THEATRES OF THE THREE TOWNS
The intense theatre activity of Yedo, Kyoto, and Osaka that followed in
the wake of the edict against Wakashu Kabuki was but the outcome of the
growing consciousness of the people and an expression of their natural
art craving.
The competition between the stages of the three towns brought about
rapid developments in every direction, and many of the conventions that
distinguish the modern stage were inaugurated at this time.
Yedo was the seat of the Tokugawa Government, the Shoguns ruling the
country with an iron hand. The feudal lords and their vassals paid
allegiance to this Government, and Yedo swarmed with two-sworded
samurai. It was the liveliest centre of the country for the ronin, or
samurai unattached to a master, and in consequence all the adventurous
spirits of the time were attracted here as moths to a candle. Yedo
Kabuki thus developed marked characteristics of its own.
The atmosphere of Kyoto was entirely different. Here lived in seclusion
the Emperor, surrounded by the Imperial families and the nobles. The
usurping Shoguns had reduced the Emperor to impotence. Kyoto was the
home of artists, poets, writers, and the people were calm, elegant, and
given to refined pursuits. The actors of Kyoto contributed not a little
to the taste and style of Kabuki.
Osaka, also, had a great influence upon Kabuki. Here, people were
well-to-do and full of energy. This town had for centuries been one
of the foremost centres of trade, and the inhabitants counted
theatre-going among their chief pleasures. Osaka Kabuki contributed
some of the most important material that went to the building up of the
theatre of the people.
When the handsome young players of Wakashu Kabuki no longer held
the centre of the stage, acting made rapid progress. Theatre
construction greatly improved; the introduction of the samisen caused
a special music of the theatre to come into being, which was soon to
differentiate Kabuki from the farces of the Nō theatre it had imitated
so slavishly. There also arose a new school of music, Yedo Nagauta
(long poem or song), the basis of Kabuki’s interesting music-dramas.
At this period the onnagata, or specialty of acting women’s rôles,
began, a convention that makes the Japanese stage so unlike anything to
be found in the Occident.
It had been customary on O-Kuni’s stage, and later on the women’s
stage, for men to assume women’s rôles and women to appear as men,
but when the Government forbade women appearing on the stage it was
necessary, not only from an art point of view, but also from a business
one, to find substitutes.
Therefore, in the natural course of events, men came to monopolise
female rôles. This was no new thing after all, for the Nō, that
flourished for two hundred years before Kabuki had sprung into being,
was also a male theatre, and not only did men wear women’s masks
when impersonating the tragic heroines of the Nō drama, but the
impersonators of females in the farces of Nō, or Kyogen, were likewise
males, wearing cotton coverings over their heads, as may be seen to-day
in the performances of the Nō.
Besides, the male impersonator of women had long been a convention of
the Chinese theatre, and as Japan had absorbed within herself so much
of the civilisation from the continent, it was not surprising that her
theatre conventions, as well as those of her other arts, should be akin
to those of China.
Yet there was in Japan a tendency towards a theatre development
similar to Europe, had not the Government so resolutely set itself
against all freedom of action on the part of the theatre folk.
In this early period of expansion there were many good actors whose
traditions were carried on and who made a firm foundation for the
brilliant Genroku age, Kabuki’s greatest period of growth and
out-flowering.
Among the tateyaku, or leading actors, before Genroku, there were three
men of influence—Arashi Sanyemon, of Yedo; Fujita Koheiji, of Kyoto;
and Araki Yojibei, of Osaka.
Arashi Sanyemon was born in 1635 and died in 1690. He came to Yedo
from Settsu Province, where his father was a prosperous fish dealer.
In one of his popular plays there was a line about the moon having its
clouds and the flowers their storms, and people quoting this called
out “Arashi!” when he appeared on the street. This was a poetical term
meaning mountain-wind, or storm. Sanyemon thought this a good stage
name, and thereafter adopted it, a cognomen that has been used by
actors ever since.
Sanyemon was not content to play to Yedo audiences, but went to Osaka,
where he became the proprietor of a theatre. He greatly improved plays,
wore magnificent garments, and acted to the accompaniment of flute,
drum, and samisen. His plays served Chikamatsu Monzaemon as originals
when that dramatist wrote two of his best-known doll-dramas. Arashi
Sanyemon was succeeded by his son, who became one of the noted actors
of Genroku.
