLuvtWYeK0/s2048/ENGEKIKAI+1+202120210405_0067.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1508" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7Eg8lUczWwHXKLKUqjhB-S865i3665FMpyFv3Nnj2cMKnpRQWDKSvhiRIUljw5algD3E5Lejpm7InfF4ykOqqaWweEE9E3sVrNuFWk0Qbt0edcTBL-4kswqHwphbXswKrZLuvtWYeK0/w472-h640/ENGEKIKAI+1+202120210405_0067.jpg" width="472" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onoe Kikugorō VII in <i>Migawari Zazen</i>. Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.</td></tr></tbody></table>This is the cover for the #1 (January) 2021 issue of
ENGEKIKAI, the monthly magazine that serves as the organ of record for the
Japanese theatre art of kabuki. Most of its numerous photos and factual data
pertain to November 2020’s productions, when Covid-19 continued to restrict the
number of performances and the size of attendance. The cover photo shows
veteran star Onoe Kikugorō VII as the leading man in the comical dance play, Migawari
Zazen (“The Zen Substitute”), first produced in 1910 at Tokyo’s Ichimura-za,
and dealing with a man who tries to deceive his wife regarding his being out
all night with his paramour. It is closely based on a kyōgen farce called
Hanako, whose original style is reflected in the adaptation of a noh/kyōgen-style
stage setting. This places the piece in the category called matsubame mono, or “pineboard
plays,” because of the pine tree painted on the upstage wall of the neutral,
non-localized setting. The production represented here was done at Tokyo’s
Kabuki-za this past November.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The biggest headline, at the right, is for the issue’s main
section, about the coming reopening, during the pandemic, of Kyoto’s Minami-za with
the annual December celebratory production called “Kaomise” (“face-showing”),
in which a lineup of top Tokyo stars tour to Kyoto for the occasion. During the
Edo period (1603-1868), the kaomise was typically a production given in the
eleventh month by each theatre to introduce that season’s acting team to the
public. The Minami-za had been closed since March 2020, so it’s reopening was a
big deal, although, because of Covid protocols, there were to be three daily
programs (each different), instead of the usual two, and for a mere two-week
run. Kabuki theatres normally offer one or more new programs each month for
around 25 days.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Other contents mentioned on the cover (which is only a
partial list of what’s inside) include an archival article of particular
interest because it recalls another time when the Minami-za’s kaomise was
restricted due to external circumstances. This piece, which can be translated
as “The Kaomise during Air Raids,” notes that the programs at the Minami-za in
November 1943, during World War II, were shortened to 19 days out of caution
regarding possible air raids. The article describes the two 1944 programs
(daytime and evening), including photos of three plays. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also in the issue are well-illustrated interviews with
actors Kataoka Nizaemon, Kataoka Hidetarō, Nakamura Ganjirō, Nakamura Senjaku,
Nakamura Kōtarō, Matsumoto Kōshirō, and Nakamura Ichitarō. There is a memorial
to the recently deceased kabuki superstar Sakata Tōj<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ū</span>rō, who would be honored at
the upcoming kaomise; reviews of the previous month’s productions; a survey of
October and November events in the theatre world; and the latest in the series by
popular actor Matsumoto Kōshirō, “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights.” The
banner for “Kabuki Actors Calendar” at the left is for the gift calendar sent
to subscribers with this New Year’s issue. <o:p></o:p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-9291731759925053282021-04-03T15:52:00.001-07:002021-04-03T15:58:40.564-07:00ENGEKIKAI (December 2020, #12): COVER AND CONTENTS<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMRTnNxzzMgais4BXli_t7aaAJ9WeQ_kHcgZEgBu2FodnTP8BB3lQe7sRRFPqs6fXN6Hjdj6Tb3Sf3THTfOElmBS3TVZFYGs2rjT7e7buq7VsJiiQZgWuKAJkm4Lg8UYkwEvhIJSsLrM/s2048/Engekikai+12+202020210403_0064.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1519" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixMRTnNxzzMgais4BXli_t7aaAJ9WeQ_kHcgZEgBu2FodnTP8BB3lQe7sRRFPqs6fXN6Hjdj6Tb3Sf3THTfOElmBS3TVZFYGs2rjT7e7buq7VsJiiQZgWuKAJkm4Lg8UYkwEvhIJSsLrM/w474-h640/Engekikai+12+202020210403_0064.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Matsumoto Hakuō II. (Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The cover for the December issue of ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki
magazine of record, shows Matsumoto Hakuō II as the sumo wrestler Chōgorō in
the “Sumō Scene” of <i>Futatsu Chōchō Kuruwa
Niki </i>(Chōgorō and Chōkichi: Diary of Two Butterflies in the Pleasure
Quarters) as produced at the Kabuki-za last October. This is the same character
seen on the cover of the November 2020 issue, which I recently posted, but from
another scene. As per the cover headlines, the issue again leads with a section
on how several actors feel about performing at this time, the actors covered
here being Nakamura Kaishun, Nakamura Karoku, and Nakamura Shidō. There is a
