KABUKI
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[Illustration: The character of Kamakura Gongoro, a warrior of Old
Japan, as presented in Shibaraku! (lit., Wait-a-Moment). A famous
actor improvisation, or aragoto play, one of the hereditary eighteen
pieces of the Ichikawa Danjuro family. From a painting on silk by
Torii Kiyotada, the present head of the Torii School.]
KABUKI
THE POPULAR STAGE OF JAPAN
BY
ZOË KINCAID
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON 1925
COPYRIGHT
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In my study of Kabuki I am deeply indebted to Mr. Seiseiin Ihara, the
author of several volumes on the history of the popular stage of Japan.
No progress toward an understanding of the development of Kabuki can
be made without extensive reference to this valuable work. I wish
particularly to acknowledge Mr. Ihara’s investigations into the mass
of chronicles of the theatre, his lives of the actors, his painstaking
researches into drama, also his collection of facts relating to the
interference of the officials with the theatre and persecution of the
actors. His _Generations of the Ichikawa Family_ has also proved a
record of great assistance.
Mr. Ihara has not only furnished me with data for study, but has been
an indefatigable friend. A true lover of the theatre, he is one of the
leading dramatic critics of Tokyo, and has not only given generously
of his knowledge as a recognised authority on Kabuki, but acted on my
behalf to smooth away a misunderstanding or straighten out a difficulty
that sometimes arose concerning my attendance at the theatre.
To the late Mr. E. Motono, brother of the late Viscount Motono, I owe
many of the first translations that opened up before me a new theatre
world. Mr. Eishiro Hori, Professor of English at Keio University,
rendered the greatest assistance in translations that gave me an
insight into the history and technique of the Nō and Doll-theatre.
I also acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Mokuan Sekine for his _Engeki
Taizen_, or Complete Drama, relating to the old customs of Kabuki,
and to his _Fifty Years of Meiji Kabuki_. Another fruitful source of
information has been _Kabuki Sosho_, a collection of old Kabuki records.
I take this opportunity to thank the friends who so often accompanied
me to the theatre, and who were unfailing in their help, Mrs. Koto-ko
Kuroda, Miss Shige Takenaka, Miss Chiyo-ko Hiraiwa, Mr. Hisashi
Fujisawa, and Mr. M. Kinai.
Nor can I fail to acknowledge the kindness of the three leading
managers of Tokyo who allowed me free access to their theatres, Mr. K.
Yamamoto of the Imperial, the late Nariyoshi Tamura of the Ichimura-za,
and later his son and successor, and Mr. Otani, head of the Matsutake
Company, which now controls the greatest number of playhouses in Japan.
For twelve years I sat among the critics of the Tokyo stage at the
regular performances, and cannot forget the unfailing courtesy of my
journalistic associates.
To my good friends among the actors, Nakamura Utayemon of the
Kabuki-za; Onoe Baiko and Matsumoto Koshiro of the Imperial; Onoe
Kikugoro, the sixth, of the Ichimura-za; Nakamura Kichiyemon of the
Kabuki-za, and Nakamura Ganjiro of Osaka; to Mr. Y. Ninomiya, stage
producer and playwright of the Imperial; Miss Ritsu-ko Mori, leading
actress of the Tokyo stage; Mr. Kiyotada Torii, the theatre artist; Mr.
Beisai Kubota, stage designer,—to all the friends of long standing in
the theatre, I take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the
privilege of their friendship and kind assistance.
ZOË KINCAID.
