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Paper short abstract:

Taking up the concept of mitate I will portray the modes of negotiating erotic allure and body discourses of the early Kabuki as they can be found in the Kabuki hyōbanki (actor's critiques). I concentrate on the issues Yarō mushi (1659) and Kokon shibai iro-kurabe hyakunin isshu (1693).

Paper long abstract:

Since Okuni's dance and the emergence of shirabyōshi epigones Kabuki was closely related to physical attraction and erotic desire. Its surrounding culture was a vital part of the licensed pleasure quarters of Edo, Kyōto, and Ōsaka while the sexual allure and bodies of the actors gradually became objects of vivid discourse among connoisseurs. These discourses were especially strong within fan communities and after the ripening of yarō kabuki debates were perpetuated by theaters and publishing houses through their various prints. While illustrated books or single sheets on actors remain important examples, the actor's critiques - issued by publishers and referred to as Kabuki hyōbanki or Yakusha hyōbanki - represent valuable material to trace the evolution of erotic discourses within the audience community. The critiques were released periodically twice a year from 1659 until the end of the Edo period. Although they do not express the immediate view of the audience and have a strong literary quality, they can be seen as the driving force and authoritative frame for discussion and perception.

As Kabuki was developing during the Genroku period into a more refined form of theater, artistic features and aesthetics gained importance. This might lead one to the assumption that erotic aspects were of little relevance by then. I want to show that this is not the case and portray modes of negotiating the actor's body in the context of the audience. There is already a considerable amount of research on the aesthetics in shunga available in English (see for example Screech 1999 or Clark et al. 2013). Alfred Haft has recently tried to pin mitate as the dominant aesthetic pattern in Kabuki woodblock prints (see Haft 2013). I want to take up this approach and portray the way in which the erotic body of the actor was addressed in the Kabuki hyōbanki comparing the issue Yarō mushi from 1659 with Kokon shibai iro-kurabe hyakunin isshu from 1693. While the former displays immediate comments on the appearance and simple comparisons of single actors ("like a wakashu-doll"), the latter compares more extensively the charms of several actors with each other.

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Paper short abstract:

Noda Hideki often referred to other writers' works as motifs in his works, and he adapted some classics as well. He met Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII and they collaborated for creating Noda versions of kabuki, inviting new audiences to kabuki as well as to the theatre of Noda.

Paper long abstract:

Noda Hideki (1955-) is one of the most popular playwrights and directors in modern Japan. He started to write drama for school festival in his senior high school and one of his very early works was an adaptation of a well-known Japanese novel Hikarigoke dealing with cannibalism. He founded Yume no Yumin-sha in 1972 as a student theatre company in the University of Tokyo, then he continued it as a professional theatre company in 1982 after their final performance in Komaba sho gekijo. He wrote more than 20 plays during the professional decade of Yume no Yumin-sha mainly for his company. The works written for Yume no Yumin-sha are characterized by rapidly changing scenes with energetic physical movement like athletes and speech plays with intertwined words. They had been one of the most popular theatre companies among younger generations. However, Noda dissolved it in 1992 and left for London to study UK theatre, supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. Noda's creative style came to respect plot and theme such as about violence, wars and discrimination after the study in London, keeping its physicality and verbal play. He founded NODA・MAP in 1993, which is a production system and company recruiting actors through workshops for each performance. He is currently the artistic director of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, and continues to produce new works by NODA・MAP. On the other hand, Noda wrote and directed three kabuki pieces, Togitatsu no Utare (2001), Nezumi-kozou (2003) and Aida-hime (2008). Togitatsu no Utare and Nezumi-kozou are adaptations from original kabuki pieces, and Aida-hime is also an adaptation, which is a transposition from Verdi's opera. He created his kabuki world cooperating with the late Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII (1955-2012), and he wrote each protagonist especially for Kanzaburo XVIII. Noda versions of kabuki challenged borders of traditional performing arts and they invited new audiences not only to kabuki but also to the theatre of Noda. The author will discuss the three kabuki pieces created by Noda and Kanzaburo XVIII as challenges for traditional performing arts in modern Japan.

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Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the relationship between kabuki and two types of community: the permanent and established community based around the Ginza Kabukiza theatre, and the new and/or temporary communities built around specific experimental performances and promotional events.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the relationship between kabuki (and kabuki related culture) and two types of community.

In the first section, the focus will be on the permanent kabuki community for which the Ginza Kabukiza has now become home. Taking account of the fact that there has been a kabuki theatre on the same site since 1899, I will consider how links between kabuki and the theatre location were initially forged and have since been fostered gradually over time. I will show how the project to develop the most recent theatre building, the Ginza Kabukiza, and the Kabuki Tower, both opened in 2013, draws on and reinforces these connections. I will argue that, although there is also significant activity in kabuki performance and culture outside this space, the idea of Ginza Kabuki as the home of kabuki is being increasingly emphasised.

The second section will look at some of the ways in which kabuki and its surrounding culture are being taken out of this home environment, and will attempt to assess what impact this has. As examples of kabuki performance beyond the Ginza Kabukiza, I will discuss the kabuki adaptation of the manga One Piece, staged at Shinbashi Enbujo in 2015, and the kabuki spectacles performed in Las Vegas in 2015 and 2016. Both demonstrate the importance given to experiment and innovation in kabuki, and may also be seen as attempts to construct a new temporary community and/or to extend the established one. I will then introduce the Kabuki Gate exhibition and shop opened at Narita Airport in March 2015 and the Tembo or Tenku kabuki event at the Tokyo Skytree in October 2016, both of which may be viewed primarily as commercial promotional activities for kabuki, but also contribute to the construction of new temporary communities in a similar manner to the performances examined.