new installment of Matsumoto Kōshirō X’s long-running series, “Kōshirō’s
Thousand and One Nights,” “Trends in September-October Theatre,” reviews of
October’s kabuki, a reprinting of archival materials from 1946 about touring Japan
with kabuki, right after the war, and a lengthy obituary about the late
Onoe Kikujūrō
IV, who died last September at 88.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-50524233690771688222021-04-02T12:38:00.000-07:002021-04-02T12:38:06.686-07:00ENGEKIKAI, #11 (November 2020)<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdZHXqAylWsGMVrGZmoHFM6_Rve0hOzT_ZwQKGC1VcvgiY8gMBIvTWTtA43H9h7G-gVIRPk2mxmgKjW8ulAqyS1wXLdoyp6_OPGCJuNtQZrrJCOAnj_XAdqEfGhXaoOcXlKHPr0puR18/s2048/ENGEKIKAI+11+2020.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1525" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdZHXqAylWsGMVrGZmoHFM6_Rve0hOzT_ZwQKGC1VcvgiY8gMBIvTWTtA43H9h7G-gVIRPk2mxmgKjW8ulAqyS1wXLdoyp6_OPGCJuNtQZrrJCOAnj_XAdqEfGhXaoOcXlKHPr0puR18/w476-h640/ENGEKIKAI+11+2020.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nakamura Kichiemon II, Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Sorry for the delay, partly due to slower mail service from
Japan during the pandemic, and partly because I’ve been so busy with other
things, but here, at last, is the cover of ENGEKIKAI, the kabuki magazine of
record, from last November, 2020 (#11). After a bit, I’ll post other recent
issues as well. Theatre activity, of course, has slowed considerably during
Covid-19. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">On the cover is Nakamura Kichiemon II as the sumo wrestler
Chōgorō in the “Hikimado” (“Skylight”) scene of <i>Futatsu Chōchō Kuruwa no Nikki </i>(Chōgorō and Chōkichi: A Diary of Two
Butterflies in the Pleasure Quarters), performed last September at the
Kabuki-za.<u><o:p> </o:p></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The chief article headlined on the cover is about how actors
are feeling about performing at this particular time, covered in illustrated
discussions with three stars, Matsumoto Hakuō, Nakamura Baigyoku, and Nakamura
Shikan. Other selected highlights mentioned on the cover are reviews of last
September’s limited productions; a section on kabuki productions given
independently of the mainstream by important actors over the years; trends in
last August and September’s theatre world; the latest in the series called “Kōshirō’s
Thousand and One Nights,” by star actor Matsumoto Kōshirō X; and an essay with photos
of Nakamura Kichiemon II’s special performance last August at Tokyo’s Kanze
Nōgakudō noh theatre of a solo dance-drama called <i>Suma no Ura </i>(Suma Bay), derived from the classic history play <i>Ichinotani Futaba Gunki</i>, and performed
in noh style. Its one performance was filmed with no audience present. <o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-59299252001953307902021-03-05T08:06:00.001-08:002021-03-05T08:06:21.603-08:00ENGEKIKAI (No. 10, October 2020)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEHvhqQx6lNHRsD6UUyzQ_P8M_L0CdacbwSKXqz6Ik4X95AQJ-h-_72damUFqvMNQldLUCJ_2aT6nUtvwElg3Qt4lsdB5dOvt6Qab3wCNUA2j5BMJGQiAzIHaAAu8wXicATuPht3wWKI/s2048/ENGEKIKAI+10+20200001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1528" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEHvhqQx6lNHRsD6UUyzQ_P8M_L0CdacbwSKXqz6Ik4X95AQJ-h-_72damUFqvMNQldLUCJ_2aT6nUtvwElg3Qt4lsdB5dOvt6Qab3wCNUA2j5BMJGQiAzIHaAAu8wXicATuPht3wWKI/w478-h640/ENGEKIKAI+10+20200001.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ichikawa Ennosuke IV in <i>Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura</i>. Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Apologies for the
delay in posting covers from Engekikai (Theatre World), Japan’s kabuki magazine
of record. Postal restrictions stemming from the coronavirus are to blame. The
issues themselves are less robust, of course, because of the limits placed on
production over the past year. Two more issues recently arrived, closing out
2020. This cover is for October 2020 issue, #10. It shows the “Yoshinoyama”
scene from <i>Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura</i>,
starring Ichikawa Ennosuke IV as Satō Tadanobu, in reality Genkurō the fox.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>While the issue has
many other things in it, the headlines on the cover point to several of its
leading articles. The biggest headline, at the right, is for “The Opening of
Young Stars [Hanagata] Kabuki in August,” a series of commentaries by fifteen
of the actors involved. At the left is mentioned an interview with the great
star Nakamura Kichiemon II. Headlines at the bottom point to an essay on “Zoom
Kabuki,” the streaming of kabuki productions during the pandemic; a transcript
of the September “earphone guide” to that month’s productions at the Kabuki-za,
a service inspired by the limitations on audience attendance in the wake of Covid-19;
August and September theatre trends; the next installment in actor Matsumoto
Kōshirō’s long-running series “Kōshirō’s Thousand and One Nights”; and the
reprinting of an old essay about Nakamura Kichiemon I, one of the greatest
stars of the first half of the twentieth century. <o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></b></p><p>