London, _March_ 2, 1925.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Acknowledgement v
Introduction xv
KABUKI
CHAPTER I
Kabuki 3
CHAPTER II
Kabuki Audiences 9
CHAPTER III
Conventions of Kabuki 17
CHAPTER IV
Craftsmanship of Kabuki 28
CHAPTER V
Kabuki’s School of Acting 35
CHAPTER VI
Actor Ceremonials 40
ORIGIN OF KABUKI
CHAPTER VII
O-Kuni of Izumo 49
CHAPTER VIII
Onna Kabuki: The Woman’s Stage 58
CHAPTER IX
Wakashu Kabuki: The Young Men’s Stage 64
CHAPTER X
Theatres of the Three Towns 74
YAKUSHA
CHAPTER XI
Danjuro and Tojuro 87
CHAPTER XII
Yakusha of Genroku 99
CHAPTER XIII
Yakusha of Horeki 111
CHAPTER XIV
Yakusha of Pre-Restoration Period 121
CHAPTER XV
Onnagata 132
CHAPTER XVI
Yakusha and Marionette 144
CHAPTER XVII
Lives of the Yakusha 153
SHIBAI
CHAPTER XVIII
Customs of Shibai 169
CHAPTER XIX
Shibai and Outside Influence 183
CHAPTER XX
Music of Shibai 192
CHAPTER XXI
Shibai and Interference 201
CHAPTER XXII
Externals of Shibai 215
SAKUSHA
CHAPTER XXIII
Customs of the Sakusha 225
CHAPTER XXIV
Representative Sakusha 232
PLAYS
CHAPTER XXV
Kabuki Play Forms 253
CHAPTER XXVI
Motives of Kabuki Plays 276
CHAPTER XXVII
Kabuki Rôles 310
MEIJI KABUKI
CHAPTER XXVIII
Meiji Kabuki 323
I. Yakusha of Meiji 323
II. The Ninth Ichikawa Danjuro 330
III. A Theatre Manager of Meiji 337
IV. Rise and Fall of Shimpa 342
V. Reforms of Meiji 347
VI. Actresses of Meiji 353
VII. Playwrights of Meiji and Taisho 358
KABUKI TO-DAY
CHAPTER XXIX
Contemporary Kabuki 367
Bibliography 377
Index 379
ILLUSTRATIONS
FACE PAGE
The character of Kamakura Gongoro, a warrior of Old Japan,
as presented in Shibaraku! (lit., Wait-a-Moment). A famous
actor improvisation, or aragoto play, one of the hereditary
eighteen pieces of the Ichikawa Danjuro family. (From a
painting on silk by Torii Kiyotada, the present head of
the Torii School) _Frontispiece, in colour_
Onoe Kikugoro as a brave samurai woman mounted on a white
velvet stage steed 22
Nakamura Matagoro, the leading boy-actor of the Tokyo stage
in the rôle of a girl-pilgrim, O-Tsuru 36
Announcing Ceremony. Kojo, or announcement ceremony, in which
the central figure is Ichikawa Danjuro. The modest actor
whose name is to be changed or rank raised bows low, hiding
his face from view. (Colour print by Hasegawa Kampei, the
fourteenth, and Torii Kiyosada, father of Kiyotada) 40
The last of the Ichikawa family, the granddaughter of
Ichikawa Danjuro, the ninth 42
Theatre Treasures exhibited. At the Nakamura-za, founded by
Saruwaka Kansaburo, the gifts given to him by the Shogun
were considered as treasures of the theatre and exhibited
on certain anniversaries with much respect, the actor
holding the gold sai, or battle signal, and covering his
mouth with a piece of paper lest his breath soil it.
(Colour print by Hasegawa Kampei, the fourteenth, and
Torii Kiyosada, father of Kiyotada) 69
Ichimura Uzaemon, the thirteenth, as Yasuna in a posture
dance descriptive of a man who has become demented because
of the loss of his wife 82
Onoe Matsusuke as Komori Yasu, or Bat Yasu, so called because
of the birth-mark on his cheek which resembles a bat. A
bold, bad man of Yedo 99
Matsumoto Koshiro, of the Imperial Theatre, in the character
of Townsend Harris, the first American Minister to Japan. A
photograph of the intrepid Kentucky Colonel is on the
actor’s dressing-table 111
Nakamura Utayemon, leading actor of the Tokyo stage, in the
rôle of Yayegaki-hime, the young princess in the play
Nijushiko, or Twenty-four Filial Persons 132
Three onnagata of Asia: in the centre Mei Ran-fan of the
Peking stage, to the left Nakamura Utayemon, the leading
onnagata of Japan, and on the right Nakamura Fukusuke, the
son of Utayemon and one of the most fascinating
impersonators of women in Tokyo 136
Nakamura Jakuyemon of Osaka, an onnagata who imitates the
acting of the marionettes 140
Yoshida Bungoro, a doll-handler of the Bunraku-za of Osaka,
who has devoted his life to the management of female
marionettes 144
A scene from Chushingura, as played by the marionettes in the
Bunraku-za of Osaka 148
O-Sato, heroine of a ballad-drama of the Doll-theatre.
Reproduced from an oil painting by an Osaka artist and
shown in a Tokyo art exhibition. The doll-handlers are
grouped behind like shadows 150
Yakusha making a round of New Year calls. In the foreground
a member of the Ichikawa family, with two pupils and his
servants, following behind an onnagata similarly attended.
