- Convenors:
-
Tove Bjoerk
(Saitama University)
Takayuki Hioki (Meiji University)
Rina Tanaka (Kyoto Sangyo University)
Send message to Convenors
- Chair:
-
Tove Bjoerk
(Saitama University)
- Discussant:
-
Ken Hagiwara
(Meiji University)
- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- Performing Arts
Short Abstract
This panel reevalutaes the notion that women are and historically were the primary consumers of commercial theatre in Japan, by analyzing theatre reviews, works of art and fiction, and legislation of the theatre buildings, from the early modern period to contemporary time.
Long Abstract
This panel scrutinizes the notion that women are and historically were the primary consumers of popular commercial theatre in Japan. Though the very early commercial theatre had strong ties to the sex industry and a strong focus on securing male patronage, from the mid 18th century, the idea that women were the most ardent fans of Kabuki actors and the most frequent theatre goers became prevalent in both works presenting the theatres and works of fiction. This idea carried itself into the 20th century, however, despite women allegedly being an important source of income for the theatres, their treatment was ambivalent, both in literature and material realities.
The first presentation looks at how early modern Kabuki theatre spectators were represented in early modern theatre reviews. These reviews were written as group discussion between fictive proxy speaker displaying contradicting opinions on the actors and the performances. This presentation considers the gender ratio and professional and social groups represented in these discussions, with a focus on how women were represented in this media.
The second discusses how the notion that women were avid theatre fans were treated in 20th century theatre critics and what opinions were expressed concerning their involvement and knowledge about theatre, focusing on the construction of the idea of the theatre-crazed silly woman in works of fiction.
The third presentation considers the material realities for female theatre goers since the 20th century, focusing on how modern Japanese theatres offstage infrastructures shape theatrical experience and participation in popular and commercial theatre genres.
Jointly, we will scrutinize the construction of the myths and the material infrastructures surrounding female theatre goers in order to discuss the realities of the consumption of commercial theatres, from the 17th to the 21st century.
| Abstract in Japanese (if needed) |
Accepted papers
Paper short abstract
Early modern Kabuki reviews were written as group discussions to present conflicting views. This presentation looks at how these groups were constructed, focusing on the gender-ratio, and the professional and social groups represented, with a focus on the female spectators.
Paper long abstract
This presentation analyses the gender ratio and social and professional groups found among the proxy speaker in Kabuki actors’ reviews from the late 17th to the mid 18th century, with the aim to discuss how the representative spectatorship was viewed by contemporary Kabuki consumers.
From 1660 onwards, theatre reviews commenting on the Kabuki actors and productions were published on a yearly basis, covering the major theatres in Kyoto, Osaka and Edo. Though several publisher tried their hand at this popular printed media, and the format of the theatre reviews varied from using waka poetry cards to Chinese poetry allusions, eventually the format used by the Hachimonjiya publishing house in the review Yakusha kuchi jamisen (役者口三味線, ‘Gossip about Actors’) in 1699, in which the review was written as a group discussion between several characters presenting sometimes contradicting opinions, became the most popular format.
The group discussion tend to present opinions of fans of different actors, each propagating their own favourite and also regional differences in taste in between Edo and the Osaka and Kyoto theatres, but in this presentation, I analyze the constellation of these proxy speakers appearing the over 130 Actors’ Reviews published from 1695 to 1772, dividing them into male and female speakers, and in each group consider the predominant professions and social groups represented. I will contrast this material to data extracted from and analysis of spectators appearing in pictures and prints depicting the inside of Kabuki theatres and also spectators described in the diaries of Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro II (1688-1758) and Kabuki fan and feudal lord Yanagisawa Nobutoki (1724-1792), to discuss how representative these proxy speakers may be, and what they tell us about the representative spectatorship from the 17th to the 19th century.
Paper short abstract
This paper examines women’s restroom queues today in Japanese theaters as a gendered practice shaped by audience composition, theater designs, policies, and venue operations. It shows how offstage infrastructures shape theatrical experience and participation in genres such as musical theater.
