Kabuki

by Zoë Kincaid

The fourth Ichikawa Danjuro, who held the centre of the Yedo stage in the latter part of Horeki, was by no means one of the outstanding figures of his family, and yet he could hardly be called a failure. He carried on the traditions without adding to them, leaving his son, the fifth, to add fresh lustre to the Ichikawa fame. The fourth was regarded as the illegitimate son of the second Danjuro, and his mother was the daughter of a theatre tea-house keeper, but she had been adopted into the family of a relative of the Ichikawa house.

Danjuro the fourth’s career was full of vicissitudes, and towards the end of his life he cut off his hair to signify retirement from the world, and kept religiously aloof from the theatre. When Danjuro, the second, died, the fourth was but twenty years of age, and it took a long time for the public to appreciate him. He was thought unworthy of the great stage name, and it was considered that he had not inherited the family genius. His talent matured slowly, however, and he finally came to be looked upon as the head actor of Yedo Kabuki. He was entirely different from his supposed father, the second Danjuro, for he had a fine, large physique, while the second Danjuro was small; the fourth had an oval, long face, the countenance of the second being round; the temperament of the second Danjuro was placid, that of the fourth was nervous. His wife was the daughter of the second Danjuro, by adoption. For second wife, he took the daughter of the famous onnagata, Iwai Hanshiro.

Rising on the stage, said the fourth Danjuro, was like ascending a ladder. It must be accomplished by degrees. It was very dangerous to ascend three steps at a time. The most interesting period in an actor’s career was when he was one or two steps from the top of the ladder, when he would have the greatest number of admirers. But in his own case he said that after he had reached the top there was nothing to do but descend.

For seventy years—during the whole of Horeki—there were three representative actors on the stages of Kyoto and Osaka. They were Anekawa Shinshiro, Nakamura Juzo, and Nakayama Shinkuro.

The first of these stars, Anekawa Shinshiro, was born in Osaka, appearing when a child at the Arashi-za. His favourite rôles were otokodate. He knew the taste of his public. The otokodate spirit was rife among the populace, and a new feeling for their rights and privileges was uppermost among the people.

Shinshiro lived long enough, however, to outgrow his popularity, for in his later years he was criticised as monotonous, his acting considered antiquated, and he failed to thrill his audience with novelties—the same cry for the new that is common to all the stages of the world at all times. There was another reason why Shinshiro’s popularity began to wane, for the lack of originality within Kabuki was beginning to be felt, and the reason interest in him declined was due largely to the poverty of plays and the general condition of the country.

Nakamura Juzo began to rise as Shinshiro declined. Juzo had the advantage of being ten years younger than Shinshiro, and was well-born, since he was the son of a samurai who had turned ronin. He lived in Osaka, and as his younger brother became an onnagata, he was also influenced to enter the profession, performing during his earlier career in provincial theatres, especially in Ise, and later in Yedo. His specialty was to represent samurai, and he was excellent as a stage fighter. No doubt his samurai antecedents had given him his taste in this direction. As samurai of noble mien and aristocratic bearing he was at his best. Yet the criticism of the time records that he was a dry and uninteresting actor, and failed to choose the bright-hued kimono bearing striking designs, that expressed the player’s taste, delighted the people, and inspired the print artists.

Many other good actors there were when the above three stars were shining. There was Sakiyama Koshiro, of the Osaka stage, who was active for fifty-five years, dying at 70. He was a fine dancer, especially in pieces adapted from the Nō. He adopted the son of a ronin to succeed him, and his line stopped, and was then renewed again, but eventually died away.

And there was Arashi Sanyemon, the third, the real son of the second Arashi, who had been a Genroku star. He was not only an actor but a theatre manager as well, and excelled in wagoto, or love-making. He was also noted for his dancing, and played in pieces that had been handed down by his two predecessors.

Sadoshima Chogoro, who had invited the second Danjuro to play in his theatre in Osaka, and gave him the high salary that he demanded, was something of an exception in the theatre world of the three stages, for he never secured fame as an actor. He had, however, much to do with the establishment of shosagoto, or the music-drama of Kabuki, on a higher level.