The kites in the picture show the favourite pastime of
children during the New Year holidays. (Colour print by
Hasegawa Kampei, the fourteenth, and Torii Kiyosada, father
of Kiyotada) 154
Matsumoto Koshiro in the rôle of an otokodate, or chivalrous
commoner, ready to defend the oppressed lower classes from
the blustering two-sworded samurai 160
Nakamura Kichiyemon as Kumagae, a warrior of Old Japan 166
To mark the opening of the theatre season when actors,
playwrights, and musicians were engaged, there was a
gathering called Seeing-for-the-First-Time. (Colour print
by Torii Kiyonaga) 175
Advertising the Play. During the performances two men garbed
in long trailing feminine attire, their heads covered with
cotton towels, attracted the passers-by by their verbal
advertisement. One imitated the lines of the actors, and
the other handed out wooden tickets. (Colour print by
Hasegawa Kampei, the fourteenth, and Torii Kiyosada, father
of Kiyotada) 177
Face Lights for the Actors. When the theatre became dark
it was necessary to illumine the actor’s face with
candle-light. Here property men are holding out candles on
the ends of pliant rods that the face of the dancer may be
seen, and candles form the footlights. The performer is the
serpent princess in the disguise of a beautiful dancer in
the piece Dojo-ji. (Colour print by Hasegawa Kampei, the
fourteenth, and Torii Kiyosada, father of Kiyotada) 181
Ceremony of welcoming an actor. It represents the onnagata,
Segawa Kikunojo, returning to the Nakamura-za in Yedo after
an absence of two years in Osaka. (From colour print by
Utagawa Toyokuni) 182
Nakamura Ganjiro of Osaka as a melancholy lover in a play of
the people 186
Nakamura Fukusuke of Tokyo in an onnagata rôle 215
A Kaomise, or face-showing ceremony at the Nakamura-za in
1772. By this time the roof of the stage had disappeared
and only its symbol remained over the front of the stage,
which now approached the long narrow style in vogue in the
Doll-theatre. (Colour print by Utagawa Toyoharu) 217
Interior of the Nakamura-za in 1798 when Ichikawa Danjuro,
the sixth, was promoted to the head of the theatre. By this
time the roof of the stage had become a decoration
overhead. (Colour print by Utagawa Toyokuni) 218
The largest Nō theatre in Japan, that of Onishi Ryotaro in
Osaka, a modern structure combining architectural features
representing the different periods of Nō theatre
development 220
Kataoka Nizaemon, the eleventh, as Yuranosuke, the leader of
the Forty-seven Ronin, in the play Chushingura 228
Nakamura Ganjiro of Osaka in his favourite rôle, that of
Izaemon, the lover of Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s drama, and
played for two centuries by the Kabuki actors 256
Matsumoto Koshiro, the seventh, as Watonai, the grotesque
hero of Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s drama, Kokusenya Kassen, or
the Battle of Kokusenya. The inner garment is bright red
studded with brass, the lower purple with a design of
twisted white rope 262
Matsumoto Koshiro, the seventh, as Benkei, the warrior-priest
in Kanjincho. He performed in this rôle when the Prince of
Wales visited the Imperial Theatre 264
Sawamura Sojuro, the seventh, of the Imperial Theatre, as
Togashi, the keeper of the barrier, in Kanjincho, Kabuki’s
music-drama masterpiece 266
Morita Kanya, the thirteenth, son of the aggressive theatre
manager of Meiji, as Yoshitsune, the young hero of the
music-drama, Kanjincho 268
Onoe Baiko as the Wistaria Maiden, in a descriptive dance 272
Onoe Kikugoro, the sixth, as the transformation of a maid
into a white fox, in a descriptive dance, Kagami Shishi, or
the Mirror-Lion 274
Nakamura Ganjiro of Osaka as Genzo, the village schoolmaster
in Terakoya, or The Village School, by Takeda Izumo 278
Ichikawa Chusha as Matsuomaru in Terakoya (The Village
School), who sacrifices the life of his son that the
Michizane heir may survive 280
Jitsukawa Enjaku of Osaka as Gonta in the sacrifice play,
Sembonzakura, by Takeda Izumo 282
Ichikawa Sadanji as Sadakura, the highwayman, in the play
Chushingura 284
The Harakiri scene from Chushingura 286
Scene from Yotsuya Kaidan, or The Ghost of Yotsuya, by
Namboku Tsuruya. Onoe Baiko is seen as the disfigured
O-Iwa, and Onoe Matsusuke the kind old masseur who holds up
the mirror that she may learn the truth 294
Banzuiin Chobei, a man of the people, rôle by Matsumoto
Koshiro 300
Nakamura Kichiyemon as Sakura Sogoro, the Village Head who
his life for the good of the people 302
Nakamura Fukusuke of Osaka as a belle of the gay quarters.