<br /></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-52002970699747397722020-12-09T09:46:00.001-08:002020-12-09T09:46:55.964-08:00ENGEKIKAI (Nos. 8 and 9: August and September 2020): COVER AND CONTENTS<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">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. </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br />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.</span></b></span></div><p><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.524px;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.</span></b></span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXpJCehiDIDsqP66Ea7zWoYNXpOo-4XVolJD0wVUB7VdjmPQLmTbGD4ScEUv-xWqkvCuKm1NjPSonAlXzt804xasGEP_t3_eF6XRGzEJIx3hFrfzsjeGu45OzlH1BmwoXDhyqWRpFIR8/s2048/ENGEKIKAI+8+9+2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1529" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXpJCehiDIDsqP66Ea7zWoYNXpOo-4XVolJD0wVUB7VdjmPQLmTbGD4ScEUv-xWqkvCuKm1NjPSonAlXzt804xasGEP_t3_eF6XRGzEJIx3hFrfzsjeGu45OzlH1BmwoXDhyqWRpFIR8/w478-h640/ENGEKIKAI+8+9+2020.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />As per the shipping delays from Japan caused by the pandemic
(outlined in my last Kabuki Woogie posting), my copy of <i>Engekikai</i>,
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 <i>Kanadehon Chūshingura</i>,
while sharing the stage with a video camera, at the right, and a masked stage assistant
(<i>kurogo</i>) at the left. The performance
was streamed as “Zoom Kabuki.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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 <i>Kanjinchō </i>performed by
Ichikawa Danj<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ū</span>rō XII at his 1985 name-taking (<i>sh<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ū</span>mei</i>) performance, or the
quick-change of Kataoka Nizaemon in <i>Sakaya</i>. 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<span style="font-family: "Malgun Gothic",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-50866019895511866882020-11-26T16:05:00.006-08:002020-11-26T16:22:18.685-08:00ENGEKIKAI (Nos. 6 and 7: June and July 2020): COVER AND CONTENTS<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red;">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. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">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.</span></div><p><span style="color: red;">One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWr7VDnbyh9BSUa7PciSfyULYf9cETYXBHkTfsWcAuYH62z2Za4uTS7Og2-KMesTHHF3BYG_F1bgiHZ914ZlCxffeC2_1SXNKPrxjKaczyv4mx2bqtgq4RTRRvs53Mtuk5MqR_mjqbWuA/s2048/ENGEKIKAI+6+AND+7+2020.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1539" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWr7VDnbyh9BSUa7PciSfyULYf9cETYXBHkTfsWcAuYH62z2Za4uTS7Og2-KMesTHHF3BYG_F1bgiHZ914ZlCxffeC2_1SXNKPrxjKaczyv4mx2bqtgq4RTRRvs53Mtuk5MqR_mjqbWuA/w480-h640/ENGEKIKAI+6+AND+7+2020.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Ichikawa Ebizō XI. Photo: Shinoyama Kishin.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Kabuki Woogie is happy to return to posting cover images of <i>Engekikai</i>, the monthly kabuki magazine
of record. Sadly, as might have been expected, <i>Engekikai </i>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.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichikawa_Ebiz%C5%8D_XI">Ichikawa Ebizō</a> XI . This is
followed, under the title “Kabuki Haiy<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ū</span> 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
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gotaiheiki Shiraishi Banashi.</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The cover picture shows Ebizō, the extremely popular star
who was set to ascend to the name Ichikawa Danj<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ū</span>rō XIII (his father was Danj<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ū</span>rō
XII and his grandfather, Danj<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ū</span>rō XII) this past spring. Danj<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ū</span>rō
is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is the handsome Ebizō in one of his line’s
greatest roles, Sukeroku, from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sukeroku
Yukari Edo no Sakura</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i></p>Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-89897581388447659212020-07-08T17:43:00.001-07:002020-07-08T17:48:12.687-07:00ENGEKIKAI (#5) MAY 2020: COVER AND CONTENTS<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">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.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">One can poke around in its archives to find past posts.</span><br />
