KABUKI GLOSSARY (A~C)

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Adauchi Revenge; vengeance. The main thema of many Kabuki plays. The
most famous one is "Kanadehon Chûshingura", based on the true
story of the revenge of 47 masterless samurais against the villain
responsible for the death of their master.

In Japanese: 仇討
Agemaku Permanent curtain located at the entrance of the hanamichi. There is
also sometimes, depending on the production, a temporary agemaku
to allow entrance from the kamite.

In Japanese: 揚幕
Ageya House of assignation in the pleasure quarters.

In Japanese: 揚屋
Akattsura A red-faced villain in jidaimono. Stupid but strong, he is usually the
follower of a smarter and more powerful evil lord.

In Japanese: 赤っ面
Akô Akô was little castle town in the Banshû province. Its modern name is
Banshû-Akô.

In Japanese: 赤穂
Akô Rôshi Literally "The masterless samurai from Akô". This expression is used
for the series of events related to the vendetta of the 47 masterless
samurai from Akô. On March 14, 1701, Asano Takumi-no-Kami
Naganori, the young daimyô of the castle town of Akô, attacked Kira
Kôzukenosuke, a high Shôgunal official who bullied him during a
ceremony at the Shôgun's palace. The Shôgun was furious and Asano
was forced to commit seppuku that very day and his domain
confiscated. On December 15, 1702, forty-seven of Asano's retainers
avenged his death by attacking and killing Kira and immediately
became heroes showing that even after a century of peace, the
samurai value of loyalty was not yet dead. In 1748, the puppet play
"Kanadehon Chûshingura" appeared and since that time has been the
single most popular play in all Japanese theatre. The names of the
original characters were changed due to censorship and all kinds of
incidents created, but still, as the history of the original event and
the portrait of the suffering of the people around the event, it
provides vivid human drama that is alive and vibrant even today.
{adapted from a text published in the Asahi Kaisetsu Jigyô's website}

In Japanese: 赤穂浪士
Akuba An evil middle-aged woman in sewamono drama, who indulges in
extortion, blackmail or murder. She is usually a clever person, who
can bluff, fight and swindle.

In Japanese: 悪婆
An'ei An imperial era in Japanese history which started the 16th November
1772 and ended the 1st April 1781. The 2 eras before and after An'ei
were Meiwa and Tenmei.

In Japanese: 安永
Ansei An imperial era in Japanese history which started the 27th November
1854 and ended the 18th March 1860.

In Japanese: 安政
Aragoto The expression aragoto is an abbreviation of aramushagoto, which
means litterally "the reckless warrior matter". This is in fact a Kabuki
bombastic style exagerrating all the aspects of the role (acting, wig,
make-up (kumadori), costumes, dialogues, oversized swords) to
portray valiant warriors, fierce gods or demons. This style was
created in Edo by Ichikawa Danjûrô I and is considered a "familly art"
for this line of actors. It is the opposite style of the soft wagoto
created by Sakata Tôjûrô I in Kamigata.

In Japanese: 荒事
Aragotoshi Tachiyaku actor performing in the aragoto style.

In Japanese: 荒事師
Asakusa Asakusa is a famous and popular district of Edo/Tôkyô.

In Japanese: 浅草
Ashibyôshi A technique used by a Kabuki dancer to beat time by stamping the
stage with his foot.

In Japanese: 足拍子
Atariyaku A successful role for a Kabuki actor.

In Japanese: 当たり役
Azuchi- The Azuchi-Momoyama period, which started in 1573 with the first
Momoyama major victories of Oda Nobunaga and ended in 1603 with the fall of
Jidai the Toyotomi clan, defeated by the powerful Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Azuchi and Momoyama were the names of Oda Nobunaga and
Toyotomi Hideyoshi castles.

In Japanese: 安土桃山時代
Azuma Old synonym for the city of Edo.
 In Japanese: 吾妻
Bakufu Shogunate. Term used to designate the Shôgunal administration
during the Kamakura, Muromachi and Edo periods. This word came
from Chinese, his original meaning was "office under tent" and it was
used for the headquarters of a general in expedition. The warrior
Minamoto Yoritomo created the first bakufu in Kamakura in 1192,
called Kamakura Bakufu, which collapsed in 1333. The second one,
which was created by Ashikaga Takauji in Kyôto in 1336, was called
Muromachi Bakufu or Ashikaga Bakufu and collapsed in 1573. The
third one, which was created by Tokugawa Ieyasu in Edo in 1603,
was called Edo Bakufu or Tokugawa Bakufu and collapsed in 1868.

