Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality.
Log in
- Convenors:
-
Tove Bjoerk
(Saitama University)
Takayuki Hioki (Meiji University)
Hiroko Goto (Tezukayama University)
Send message to Convenors
- Chair:
-
Kyozo Takei
(National Institute of Japanese Literature)
- Discussant:
-
Kyozo Takei
(National Institute of Japanese Literature)
- Stream:
- Performing Arts
- Location:
- Torre B, Piso 2, Sala T6
- Sessions:
- Saturday 2 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
This panel considers the impact of Kabuki audiences on the formation of Kabuki itself during the 17th, 18th and 19th century. We discuss the importance of the theatre teahouses, Kabuki performed at mansions of feudal lords, and how the theatrical experience changed in the Meiji period.
Long Abstract:
Who were the spectators who loved and formed Kabuki? What did they do at the theatres? The theatrical experience of the Kabuki audience is essential to understanding how, and why, Kabuki developed into the performing art it is today. This panel will clarify the question of the social spectrum of the Kabuki spectators, and their habits at the theatre during the early modern period, and further cast a light on Kabuki's transition to the Meiji era from the perspective of the spectators.
Kabuki is said to have broke free from the restraints of Noh acting, which was reserved for the nobility and the warrior class, to provide entertainment for the common people. This notion holds true in the case of Kabuki performed in front of temples and shrines or in rural areas, because the entrance fee was low and accessibility high. However, recent research has shown that the social elite, starting with feudal lords and their female relatives formed an important part of the urban Kabuki audience. It is therefore conceivable that these spectators contributed to the shape of Kabuki itself.
This panel explores this possibility by discussing audience related issues, which arose in the time period stretching from the 17th to the 19th century, based on primary sources, such as diaries, actor's reviews and Ukiyo-e prints from the Edo period, and newspaper articles and photographs from the Meiji period.
We consider first the teahouses, which both catered to the spectators, second, the circumstance, which enabled Kabuki to performed at the homes of the social elite, and finally the social spectrum of the spectators during the Meiji era. Finally, we will open the floor for a discussion on how the audience and their experience at the Kabuki theatre influenced Kabuki itself, and how this experience transformed with the transition to the modern era.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Saturday 2 September, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
The social spectrum of Kabuki audiences is claimed to have changed during the Meiji period. This paper clarifies the social diversity kabuki audiences by comparing newspaper articles concerning both high-brow and low-brow Kabuki theatres in Tokyo.
Paper long abstract:
This paper discusses the diversity of Kabuki theatres and their audiences in the Meiji era (1868-1912). During 17th century, several licensed theatres operated in Edo (Tokyo), but after 1714 (Shōtoku 4), only three Kabuki theatres remained. In 1872 (Meiji 5), the Tokyo prefectural government expanded the limit on the number of theatre in the city to allowing a maximum of ten Kabuki theatres.
Evidence indicating that the disposition of the audience differed between these theatres can be found in newspaper or magazine articles throughout the Meiji era. It is suspected that the differences mainly came from the difference in social class of the audiences, in combination with the location of the theatres. Nevertheless, previous research on the Kabuki in the Meiji era has not paid enough attention to these differences, and the possible consequences it had for the plays staged.
It is generally considered that the Shintomi-za theatre promoted the modernization and the westernization of the Kabuki in the first half of the Meiji era, and the Kabuki-za theatre did the same in the latter half. All the other theatres operating during this same period have been simply regarded as old-fashioned. Recently, a series of articles on koshibai (literally 'small theatre', unprestigious theatre) in the Meiji era has been published, but it is still not clear what the actual condition of the audiences in either the high-brow Shintomi-za nor the low-brow koshibai theatre were.
This paper clarifies the differences of the audiences between the prestigious and common theatres, focusing on the social composition of the spectators, by analysing newspaper or magazine articles. Further, I compare the image of the audience emerging with the content of the dramatic works performed at the respective theatres, and outline a 'socio-political' map of the Tokyo theatres in the Meiji era.
Paper short abstract:
In this presentation, the business strategies of early modern theatre teahouses will be analyzed based on diary records from the mid-Edo period. I will show not only that wealthy spectators were targeted by the teahouses, but also how they were fundamental to Kabuki's development as a stage art.
Paper long abstract:
During the Edo period, visitors to the Kabuki theatres reserved their seats not at the theatres themselves, but at affiliated teahouses, which also catered to every need of the spectators. This paper will analyze the function and business strategies of these establishments, and their influence on the development of Kabuki.
The performing arts and the gastronomy business have long common historical roots in Japan. When the first permanent Kabuki theatres were erected along the Shijō road in Kyoto, it was no chance that this happened in an area in which there already existed many teahouses catering to the temple visitors at the Yasaka shrine.
The theatre teahouses were first venues for the Kabuki actors' prostitution, but gradually started catering food and drink within the theatres too. In the 1680s, the teahousues organized themselves into guilds, and after the Ejima-Ikushima Scandal in 1714 (Shōtoku 4), which led to the imposition of strict rules on the teahouses, the catering side of the service was increasingly stressed. By the end of the 19th century, theatre-goers had to book box seats through the teahouses, and occationally they controlled all seats of the entire theatre. However, despite the teahouses' pivotal role in the economic network surrounding the kabuki theatres, very little is known about them.
In this presentation, I will discuss the business strategies of Kabuki theatre teahouses on the basis of the diaries of kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō II (1688-1758), who was one of the most influential actors in the history of Kabuki, and the Kabuki lover feudal lord Yanagisawa Nobutoki (1724-1792). These diaries describe in detail how the theatre teahouses managed the contacts between the customers and the actors, and also how the theater teahouses canvassed for the support of wealthy customers.
By analysing these historical records, I hope to clarify the role of the theatre teahouses, not only to the development of Kabuki itself, but how they helped establishing the social and economic significance of Kabuki in early modern Japanese society.
Paper short abstract:
Kabuki performances were also held at the mansion of feudal lords. Based on diaries and household records, this presentation will show the social scale of the spectators attending these events and discuss their relevance as a part of Kabuki's audience.
Paper long abstract:
During the Edo period, Kabuki theatres obtained licenses to operate in the city itself, and drew large audiences to its theatres. However, Kabuki was also performed at the feudal lords private mansions. It is therefore necessary to include the spectators attending these private performances in order to grasp the total scope of the Kabuki audience during this period.
Feudal lords were obliged travel between their domains and the capital on alternate years, and leave a part of his family in the capital when they were spending the year in the domain, as a kind of hostage to the government. The feudal lords therefore maintained several estates in the capital, and celebrations and social events at these estates formed an important base upon which the urban culture of Edo could grow. Also Kabuki performances held at the feudal estates were a part of the social life of the warrior strata.
From diaries written by the feudal lords themselves and their household records, we know that Kabuki actors were regularly called to perform at the estates to celebrate the guest of honor and/or amuse the members of the feudal household. These performances would mostly be performed on a temporary stage in a large tatami room called the zashiki - hence the performances were also called zashiki-Kabuki.
In this presentation, I will analyze the social spectrum of the spectators at the zashiki performances at the estate of the feudal lord of Kaga and Tsushima domains (present day Ishikawa and Nagasaki prefectures) based on the household records and diaries from the late 17th to the early 18th century. I will show that the audience consisted not only of the guests of honor and family members of the feudal lord, but that also low ranking warriors and footmen were allowed to attend, and that sometimes there were several hundred spectators. I will show that the spectators attending these zashiki Kabuki performances formed an important spectator base, supporting and influencing Kabuki's development as an art form.