Contemporary with Arashi Sanyemon was Fujita Koheiji, of Kyoto. He had
come from the adjacent province of Ise, after acting in small country
theatres, and was a close rival to Arashi Sanyemon. It is said that he
never lost his popularity on the stage during his career, although he
did not attempt to hide the ravages of time by using face powder in
making up. His gestures were those of real life, and were considered as
models that were handed down to his successors. Fukui Yagozaemon, of
Osaka, the first playwright to compose long pieces of several acts,
had much to do with increasing Koheiji’s reputation, writing plays for
him that pleased the public.
Likewise, Yagozaemon was largely responsible for the fame of another
influential actor, Araki Yojibei, of Osaka, who ended his earthly
career in 1700. This early playwright, Yagozaemon, was not only a stage
writer, but a good actor as well, and was successful as a kawashagata,
or middle-aged woman character. He was one of the stage authorities of
his day, and wrote a play for Yojibei that was the great success of the
time. It was _Hinin Adauchi_, or The Beggar’s Revenge, the first long
play to be composed in Osaka, free from all association with the Nō
drama, a piece that has long survived, with modifications, and is still
a favourite with modern actors. Yojibei was versatile; he was praised
as clever in stage fighting and excellent when impersonating a wounded
man, so that he was an early advocate of realism in acting.
Among the dokegata, or comedians, there was an actor who could boast of
blue blood when it came to theatre lineage. He was Sadoshima Dempachi.
His father before him was Sadoshima Denbei, who had headed one of
the Onna Kabuki companies in Kyoto. Dempachi had been brought up in
the theatre atmosphere. From the theatre chronicles it is found that
he was ugly and did not have a pleasing voice, two disqualifications
for a tateyaku, or chief actor, but he was a dancer _par excellence_,
and this covered a multitude of sins, since dancing is the basis of
the Japanese actor’s art. Sadoshima Dempachi was fortunate in the
possession of a son who inherited his genius, Sadoshima Chogoro,
who, although less of an actor than a dancer, had much to do with
the movements and postures of the newly arisen music-drama, and left
behind him a journal concerned largely with the secrets of dancing, the
_Sadoshima Nikki_, or Journal of Sadoshima.
When the Wakashu Kabuki went out of existence and plays were produced
that required complicated characters, a strict division of labour
among the actors was carried out, and they were obliged to play only
their own specialties.
In the Onna Kabuki the rôles had been fixed as in the Nō theatre. There
was a shite, or chief actor; a waki, or secondary player; and tsure,
or assistants. In Wakashu Kabuki, the handsome youth who was selected
as star of the company was called taiyu, or chief, while older actors
acted as secondary and supporting players. As in the Nō there were
kyogen shi, or comedians, so there were dokegata, or funny men, in the
Wakashu Kabuki.
The specialties of the newly established male stage were simple at
first, then became more and more complex. They were the tateyaku,
or chief actor, who played the hero, always a good, courageous, and
loyal personage. The katakiyaku was the name of the specialty in
villains,—the bold, bad characters who caused all the trouble. There
were the onnagata, or actors playing women’s rôles; the dokegata, or
comedians; oyajigata, or elderly men, and the kawashagata, or females
of middle age. Youthful heroes were played by wakashugata, while
koyakugata was the name given those who took children’s rôles.
With the increase in the importance of acting, and the overwhelming
interest the public took in the competition of the actors, the most
complicated system of rank came to be bestowed upon the players.
During the Wakashu Kabuki regime, the audiences were simply charmed
by the dancing of attractive young men, but as soon as complicated
plays brought diversified characters, the people became most critical
of acting, a characteristic that has remained as regards the Japanese
playgoer. This holds true equally of modern audiences, that are ever
alert to see the differences between good and indifferent acting, and
which they appear to find much more worthy of consideration than the
merits or demerits of the play.
Playgoers took keen interest in the rank earned by their favourites,
and were elated if an actor became more prominent, and equally
disturbed if he did not live up to the promise of his early career.
The most important rank was termed jojo-kichi, or best-best-good.
Intermediate rank was marked by the Chinese characters denoting jojo or
best-best, chu-no-jojo or middle-best-best, and chu-no-jo, middle-best.
Later on, the system determining the talents of the actors became
elaborate. There was first the superlative standard, called
head-of-all-acting, and this was like Miranda, created of every
creature’s best, top of admiration. Murui followed, a most coveted
title, signifying without rival, applied to the best in each specialty,
whether it was an onnagata or a tateyaku.
