Monday, January 09, 2006
Shinshun (New Year) Kabuki
Despite living here for quite a while, I had never been to a kabuki performance until today. Attending kabuki is one of the many activities people do to ring in the new year, so we went to the Asakusa Kôkaidô (which is not a dedicated kabuki-venue such as Kabukiza in Ginza) to catch a show. As is common for New Year kabuki, the group of performers featured many of the young faces in the business, in a bid to lure out the younger generation to this most traditional of arts (which I learned today has surprisingly only just been designated as a national heritage). It seemed to work, as hundreds of young women dressed in kimono turned out to fawn over their favourite cast member. The first program of the afternoon was based around the suicide of one of the 47 ronin (before their final attack) in the classic Chushingura tale, while the second was an original production featuring a spider spirit who takes on various human forms that tempt men into her cascading webs (quite a sight).
One popular kabuki actor is Nakamura Shidô (中村獅童, see flyer detail, top right) who also acts in films, such as Satô Jun'ya's very recent Yamato: The Last Battle / Otoko-tachi no yamato / 佐藤純彌監督の『男たちの大和』 (english info here, official site here), Inoue Yasuo's very odd The Neighbour No. 13 / Rinjin 13-gô / 井上靖雄監督の『隣人１３号』 (review here, official site here), and Taguchi Tomorowo's very fun Iden & Tity / 田口トモロヲ監督の『アイデン＆ティティ』(review here, official site here). Because he doesn't devote himself completely to kabuki, some say he's not as a strong a performer as some of his contemporaries. In my amateur opinion, he fared well with the bolder actions and vocal work, but didn't have the subtlety of someone like Ichikawa Kamejirô (市川亀治郎), who was incredible in six completely different roles of the aforementioned spider spirit, ranging from a blind masseur, to a flirtatious young girl. Nakamura didn't play any today, but apparently he is also known as an onnagata (女形), a male performer who plays female roles.
Speaking of which, all of today's experience brought back memories of a film I saw years before I ever came to Japan, and which no doubt played a part in my fascination with this culture - Ichikawa Kon's masterful An Actor's Revenge / Yukinojo henge / 市川崑監督の『雪之丞変化』(in-depth review here).
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