<span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJd_BLR3bRBkCRtSfJ9WcZLMNqd7okY-I1Fod6V_RxVjTb4qQl0JZyGeA_mSLsfywX7WgB5dIkKdVap8tjStafD8lno_eVGaSZElKyNQXm1pAWzNCLqSD2vupabDMU94BdGWoGW0oFe8/s1600/ENGEKIKAI+5+2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="229" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJd_BLR3bRBkCRtSfJ9WcZLMNqd7okY-I1Fod6V_RxVjTb4qQl0JZyGeA_mSLsfywX7WgB5dIkKdVap8tjStafD8lno_eVGaSZElKyNQXm1pAWzNCLqSD2vupabDMU94BdGWoGW0oFe8/s640/ENGEKIKAI+5+2020.jpg" width="458" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nakamura Baishi as the apprentice courtesan Matsugae in <i>Kuruwa Sanbaso </i>at the Kabuki-za, October 2019. Photo: Sasayama Kishin.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">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 </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Engekikai, </i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">2020,</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> 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 (</span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">wakaonnagata</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">). The cover shows Nakamura Baishi, a rising young <i>wakaonnagata</i>, in a role he played last October.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The only kabuki productions
described and documented in the depressingly slim issue are brief, irregular
ones: 1) a four-day production of </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Nobunaga</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">, 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 (</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ōtsuka Koku</span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">kusai </span>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, </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Kanjinchō</i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">, before he ascends to his family's greatest
name as Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The ceremony honoring that accession was
scheduled for May but is still in abeyance. Ebizō's program, also included the
dance play </span><i style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Hagoromo </i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">(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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">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. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">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 <i>Engei Gahō</i>, the predecessor of <i>Engekikai</i>,<i>
</i>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.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqxYHMa0h3S8BXrhM0DfAifxemNsBDxujtVIngEGH-jQ-CBGaH3I8EthMK4liYq51Gbt8O6OHAH-_wUeSJ1Ku_XMr8tWdOMVnpNWvVyRdOGLlite6KJRyEcd2qX88BA080BkEQqW5Qxw/s1600/Engekikai+dressing+room+stories.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="640" height="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqxYHMa0h3S8BXrhM0DfAifxemNsBDxujtVIngEGH-jQ-CBGaH3I8EthMK4liYq51Gbt8O6OHAH-_wUeSJ1Ku_XMr8tWdOMVnpNWvVyRdOGLlite6KJRyEcd2qX88BA080BkEQqW5Qxw/s640/Engekikai+dressing+room+stories.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"This and That about Leading Actors" from a 1934 issue of .<i style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Engei Gahō</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">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. </span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-89504894827351690862020-03-24T07:28:00.000-07:002020-03-24T07:44:21.812-07:0014. KABUKI BOOK COVERS: ICHIKAWAWA EBIZO: NARITAYA NO IKI TO TSUYA<br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">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. </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">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 <i>Ichikawa Ebizō: The Style and Luster of Naritaya</i>
(the last word being the family’s guild name or <i>yagō</i>), the English title
given is <i>Ichikawa Ebizō: “Ichikawa Ebizō XI, a young leader of kabuki for
the 21<sup>st</sup> Century: Ebizō and the Ichikawa Danjūrō family.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The photos are credited to Sasayama Kishin, the
chief photographer of <i>Engekikai</i>, the kabuki magazine of record whose
monthly issues are chronicled in this blog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7216696355758299339.post-49103149852938688912020-03-18T15:49:00.001-07:002020-03-18T15:49:37.683-07:00ENGEKIKAI (#4) April 2020: Cover and Contents<br />
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<span style="color: red;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">One can
poke around in its archives to find past posts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX__DSQMNatx8GxeCsE7KO5YXn6SxnTQhlCCd9ts5P-as3aF9kgEy3AefHE1tJwXviA0ruB775PQPbS-jRt6IVVbTyHJ-gq0Vi6B8iB67ityYdWbbcM5suTSXmq4JupBiZOGoN4JuDN3M/s1600/ENGEKIKAI+4+202020200318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1190" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX__DSQMNatx8GxeCsE7KO5YXn6SxnTQhlCCd9ts5P-as3aF9kgEy3AefHE1tJwXviA0ruB775PQPbS-jRt6IVVbTyHJ-gq0Vi6B8iB67ityYdWbbcM5suTSXmq4JupBiZOGoN4JuDN3M/s640/ENGEKIKAI+4+202020200318.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Sasayama Kishin.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<sup>th</sup> 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.”<br /><br />Samuel L. Leiterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15881310270217256979noreply@blogger.com0