The third rank was jojo-kichi, best-best-good, used for the
second in each specialty, and the fourth was shingoku-jojo-kichi,
or truest-best-best-good; the fifth, dai-jojo-kichi, or
great-best-best-good; while the sixth was called ko-jojo-kichi, or
little-best-best-good.
The seventh rank was jojo-kichi, best-best-good. This was the standard
rank, the others were given only to the great stars. Below jojo-kichi
were the eighth and ninth ranks, and still lower a number of different
terms diminishing in value. These were written in Chinese characters
beside the actor’s name on the programme and on the bill-boards outside
the theatre, of which he must have been inordinately proud.
In _Kokon Yakusha Taizen_, or Ancient and Modern Actors, published by
Hachimojiya in the third year of Kwanyei (1791), there is a statement
as to the origin of these ranks. In China the rank was given to loyal
persons who were considered worthy of reward for merit. The titles jojo
and jo-chu-no-jo were conferred upon them.
Murasaki Shikibu, the famous court lady, who wrote the _Genji
Monogatari_, or stories concerning the adventures, largely romantic,
of Prince Genji, used the rank of jojo-kichi when she wished to give
one of her heroes a meritorious title, taking the jojo, or best-best,
from the custom prevailing in China, and adding kichi, or good, on
her own account. As the art of the actors developed their genius
was recognised, and this system of reward devised. At first the
classification fell into the categories of good, middle, and poor, but
gradually the most extravagant terms were used to denote the pinnacle
of art achieved.
Along with this minutiæ in connection with acting the dramatic critic
was called into being, the actor and his critic being complements of
each other the world over.
Persons of literary pretensions began to criticise the actors, and
published their opinions. It is not clear when the first of these
criticisms appeared, but Ihara Seiseiin mentions 1656 as the probable
date.
At first the criticisms dealt largely with the personal appearances of
the onnagata, who were the most fascinating players on the stage, their
borrowed feminine charms and graces being attractive to men and women
alike. Then followed publications relating to anecdotes of the actors.
Criticism improved as the critics were given more food for thought, and
were able to judge the value and quality of the acting, rather than
mere descriptions of an actor’s dress, face, or manners.
There were two famous dramatic critics during the fruitful Genroku
period, when the theatre rose to the summit of its achievements. One of
these was Ihara Saikaku, the author of a popular novel, _Ukiyo Zoshi_,
that was not distinguished for its moral tone, and other writings, and
Hojo Danshin, a composer of haiku, or short poems.
Their criticisms were written in their leisure hours and were a matter
of their own pleasure. They were blessed in that they were not obliged
to think of newspaper proprietors, sensitive theatre managers, or the
vagaries of the reading public, but could spin out of their heads the
fancies that came to them after attending the theatre. They were not
obliged to rush to some smoky, noisy newspaper office, there to grind
out their copy at a late hour on the typewriter with printers’ devils
ready to snatch in desperate hurry. No doubt they sat all day long
on the tatami, or straw mats, of their dwelling, looking out upon some
quiet landscape scene, and thinking at leisure.
Much of their writings is trivial in the light of the present, but,
on the other hand, they reveal intimate glimpses of the theatre and
actors that would be delightful to a lover of modern Kabuki, if the
task of separating the wheat from the chaff in this formidable array of
scribblings was not so difficult.
Following the example of Ihara Saikaku and Hojo Danshin, other literary
men devoted themselves to chronicling the events of the theatre, and
they wrote copiously, giving minute descriptions of the gestures and
elocution of the actors.
Books of criticism were called hyobanki (lit., account of reputation),
and these became the monopoly of the Yedo publisher, Hachimonjiya. The
first of these books appeared in 1656; the series continued until just
before the Restoration, the publishing house lasting for 211 years.
Hachimonjiya Yisho, the head of the firm, was a writer about theatre
matters as well as a publisher, and his partner in the business,
Ejimaya Kiseki, also wrote books relating to the theatre. The partners
quarrelled and separated for some years, each issuing his own
publications, but afterwards they forgot their differences and once
more collaborated. Their successors carried on the work of issuing the
hyobanki, which were the only books descriptive of the theatre. They
reached hundreds of volumes, and are an encyclopaedia of Kabuki.