In Japanese: 幕府
Bamen A scene in a play.

In Japanese: 場面
Banshû Old province, which grosso modo corresponds to the southern and
western parts of the prefecture of Hyôgô. It was also called Harima.

In Japanese: 播州
Bantô A head clerk at a mercantile establishment.

In Japanese: 番頭
Banzuke A playbill.

In Japanese: 番付
Biwa Traditional Japanese Lute.

In Japanese: 琵琶
Biwako Lake Biwa. Japan largest lake (235 kilometers in circumference),
located in Shiga prefecture and close to the city of Kyôto. Its name
comes from its biwa shape.

In Japanese: 琵琶湖
Budôgoto Roles or things related to the warrior class.

In Japanese: 武道事
Bukkaeri A quick costum-change technique used to reveal the true identity of a
character. The upper half inside part of the costum is pulled down by
a stage assistant to cover the lower half outside part. Its pattern
matches the one of the new upper half costum revealed by the
change, creating the illusion of a real costum change.
 In Japanese: 打っ返り
Bunka In Japanese history, the Bunka period is an imperial era which
started the 11th February 1804 and ended the 21st April 1818. The 2
eras before and after Bunka were Kyôwa and Bunsei.

In Japanese: 文化
Bunraku Popular expression used to designate the traditional puppet theater
(ningyô jôruri). This word came from an Ôsaka theater called
Bunrakuza.

In Japanese: 文楽
Bunsei In Japanese history, the Bunsei period is an imperial era which
started the 22nd April 1818 and ended the 9th December 1830. The
2 eras before and after Bunka were Bunka and Tenpô.

In Japanese: 文政
Bushi A samurai; a warrior.

In Japanese: 武士
Butai A theater stage.

In Japanese: 舞台
Buyô Japanese traditional dance [more details].

In Japanese: 舞踊
Chaya Tea house.

In Japanese: 茶屋
Chikamatsuza A Kamigata Kabuki troupe founded in 1982 by Nakamura Senjaku II
to study and revive Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama.

In Japanese: 近松座
Chirashi It literally means "to scatter". The chirashi is a section with a faster
tempo, which is the start of the final of a traditional dance.

In Japanese: 散らし
Chiwata Cotton dyed in red and used to simulate blood on a wounded body.

In Japanese: 血綿
Chonmage Traditional hairstyle for men during the Edo period: the hair on the
top of the head was usually shaved, and the rest of the hair gathered
together and tied in a topknot. This hairstyle is still used nowadays
 by sumô wrestler.

In Japanese: 丁髷
Chûnori Flying on wires from the stage over the heads of the audience to the
third floor of the theater. The star Ichikawa Ennosuke is the king of
chûnori.

In Japanese: 宙乗り
 
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EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 1701~1800

1701 (Genroku 14)

  January: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the bombastic play "Zôhiki" (kabuki

jûhachiban), included in the drama "Keisei Ôshôkun". The hero and the villain are
played by Ichikawa Danjûrô I and Yamanaka Heikurô I.

7 November: the actor Arashi San'emon II (1661~1701) dies.

1702 (Genroku 15)

 
Premiere in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama
"Keisei Mibu Dainenbutsu". The 2 leading roles are played by Sakata Tôjûrô I and
Arashi Kiyosaburô I.

1703 (Genroku 16)

  7 April: double suicide in Ôsaka of the couple of lovers Hiranoya Tokubei (a soy sauce
dealer) and Temmaya Ohatsu (a courtesan). This real incident inspires the playwright
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who writes his first shinjûmono, whose title is "Sonezaki
Shinjû" and which is performed at the Takemotoza puppets theater for the first time in
May 1703.

29 november: an earthquake hits Edo and the resulting fires destroy the city. The 4
main theaters, the Nakamuraza, the Ichimuraza, the Moritaza and the Yamamuraza,
are burnt to ashes. This catastrophe is nicknamed "Genroku Jishin Kaji" ("Genroku
Earthquake and Fire").

1704 (Genroku 17 / Hôei 1)

  Double suicide in Ôsaka of the couple of lovers Kôya Tokubei (a dyer) and Ofusa (a
courtesan). This real incident inspires the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who
writes his second shinjûmono, whose title is "Shinjû Kasane Izutsu" and which is
performed at the Takemotoza puppet theater for the first time in 1707.

