Kabuki, a Japanese traditional performing art, can be roughly sorted into two categories: Edo kabuki and Kamigata kabuki.
Edo is present-day Tokyo, while Kamigata is an area that includes Kyoto and Osaka. Kabuki plays have been developed to meet the needs of audience members in each city.
The kabuki that developed in Edo, a society of samurai warriors with men significantly outnumbering women in its population, has many plays in a style called "aragoto." This style is characterized by wild and powerful stories like one in which a superhuman hero beats villains relentlessly. In particular, actors who assumed the stage name of Ichikawa Danjuro were received overwhelmingly well among commoners in Edo for their aragoto-style performances. In May next year, Ichikawa Ebizo, one of today's most popular young kabuki actors, is scheduled to become Ichikawa Danjuro XIII.
In contrast to Edo kabuki, the kabuki developed in Kamigata, where townspeople, rather than warriors, played a central role in society, saw more plays in the "wagoto" style featuring soft and elegant performances. Main characters in wagoto-style plays are mostly good-looking but are also losers who do not have the ability to stand on their own feet. Stories centering on men who become romantically involved with prostitutes or young ladies and get into debt, as well as a story featuring a man who has a forbidden romance and ends up killing himself with his lover, won popularity among ordinary people.
The ultimate Kamigata kabuki play is probably "Yoshidaya," which will be shown nationwide as a "Cinema Kabuki" program at movie theaters, including the Togeki cinema in the Higashiginza district in Tokyo, from Jan. 3 next year.
In this play, Izaemon, a young master in a major merchant family, is disowned by his family after spending excessive money on his lover Yugiri, who is a prostitute. The shabbily dressed Izaemon approaches the gate of Yoshidaya where Yugiri works. Yoshidaya's employees treat him badly, but the married couple who runs the brothel allows him to meet Yugiri with goodwill. But Izaemon becomes angry at Yugiri serving other customers, and they quarrel. Around the time he manages to mend the rift with her, he receives a message of forgiveness from his family -- and also a large sum of money to release Yugiri from the brothel.
"It's a story that is unthinkable today," Kataoka Nizaemon XV, who played the role of Izaemon when the play was filmed a decade ago, said in a grin. "You should be clear about this point when you watch it. I want you not to watch it with a cold eye, saying, 'What on earth is this?'"
Kataoka Nizaemon is an experienced actor who represents Kamigata kabuki and is also known on both the eastern and western kabuki scenes as a good-looking actor. Describing Izaemon as a character who is a typical wet-behind-the-ears son in a major merchant family and somewhat lovable, the actor said: "He isn't a nice guy, but is liked by others. I performed the role to stimulate motherly instincts."
In the movie, the role of Yugiri was performed by Bando Tamasaburo, who reigns atop the world of onnagata actors who play female roles. This is a kabuki piece that pleases the eyes of audience members with the beautiful couple played by two star actors in the kabuki world, rather than entertaining them with its story line, in addition to allowing them to become immersed in the atmosphere and culture of a brothel in Kamigata at that time.
The other day, I watched this filmed kabuki at a preview and felt euphoric at the two actors' stunning beauty. I strongly recommend this program as one that will add a feeling of glamour to the New Year's holidays.
-- Morishige covers traditional performing arts.
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