While the theatres of Kyoto and Osaka changed hands frequently and
went by various names, four historic Yedo playhouses were started in
this formative period with which generations of actors were to be long
associated. They were the Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za, Morita-za, and the
Kawarasaki-za.
The descendants of the owners of these theatres had the exclusive right
to give performances and to be theatre proprietors. The actors
were their retainers. As a result there came into existence in Yedo
different theatre clans, with the establishment of an hereditary caste
in theatre circles.
Saruwaka Kansaburo had founded the first Yedo theatre in 1624, calling
it the Saruwaka-za, but his cousin, the third Kansaburo, changed the
name to Nakamura-za, a playhouse in which appeared many of the most
talented actors that adorned the Yedo stage.
The Ichimura-za was originally the Murayama-za, founded by a brother
of the Kyoto manager, Murayama Matabei, who endured so many privations
while waiting patiently for the governor to give permission for the
long-closed theatre to reopen in Kyoto.
The Yedo Murayama adopted several sons to succeed him as head of the
theatre, but they had no business ability, and the theatre was finally
purchased by Ichimura Uzaemon in 1666, a name long recorded in the
annals of the theatre and borne at present by the popular actor of the
Kabuki-za in Tokyo, Ichimura Uzaemon, the thirteenth.
Uzaemon’s ancestors were said to have been samurai in the service of a
daimyo. On coming to Yedo from the provinces he entered the employment
of Murayama Matasaburo and afterwards became the sole proprietor,
giving the theatre his own name. He was not an actor, but successful in
business management, and few of his successors distinguished themselves
on the stage. The Ichimura-za crests, one an orange with leaves at the
top and the other a stork in a circle, have continued to be theatre
symbols from the time of the first Ichimura-za to the present. This
playhouse passed through many vicissitudes, and was removed from its
original site and finally destroyed by fire. The last theatre bearing
this name has come down to modern times, and was destroyed in the great
disaster of 1923, a temporary Ichimura-za serving at the present.
Still another theatre, the Morita-za, was to have considerable
influence upon stage history. It was established in 1660 by Morita
Tarobei, who came to Yedo from Settsu Province. Among his advisers
was a comic actor, Bando Matakuro, and he adopted this actor’s son,
transferring his property to him and calling him Morita Kanya, the
second, a name that has been inherited for 250 years by actors and
managers. The thirteenth Morita Kanya is now a member of the Imperial
Theatre company, and his father was one of the most aggressive theatre
managers during the modern period of Meiji.
[Illustration: 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.]
The Yamamura-za was another of the first Yedo theatres, and would
in all probability have continued together with the Nakamura-za,
Ichimura-za, and Morita-za, but one of its leading actors became
involved in a scandal with a lady-in-waiting at the Shogun’s Court, and
it was demolished by the authorities.
Kawarasaki Gonnosuke established the Kawarasaki-za in 1648. He was at
first a Nō actor, but came to Yedo from the provinces and started a
Kabuki theatre. Among several plays he composed, that concerning the
revenge of the Soga Brothers was most popular. In 1663 this theatre was
incorporated with the Morita-za, but later they separated and continued
until modern times, the Kawarasaki-za having been closely associated
with the Ichikawa actor-line.
Za—as applied to a theatre—had not been especially invented to meet
the new theatrical situation. Long before the Nō had become firmly
established in the fourteenth century, companies of players attached to
the great Shinto Shrines had called themselves za, which previous to
this time had been in use to denote a commercial guild. It was a case
of history repeating itself that the resurrected term should have been
used in connection with the new playhouses that were springing up in
all directions.
Such was the rise of the theatres in the three towns, a rapid
development that came about in the half-century between the abolition
of the Women’s Stage and the beginning of Genroku, Japan’s golden age.
Enthusiastic audiences filled the large theatres of Yedo, Kyoto, and
Osaka, flocked to the doll-theatres where the marionettes triumphed
and threatened to outrival the actors in popularity, while innumerable
minor playhouses of a temporary character were set up in the compounds
of shrines or by the cross-roads, and spread in the provinces.
It was a time of actor-worship. Two great stars appeared. They were
Ichikawa Danjuro, of Yedo, and Sakata Tojuro, of Kyoto, diverse in
their principles, leaders of the two schools that laid the foundations
of modern Kabuki.
From this time onward the yakusha, or actor, dominated the theatre.
YAKUSHA