10 January: the actor Yamatoya Jimbei II dies.

19 February: the actor Ichikawa Danjûrô I (1660~1704) dies.

28 February: the actor Bandô Matatarô I (1667~1704) dies.

1 August: the onnagata actor Ogino Sawanojô (1656~1704) dies.

1706 (Hôei 3)

  14 January: a fire breaks out in the district of Kanda Renjaku-chô. It spreads and burns
both the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

20 November: a fire breaks out in the district of Izumi-chô. It spreads and burns both
the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

November: premiere at the Yamamuraza of the drama "Taihei Shusse Kagekiyo", which
is considered as an earlier version of the kabuki jûhachiban drama "Kagekiyo"
[casting].

1707 (Hôei 4)
 
8 March: a fire breaks out in the district of Kodemma-chô. It spreads and burns both
the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

1708 (Hôei 5)

 
3 February: the actor Nakamura Shichisaburô I (1662~1708) dies.

1709 (Hôei 6)

  January: the 4 Edo theaters, the Nakamuraza, the Ichimuraza, the Moritaza and the
Yamamuraza, produce simultaneously a sogamono new year drama. This is the
beginning of a custom that is still somehow observed nowadays.

1 November: the actor Sakata Tôjûrô I (1646~1706) dies.

1710 (Hôei 7)

 
18 December: a fire breaks out in the somptuous palace of the daimyô Sanada, located
in the district of Kanda Koyanagi-chô. It spreads and destroys both the Nakamuraza
and the Ichimuraza.

1712 (Shôtoku 2)

  23 February: a fire breaks out in the district of Horie-Chô. It spreads and destroys both
the Nakamuraza and the Ichimuraza.

24 November: the actor Takeshima Kôzaemon I dies.

1713 (Shôtoku 3)

  March: premiere at the Yamamuraza of the play "Hana Yakata Aigo Zakura", which is
the first version of "Sukeroku". Ichikawa Danjûrô II plays the leading role of Sukeroku
[casting].

25 October: the actor Nakamura Denkurô I (1662~1713) dies.

22 December: a fire breaks out in in the district of Shitaya Byôbusaka and spreads to
others sections of Edo, destroying both the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

1714 (Shôtoku 4)
 
February: Ejima, a court lady who serves the mother of the Shôgun, is in love with the
star Ikushima Shingorô. Their affair is discovered in the backstage of the Yamamuraza.
This incident, which breaks the boundaries between samurai and commoner, is a
serious crime for the authorities which decides to deal ruthlessly with the culprits:
Ejima and Ikushima Shingorô are exiled to different places, those in the Shôgun's
household who are held responsible are executed, the Yamamuraza is definitively
closed and its management is heavily fined [more details].

1715 (Shôtoku 5)

 
1 November: the actor Kataoka Nizaemon I (1656~1715) dies.

1716 (Shôtoku 6 / Kyôhô 1)

  11 January: a fire breaks out in in the district of Shitaya Ike-no-Hata and spreads to
others sections of Edo, destroying both the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

Fall: First Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's masterpiece "Kokusen'ya

Gassen", which is produced by the zamoto Sakakiyama Shirotarô I in Kyôto at Miyako
Mandayû's theater [casting].

November: "Kokusen'ya Gassen" is staged for the first time in Ôsaka, simultaneously
produced in 2 theaters, the Ônishi no Shibai and the Higashi no Shibai. It is produced
by the zamoto Sawamura Sôjûrô for the nadai Matsumoto Nazaemon in the former
theater, starring the actors Anegawa Shinshirô I (Watônai) and Sawamura Sôjûrô
(Kanki). It is produced by the zamoto Arashi Gosaburô for the nadai Ôsaka Kuzaemon
in the latter theater, starring the actors Sakurayama Shirosaburô I (Watônai),
Sanogawa Mangiku (Kinshôjo), Takenaka Tôzaburô (Kanki), Kirinoya Gonjûrô I
(Rôikkan) and Kirinami Takie (Watônai's mother).

1717 (Kyôhô 2)

  7 January: a fire breaks out in the district of Owari-chô and spreads to others sections
of Edo, destroying the Moritaza.

18 January: the actor Yamashita Kyôemon I (1652~1717) dies.

22 January: a fire breaks out in the district of Koishikawa and spreads to others
sections of Edo, destroying both the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

May 1717: first Kabuki adaptation of a puppet theater play in Edo. Chikamatsu
Monzaemon's masterpiece "Kokusen'ya Gassen" is produced simultaneously in the 3
Edo Kabuki theaters (Nakamuraza / Ichimuraza / Moritaza).