Letters are made as long as possible to produce the better
effect 304
Onoe Baiko as the demon woman in Ibaraki, escaping with her
severed arm 306
Matsumoto Koshiro and Onoe Baiko in Seikinoto, the
music-drama piece, in which Baiko appeared as the spirit
of the cherry tree 316
Ritsu-Ko Mori, the leading actress of the Tokyo stage 347
The Imperial Theatre of Tokyo, completed in 1911. The
building withstood the earthquake shocks of the great
disaster of 1923, but the interior was destroyed by fire.
It has now been entirely restored. The Imperial is becoming
an international theatre centre, and has welcomed actors,
musicians, and dancers from England, America, Russia,
Italy, and China 368
Onoe Baiko, leading actor of the Imperial Theatre in an
onnagata rôle 370
(1) The new Kabuki-za. (2) Entrance Hall of the new
Kabuki-za. The new Kabuki-za, with a seating capacity
of 4000, which was opened on January 6, 1925. Under
construction at the time of the earthquake disaster,
September 1, 1923, the concrete structure remained intact.
Japanese architectural features have been used throughout
the Kabuki-za, and, rising out of the ruins of the city,
it is one of the most imposing buildings in Tokyo 374
INTRODUCTION
Interest in the Theatre, and in the arts and crafts which belong to
it, is to-day so lively and so general that it is rather surprising
how little has been written about the popular theatre in Japan. There
have been several books on the Nō, that unique form of drama which
rigidly maintains unaltered all the traditions and fine conventions of
the medieval period. But this stationary, aristocratic art has never
entered into the life of the Japanese people as has the Kabuki theatre,
with which the present volume is concerned. In January of this year was
opened the new building of the Kabuki-za, rising from the ashes and
ruins of the capital. It is a huge building, with a seating capacity of
four thousand. The Japanese cannot live without the theatre: it is in
a most real sense part of the national life. Through the theatre the
least educated become familiar with the heroic past of their country,
its legends and its actual history, so abounding in dramatic episodes
“where duty and inclination come nobly to the grapple”. It stimulates
and sustains their imaginative life; it is a bond of union for all
sorts and conditions of men. Such a theatre is worth knowing about;
and the art of this theatre is, in all its details, of extraordinary
interest. No nation is so thorough as the Japanese in any art they
undertake; and the Kabuki theatre exacts the most prolonged and
rigorous training from childhood in those who serve it; their art is
of the most finished. Technically, also, the devices and conventions
of Kabuki scenes—the revolving stage, for instance—offer points
of comparison and contrast with the European theatre which we can
profitably study, as readers of this book will discover.
The writer of this book has lived for years in Japan, has
assiduously frequented the theatre (and not the Kabuki theatre only),
and has made herself intimately acquainted with its history. Collectors
and students of Japanese colour-prints know how entwined with that
popular art is the life of the theatre. Some of the finest designers
of those beautiful prints devoted their lives to depicting the actors
of the day in their most successful scenes. And print-collectors have
long been in want of a book which would tell them about the famous
actors, whether of masculine or feminine parts (for women, as on the
Elizabethan stage, were played by men), and about the plays in which
they appeared. Only quite recently has it been discovered that the
actor-prints can very often be dated by the help of theatre-records;
and thus we are enabled to distinguish between the different actors of
stage-families bearing the same name. (The hereditary character of the
actor’s calling is another interesting feature of the Japanese stage.)
In this book one’s natural curiosity about the lives and personalities
of the successive Danjuros and other great actors is in large measure
satisfied: and I am sure that print-collectors will welcome this
illuminating aid to their study. But it is to those interested in the
theatre as theatre that these pages will appeal above all.
Many of us remember the performances of Sada Yacco and her husband,
Mr. Kawakami, in London, now many years ago. They gave us just a
glimpse of the fascination of Japanese acting: but they represented
an experimental effort—Sada Yacco herself was an actress only by
accident—and in the West we have never seen any true representation of
the national drama of Japan. I cannot but express the hope, which I am
sure will be shared by those who read these pages, that before long
Tokyo may be persuaded to send a company to Europe, and at last allow
us to enjoy and understand something of the scrupulous and intense
dramatic art, so rich in tradition yet so alive to the finger-tips, of
the Japanese popular theatre.
