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Bunraku

The Stage

Ukiyo: The Floating World

Tayu: chanter

http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/bunraku/en

Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III); Japanese (1786-1865); "Kabuki Scene." MHC Art Museum

Ukiyo-e: Pictures of the Floating World

Key Terms

The Love Suicides at Sonezaki

Timeline

Kabuki

Bunraku

Onnagata

Ukiyo-e

TOKUBEI. My mind's been in turmoil, and my finances in chaos. To tell the truth, I went to Kyoto to raise some money, among other things. It's a miracle I'm still alive. If they make my story into a three-act play, I'm sure the audiences will weep.

NARRATOR. Words fail and he can only sigh.

OHATSU. And is this the comic relief of your tragedy? Why couldn't you have trusted me with your worries when you tell me even trivial things? (Scene 1, p. 41)

  • 1603-1868: Edo period (or Tokugawa period)
  • ~1600: Female prostitutes enact bawdy playlets/shows
  • 1612: Male prostitutes form their own kabuki troupes
  • 1620s: Theaters established across Japan, linked to brothels, mock Samurai culture
  • 1629 on: Female performers banned from kabuki stage
  • Onnagata
  • 1652: Young male prostitutes banned; older men must shave forelocks
  • 1703: Love Suicides at Sonezaki by Chikamatsu (1653–1725) premiers

NARRATOR.

Farewell to this world, and to the night farewell

We who walk the road to death, to what should we be likened?

To the frost by the road that leads to the graveyard,

Vanishing with each step we take ahead:

How sad is this dream of a dream! (Scene 3, p. 51)

Kabuki and Bunraku

Utagawa Toyokuni I, Shibai naibu zu, a triptych of colour woodblock prints

A Kabuki theater in the 18th century. Brockett, History of the Theatre, 8th ed., 619.

Brown, Oxford Illustrated History of the Theatre, 473.

Additional Reading

  • Leiter ed., A Kabuki Reader: History and Performance
  • Chikamatsu, The Love Suicides at Amijima
  • Jihei II and Hanemon, Sukeroku: Flower of Edo

The head of a courtesan of the highest class

Dollmaker and His Friends; Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III); Japanese (1786-1864). MHC Art Museum. "Left male figure: Actor Nakamura Fukusuke I plays the role of Hidari Jingoro, the Japanese artist, sculptor and carpenter. He learnt to work with his left hand and therefore got his name 'Hidari,' which literally means 'left.' He is sitting casually on the ground and offering a cup of sake and a tray of delectable to the Doll on the right. Right female figure: Actor Onoe Kikugoro IV plays the role of the Doll (Oyama ningyo). In the world of Kabuki theatre, dolls were certainly loved by many geishas as a pastime. Oyama ningyo is one type of doll that represents a female Kabuki role. It is interesting in this print that the male actor Onoe Kikugoro IV plays the role of the Oyama ningyo, which itself is a representation of a female Kabuki role" (Yingxi Gong [Lucy], Class of 2013).

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