1718 (Kyôhô 3)
  January: Ichikawa Danjûrô II plays at the Moritaza the leading role in the "Uirô Uri"
scene (kabuki jûhachiban), which is performed in the second part (nibanme) of the new
year sogamono "Wakamidori Ikioi Soga". The performance is a successful long run
(from January to July 1718).

February: First Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Nihon Furisode

Hajime", which is produced by the zamoto Sakakiyama Shirotarô I in Kyôto at
Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater [casting].

1719 (Kyôhô 4)

  January: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's puppet theater drama

"Keisei Hangonkô", which was written in August 1708. The play is produced by Arashi
San'emon III in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

Spring 1719: Chikamatsu Monzaemon's play "Sonezaki Shinjû" is performed for the
first time at the Nakamuraza, starring Ichikawa Danjûrô II and Sanogawa Mangiku in
the roles of Hiranoya Tokubei and the courtesan Ohatsu (Tokubei's lover).

1720 (Kyôhô 5)

  January: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's puppet theater drama

"Heike Nyogo ga Shima" (or "Heike Nyogogashima" - commonly called "Shunkan"),
which was written in 1719. The play is produced by Takeshima Kôzaemon II in Ôsaka
at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

January: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's puppet theater

shinjûmono "Shinjû Kasane Izutsu", which was written in 1707. The same play is
simultaneously produced in the 3 Edo theaters and commemorates the 16th
anniversary (17th memorial service) of the suicide of the couple Tokubei and Ofusa.
Check each theater page for the castings: Nakamuraza / Ichimuraza / Moritaza.

13 January: a fire breaks out in in the district of Sakai-chô; the Nakamuraza is half-
burnt.

27 July: the actor Ichikawa Kuzô dies.

1721 (Kyôhô 6)

  19 February: the actor Ôtani Hiroemon I (1666~1721) dies.

May: Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Shinjû Ten no Amijima", which was originally
written for the puppet theater in December 1720, is adapted to Kabuki for the first time
and staged in Edo at the Moritaza. The roles of Kamiya Jihei and Koharu are played by
Ichikawa Ebizô II and Sodesaki Miwano I.

10 December: a fire breaks out in the district of Kanda Tominaga-chô and spreads to
others sections of Edo, destroying the Nakamuraza and the Ichimuraza.
1722 (Kyôhô 7)

 
24 February: the actor Bandô Matakurô III dies.

1724 (Kyôhô 9)

  January: Chikamatsu Monzaemon's play "Sonezaki Shinjû" is performed for the first
time at the Kado no Shibai, starring Arashi San'emon III and Sanogawa Mangiku in the
roles of Hiranoya Tokubei and the courtesan Ohatsu (Tokubei's lover) [casting].

15 May: the actor Yamanaka Heikurô I (1642~1724) dies.

June: the actor Uemura Kichiya I dies.

25 October: the actor Nakamura Takesaburô I dies.

November: the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1635~1724), Japan's

Shakespeare, dies.

1726 (Kyôhô 11)

 
27 November: a fire breaks out in in the shibai jaya Maruya, located in the district of
Fukiya-chô, and spreads to others sections of Edo, destroying both the Ichimuraza and
the Nakamuraza.

1728 (Kyôhô 13)

 
11 September: the actor Kaneko Kichizaemon dies.

1729 (Kyôhô 14)

  25 January: the actor Ichikawa Monnosuke I (1691~1729) dies.

3 March: the actor Fujikawa Buzaemon I (1632~1729) dies.

15 July: the great onnagata actor Yoshizawa Ayame I (1673~1729) dies.

1730 (Kyôhô 15)

  Karyû Jiemon, who held the name of Sodesaki Karyû up to Winter 1718, dies.
 29 March: the actor Matsumoto Kôshirô I (1674~1730) dies.

August: first Kabuki adaptation of Hasegawa Senshi and Matsuda Bunkôdô puppet
theater drama "Miura no Ôsuke Ôbai Tazuna", which was written in February 1730. The
play is produced by Arashi Sanjûrô II in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai.

1731 (Kyôhô 16)

  The actor Osagawa Jûemon dies.

March: Segawa Kikunojô I plays at the Nakamuraza the leading role of the first
dôjôjimono of Kabuki history, called "Mugen no Kane Shindôjôji".

