“CREDIT FOR THE BEGINNING OF KABUKI,” Howard A. Link recounted, “goes to a female shrine dancer from Izumo named Okuni. Around 1600, the very year of Hideyori’s defeat by Ieyasu, she performed a Buddhist ceremonial dance in the dry bed of the Kamo River in Kyoto…”
Link continued, “The new theater was little more than a bawdy dance review and quickly earned the somewhat uncomplimentary name, Okuni Kabuki. The term, derived from the verb kabuku, ‘to tilt forward,’ extended metaphorically to early Edo slang to signify customs or behavior that defied the traditional norm and drew attention.”
And kabuki certainly did draw attention. It has flourished for more than 400 years now. To put this in perspective, the year 1600 is also noteworthy for other theatrical events: the first performances of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Dr. Howard A. Link, 1934–2022, was Curator of Asian Art at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and author of The Theatrical Prints of the Torii Masters, which accompanied a 1977 exhibition at the Riccar Art Museum in Ginza, Tokyo.
Theatrical Prints of the Torii Masters: A Selection of Seventeenth and Eighteenth-century Ukiyo-e, Howard A. Link, Honolulu Academy of Arts/Riccar Art Museum, 1977.
Here are several of these prints with accompanying commentary from this book.
Danjūrō I’s Aragoto Style. “In 1673,” Link recounted, “young Danjūrō, then only fourteen years old, played the part of Sakata no Kintoki, a warrior in the play Shitenno Osanadachi (The Childhood of Four Strong Warriors). It was the first instance of the aragoto (rough stuff) acting style that was to be so important to Edo Kabuki. His style of acting…. required a tremendous amount of swaggering about as some swashbuckling hero….”
Ichikawa Danjūrō I as Yamagami Saemon and Yamanaka Heikurō as Suzuka No Ōji, by Torii Master Kiyomasu I, 1701, handcolored kakemono-e (hanging scroll), 23.3 x 12.8 in.
“Danjūrō’s achievements are well described in kabuki record,” Link observed. “The exposed portions of his body and face were painted entirely in red with black lines drawn on top to delineate and emphasize his features. His large, fierce eyes were accentuated and his eyebrows were painted with bold upturned strokes to symbolize vitality.”
One tough guy.
Soft Elegant Kamigate Style. This style, especially of onnagata (female roles portrayed by males), is drawn “in a curvilinear and decorative manner,” Link said, “that would be borrowed by the first Torii artists in their kabuki depictions of the Kamigata tradition.”
Fujimura Handayū II, by Kiyonobu I, late 1710s, handcolored hosoban (narrow format), 12.4 x 5.8 in.
This onnagata appears in possibly a mad scene from an unidentified play. The hosoban was used for actor prints in the 18th century until it was replaced by oban larger formats.
Combined Torii Styles. Link observed that this unsigned small print was “a combination of two distinct Torii styles; the bombastic vigor of Yamanaka Heikurō, that master of villainous roles, is in sharp contrast to the soft cursive rendering of the onnagata, Suzuki Heikichi.
Yamanaka Heikurō as Taira No Kiyomori and Suzuki Heikichi as Nakatsuma, unsigned, 1707, handcolored hosoban, 12.4 x 5.8 in.
“Yet,” Link continued, “the overall decorative quality of the total design is maintained and the powerful Torii formula associated with aragoto roles is only faintly suggested.”
Note, villainess doesn’t have to be tough guy, even in real life. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2023