LAURENCE BINYON.
KABUKI
CHAPTER I
KABUKI
Solid attention from the close-set heads of the playgoers kneeling
on their cushions in the boxes of the pit to the crowded galleries
on three sides, and enthusiasm displayed in the tachimi, or
standing-to-see place near the ceiling, where patient people remain on
their feet for long hours—the keenest critics as well as the warmest
supporters of the actors—such is the scene witnessed daily in the
theatre of Japan.
The Occidental cannot long withstand the mass psychology of this
audience; that is, if he makes an attempt to share its point of view
and appreciate the excellent things provided upon the stage. He feels
its subtle unity, its amazing cohesiveness; he is carried away by an
unseen stream, engrossed, engulfed, and wakes up with a start to find
himself an entity again; or else, detaching himself from the atmosphere
in which he has been immersed, wonders at this overflowing expression
of Japanese life.
Statesmen, publicists, and editors of the Occident wax eloquent about
Japan and her problems, but here is something they quite ignore and
leave out of consideration, this manifestation of the pure spirit of
the people with minds relaxed enjoying the theatre art that pleased
their ancestors.
Seekers after mystery will not find it here, for there is nothing
that is inscrutable. Merely the people laughing or crying as the
play proceeds, spontaneous in their approval of the triumph of right
over wrong, absorbed in the clash of evil and good,—the same theatre
material that has served to amuse and attract mankind for the last
two thousand years.
Just the people, displaying depths of human nature, undisturbed by the
questions that vex the politicians, the propagandists, the militarists,
and other dread phantoms that cast their dark shadows over a sunny,
smiling world.
The creative spirit belongs to no one land or people, and its
expression becomes the treasure of all. Kabuki, the popular stage of
Japan, is the result of three hundred years of intensive cultivation.
Its genius and successful achievements belong to a common sum total,
and are a contribution to the world’s theatre. Its actors are members
of the same fraternity as those of the West, and claim kinship with
them.
Nothing in the entire realm of Japanese life reveals the
characteristics of the people so unerringly as Kabuki. It is a
store-house of history, and has exercised a moral force upon the whole
people. The crowded audiences in the big theatres of Tokyo, Osaka,
Kobe, Kyoto, Yokohama, and the countless minor places of amusement,
testify to the enjoyment and relaxation afforded by the performances.
There are the achievements of the actors, who may easily be recognised
as men of the first ability; the frequent attempts of new stage
writers, that are worthy of consideration as evidence of Japan’s modern
tendencies; the living traditions of the old masterpieces to witness,
and the many interesting ceremonies of the theatre. Kabuki represents a
whole world of creativeness both past and present, a sphere of theatre
activity that remains a _terra incognita_ to the Occident.
There is something poignant in the endeavours of generations of Kabuki
players who obeyed the voice within them, asking no acknowledgement,
expecting no return, doing their duty as they knew it without the
least idea of the vague western hemisphere—completely unknown to their
brothers in other lands.
For more than three hundred years these actors have lived and had
their being in their own narrow spheres. True to the best theatre
instinct within them, they bequeathed their accumulated treasures
of style and taste, the purest and most varied of theatre material,
to their successors, the modern actors, who, so far as the West is
concerned, remain obscure, unvalued, and unappreciated, even as did
their ancestors when Japan was isolated and had no relations with
outside countries. Yet their art was good, and will one day gain
recognition. They have carried on their traditions unswervingly; they
are the custodians of all that pertains to the theatre of the present,
and the future looms large with possibilities.
There are three separate and distinct theatres in Japan: the Nō, or
classic drama, with its masked figures, perfected five hundred years
ago; Ningyo-shibai, or the Doll-theatre, where marionettes interpret
complicated ballad-dramas; and Kabuki, the popular theatre, in which
male players reign supreme. These are the Japanese theatre arts,
interwoven into the very fabric of society, the amusements of the
people that reflect their psychology, tastes, and aspirations.
The Nō became crystallised into an art at the time of the Shogun
Yoshimitsu (1368–1398). Long before Yoshimitsu held sway, the country
had been brimful of song, dance, poetry, minstrelsy, and the three
theatres of modern Japan may be said to have inherited the accumulated
tendencies of a thousand years.
Deeply rooted in the people was the love of theatrical entertainments
which were held in connection with the festivals of shrines and
temples. From these performances developed companies of players who
formed hereditary actor families, the members of which were regarded as
belonging to the common people.