1732 (Kyôhô 17)

  September: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Dan no Ura Kabuto
Gunki". The play is produced by Arashi Kuniishi at Miyako Mandayû's theater in Kyôto
[casting].

September: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Hanji et Miyoshi Shôraku puppet

theater drama "Imoseyama Onna Teikin". The play is produced by Sakakiyama
Shirotarô I in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai. The casting is unknown.

September: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the drama "Kagekiyo", which is produced

under the title "Ôichô Sakae Kagekiyo" [casting].

1733 (Kyôhô 18)

 
March: first Kabuki adaptation at the Kado no Shibai of Matsuda Bunkôdô and
Hasegawa Senshi puppet theater drama "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki", which was
originally written in September 1732 [casting].

1734 (Kyôhô 19)

  24 January: the actor and zamoto Sawamura Chôjûrô I (1675~1734) dies.

January: the Moritaza goes bankrupt. The hikae yagura system is authorized by the
Shogunate. Morita Kan'ya IV gives his right for Kabuki performance to Kawarazaki
Gonnosuke III, zamoto of the Kawarazakiza.

19 June: the actor Bandô Matakurô II dies.

1735 (Kyôhô 20)

  May: first Kabuki adaptation of Takeda Izumo 5 acts puppet theater drama "Ashiya
Dôman Ôuchi Kagami", which was written in October 1734. The play is produced by
Nakamura Tomijûrô I in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater [casting].

November: great shûmei at the Ichimuraza. Ichikawa Danjûrô II gives his name to his
adopted son and takes the name of Ichikawa Ebizô II during the kaomise drama
"Kongen Nana Komachi". The actors Ichikawa Masugorô and Matsumoto Shichizô I
respectively take the names of Ichikawa Danjûrô III and Matsumoto Kôshirô II.

1736 (Kyôhô 21 / Genbun 1)

  The actor Ogino Yaegiri I dies.

January : the trio made up of Segawa Kikunojô I, Ichimura Takenojô IV and Ichimura
Manzô perform together at the Ichimuraza in "Sayo no Nakayama Asamagadake", the
first Tokiwazu-based dance in Kabuki history.

1737 (Genbun 2)

 
November: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of the play "Uruoizuki Ninin Kagekiyo", whose
plot and characters are similar to "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki" [casting].

1738 (Genbun 3)

 
4 August: the zamoto Kawarazaki Gonnosuke II dies.

1739 (Genbun 4)

 
May: first Kabuki adaptation of the Matsuda Bunkôdô, Takeda Izumo I, Takeda
Koizumo, Miyoshi Shôraku and Asada Kakei puppet theater drama "Hirakana Seisuiki".
The play is produced in Kyôto by Mizuki Tatsunosuke II for the nadai Hoteiya Umenojô
at the Minamigawa no Shibai [casting].

1740 (Genbun 5)

  5 April: the actor Ichikawa Danzô I (1684~1740) dies.

September: the play "Hirakana Seisuiki" is performed for the first time in Ôsaka, at the
Kado no Shibai. It is produced by Nakamura Jûzô I and Nakamura Tomijûrô I plays the
 role of Chidori.

20 October: the actor Ichikawa Danzô II (1710~1740) dies.

1741 (Genbun 6 / Kampô 1)

 
4 November: the actor Sawamura Otoemon I (1687~1741) dies.

1742 (Kampô 2)

  The actor Ikushima Shingorô is back in Edo after a very long exil (Cf. 1714).

January: premiere at the Ônishi no Shibai of the drama "Narukami Fudô Kitayama
Zakura", which is produced by Sadoshima Chôgorô I [casting].

27 February: the actor Ichikawa Danjûrô III dies.

March: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the dance "Hanabusa Shishi no Rangyoku", the
third part (sanbanme) of the program "Fuji Miru Sato Sakae Soga"; Segawa Kikunojô I
plays the leading role of this Lion dance, still in the Kabuki repertoire and commonly
called "Makura Jishi".

July: the play "Keisei Hangonkô" is performed for the first time in Edo, at the
Nakamuraza [casting].

7~9 August: a violent typhoon hits Edo, causing floods in the city; the Ichimuraza and
the Nakamuraza have to stop their performances for a while.

1743 (Kampô 3)

  The actor Ikushima Shingorô dies in Edo.

17 September: the zamoto Morita Kan'ya IV dies.

1744 (Kampô 4)

 
February: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the Nagauta-based dôjôjimono "Momo
Chidori Musume Dôjôji". The leading female role is played by Segawa Kikunojô I and
his two stage partners are Ichikawa Ebizô II and Ôtani Hiroji I.