Paper long abstract
Why are there long lines in front of women’s restrooms in Japanese theaters today? This question foregrounds how theater spaces are materially and structurally gendered. As Joyce’s (2022) analysis of the Victorian Fanny and Stella trials illustrates, disputes over restroom access reveal the gendered assumptions embedded in public space.
In Japan, the 2015 amendment to the Entertainment Places Act (1948) requires venue operators to balance restroom provisions by considering physiological differences, venue type, and user demographics. Yet many theaters continue to face chronic shortages of women’s facilities, prompting the government’s recent inclusion of restroom improvement for women in the Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2025.
Musical theaters, whose audiences are predominantly women, have undertaken systematic architectural improvements for decades. Recent renovations at the the Imperial Theater (1911) and Takarazuka Grand Theater (1924) exemplify how restroom expansion has become an institutional response to gendered audience composition. In contrast, arena concerts, especially those featuring male idol groups, often rely on spectators’ strategies, such as checking the setlist in advance to plan restroom breaks, revealing how infrastructural responsibility shifts from venue to audience. Environments such as live houses and cinema complexes, where spectators can exit more freely, and the rise of livestreamed performances further complicate the relationship between participation and restroom access. The issue is not limited to spectators. For performers and backstage staff, restroom accessibility intersects with costume constraints, spatial layout, and tight performance schedules, presenting another dimension of gendered bodily management.
By examining restroom infrastructure through the lens of performance studies and cultural studies, the paper shows that gender in contemporary Japanese theater is shaped and sustained through both the material design of venues and the everyday operational practices that organize bodily needs, revealing how infrastructural conditions shape theatrical experience and participation.
Paper short abstract
Edo-period anecdotes often portrayed female Kabuki audiences as enthusiastic yet ignorant of the art’s depth. By analyzing real and fictional images of female theatregoers, this paper traces how this long-standing prejudices arose and how women marginalized within Kabuki criticism.
Paper long abstract
Aoyagi Yūbi, a pastor and journalist, one of the collaborators of Jogaku Zasshi, Japan’s first women’s magazine, contributed an essay entitled “An Anatomy of the Psychology behind Women’s Obsession with Theatre” to Engei Gahō in 1916. In this essay, the notion that “women love theatre” is taken for granted.
This perception dates back to the Edo period and women are not portrayed merely as enthusiastic theatregoers; they are also depicted as audiences who lack a proper understanding of the artistic depth of theatrical performance. Such a perspective, for example, can be seen in Haiyū Hyakumensō (1901), a collection of anecdotes about Kabuki actors. One episode introduces a young female spectator who shouts, “Only for you, Kinokuniya-san! As long as you’re here, Danzō isn’t necessary,” while watching a performance in 1839 featuring two Kabuki stars: Sawamura Sōjurō V (Kinokuniya) and Ichikawa Danzō V. This anecdote is clearly intended to ridicule the female spectator for not realizing the appeal of Danzō, an actor known for his modest stage presence yet outstanding technical skill, earning him the nickname shibudan (“sober Danzō”).
This portrayal reflects the historically imposed role of “ignorance” assigned to female audiences, who were largely deprived of access to critical language and discourse on theatre. Yakusha hyōbanki (actor critiques), which were published continuously from the mid-17th to the late 19th century, typically depict imaginary theatre enthusiasts discussing the performances of Kabuki actors. Contrary to the widespread belief that women were avid Kabuki fans, fictional female characters were underrepresented in hyōbanki, and their comments tend to not be critical, but to be mere cheering. This tendency survived later and female critics remained marginal in the modern criticism of Kabuki in the 20th century.
This paper examines both the historical reality of female audiences in the Edo period and the images of them constructed in fictional and semi-fictional sources from the Edo period to the 20th century, including hyōbanki, novels, nishikie prints and films. By comparing these representations, it clarifies how stereotypical images of female Kabuki audiences were formed, disseminated, and sustained over time.