When Yoshimitsu saw a performance at a Kyoto temple that pleased him he
gave his patronage to the players, and at one bound they were elevated
to a new position. It was at this time that the Nō was brought to a
state of perfection, and the support and encouragement given by so
highly placed a personage resulted in the monopoly of this theatre by
the aristocracy, to be reserved henceforward for their own use and
entertainment.
During the long Tokugawa regime, the Nō continued under the protection
of the Shogun, and was patronised by the various daimyo. When the
shogunate fell, the Nō almost went out of existence, but slowly
regained its prestige, and within recent years it has attained
unprecedented popularity. It is regarded as a means of culture, and is
claimed by increasing numbers of intellectuals. Yet it still retains
its aloofness from the common theatre, which it continues to disdain as
cheap, vulgar, and sensational. In spite of the fact that it has come
to a standstill and lives on the past, its influence is very great.
As an expression of the human spirit by means of inanimate figures, the
Doll-theatre of Japan is unique. It is a surprise to find this jewel of
art in Osaka, the city of smoke-stacks—an art that has been alive in
Japan for more than three hundred years, but is at present practically
confined to one small theatre, the Bunraku-za.
Other countries have their doll-theatres in more or less flourishing
conditions, but few have reached such a state of completeness as that
of Japan. For here is a rare combination—inanimate figures instead of
actors of flesh and blood; doll-men trained from childhood to acquire
the technique to manage the cold and lifeless forms through which
flows the creative genius of the handlers; minstrels and musicians who
have devoted their lives to the interpretation of the plays; and the
best brains of the dramatist employed in order that the dolls may be
triumphant and their use fully justified.
Kabuki, the popular stage, was but the assertion of the people to the
right of their own form of entertainment, since the Nō had become the
exclusive amusement of the higher classes. All the materials for a
theatre of the people were abundantly at hand, and it only needed the
impetus to start it flowing in the right direction.
Ningyo-shibai, or the Doll-theatre, and Kabuki rose at the same
time, both popular theatre arts. Kabuki was destined to be profoundly
influenced by the marionettes, and the music of the Doll-theatre owed
its inspiration directly to the Nō.
While Japan’s theatre genius has not developed in the same direction as
the intellectual drama of the Occident, her actors are the product of
severe discipline. Kabuki is one of the most professional stages of the
world. The actors are trained from childhood, and keep their place in
the ranks until their steps are tottering. There is no opening for the
amateur to gain admittance to this well-regulated world with its set
standards.
And of the countless plays, but few are known to the West. There are
the dramas rich in human nature, as romantic and sentimental as the
West could desire, with a realism that rivals that of the Occident.
On the other hand, there is a remarkable excursion into the realm
of the unreal, and grotesque characters cut out of the cloth of
exaggeration form the characteristics of the many quaint plays that
have been handed down to posterity by the nine stars of the Ichikawa
family, the actor-line that has contributed more than any other to the
development of the Japanese theatre. There are, also, the shosagoto,
or music-posture pieces, ethereal, graceful, fairylike creations, and
associated with these a whole sphere of descriptive dancing.
To attempt to justify the existence of Kabuki by seeking to explain
it in the light of the Occidental theatre means to digress, for
comparisons are idle until the whole story of the Japanese stage is
made known. No doubt when Kabuki becomes more familiar to the West much
of a critical nature will be written as to where the two approach or
diverge.
The aim of this book is to lay the essential facts of Kabuki before
Occidental readers. For it is believed that the way to judge such an
institution is to find out first what it signifies to those who have
brought it into existence. After which may be considered the value
it holds for the West. When an attempt is made to explain Kabuki in
Western terms confusion begins. It becomes a much simpler matter if
left to explain itself.
In the Nō the actor and playwright were subservient to interpretation,
and art was greater than personality; in the Doll-theatre, playwrights,
minstrels, doll-handlers—all worked so enthusiastically that they
forgot themselves and were absorbed in the marionette,—a truly
unselfish theatre co-operation. Much of Kabuki, however, has been of an
ephemeral nature. The actors improvised as they saw fit. It was their
world and the playwrights were their servants. The whole art of Kabuki
evolved by these players of Japan is unconscious, and should be of
the greatest interest to lovers of the theatre in all lands, for the
reason that the relation of a people to their theatre, the different
use of dramatic materials, the development of characteristic customs
and conventions reveal by way of comparison and contrast the virtues or
defects of the systems that exist elsewhere.