1745 (Enkyô 2)
  January : Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Keisei Hangonkô" is performed for the first
time in Kyôto, at the Minamigawa no Shibai [casting].

August: the play "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami", which was originally written for the
puppet theater and staged for the first time in July 1745 in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza,
is immediately adapted to Kabuki and staged for the first time in August 1745 in Kyôto
at Miyako Mandayû's theater [more details].

23 September: the actor Mizuki Tatsunosuke I (1673~1745).

December: the drama "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami" is performed for the first time
in Ôsaka, simultaneously in the three major theaters of the city, which starts a
competition for the best performance and line-up:

[Naka no Shibai] [Kado no Shibai] [Ônishi no Shibai]

25 December: the actor Ôtani Hiroemon II dies.

1746 (Enkyô 3)

  February (end of month): a fire breaks out in the district of Tsukiji, in the mansion of
Tsubouchi Gonzaemon. It spreads and destroys the Nakamuraza, the Ichimuraza and
the Moritaza.

September: the play "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami", which was originally written
for the puppet theater and staged for the first time in August 1746 in Ôsaka at the
Takemotoza, is adapted to Kabuki for the first time, produced at the Kitagawa no Shibai
by Nakamura Kiyosaburô I [casting].

1747 (Enkyô 4)

  March: the drama "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" is performed for the first time in
Edo, at the Ichimuraza [casting].

May: the play "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" is produced at the Nakamuraza for
the first time [casting].

25 May: the actor Ôtani Hiroji I (1696~1747) dies.

19 July: the actor and zamoto Sanogawa Mangiku (1690~1747) dies.

1748 (Enkyô 5 / Kan'en 1)

  January: the play "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura", which was originally written for the
puppet theater and staged for the first time in November 1747 in Ôsaka at the
Takemotoza, is adapted to Kabuki for the first time and staged in Ise with the actors
Kataoka Nizaemon IV (Tokaiya Gimpei, Yokawa no Zenji Kakuhan) and Yamamoto
 Koheiji (Tadanobu).

6 February: the actor Ogino Izaburô I (1703~1748) dies.

May: the drama "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura" is performed for the first time in Edo, at
the Nakamuraza [casting].

August: the drama "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura" is performed for the first time in
Ôsaka, at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

December: the play "Kanadehon Chûshingura", which was originally written for the
puppet theater and staged for the first time in August 1748 in Ôsaka at the
Takemotoza, is adapted to Kabuki for the first time, in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai
[casting].

1749 (Kan'en 2)

  February: the play "Kanadehon Chûshingura" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the
Moritaza.

March: the play "Kanadehon Chûshingura" is staged for the first time in Kyôto, at the
Kitagawa no Shibai.

May: the play "Kanadehon Chûshingura" is produced at the Ichimuraza for the first
time.

June: the play "Kanadehon Chûshingura" is produced at the Nakamuraza for the first
time.

25 November: the star Anegawa Shinshirô I (1685~1749) dies.

1750 (Kan'en 3)

  April: the play "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" is produced at the Moritaza for the
first time [casting].

2 July: the actor Yamashita Kinsaku I dies.

1751 (Kan'en 4 / Hôreki 1)

  1 January: the actor Bandô Hikosaburô I (1693~1751) dies.

July: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Koi Nyôbô Somewake
Tazuna", which was originally written by Miyoshi Shôraku and Yoshida Kanshi in
February 1751. The play is staged in Edo at the Nakamuraza [casting].

1752 (Hôreki 2)
  April: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Ichi-no-Tani Futaba Gunki",
which was originally written by Namiki Sôsuke and Asada Icchô in December 1751. The
play is staged in Edo at the Moritaza [casting].

November: the play "Ichi-no-Tani Futaba Gunki" is staged for the first time in Ôsaka, at
the Naka no Shibai [casting].

1753 (Hôreki 3)

  March ~ June 1753: Nakamura Tomijûrô I achieves an huge success for several months
by playing the main role of the dance "Kyôganoko Musume Dôjôji", which is performed
for the first time at the Nakamuraza [print].

July: the play "Hirakana Seisuiki" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the Ichimuraza
[casting].

1754 (Hôreki 4)

  18 July: the actor Yoshizawa Ayame II (1702~1754) dies.

November: great shûmei at the Nakamuraza. Matsumoto Kôshirô II and Matsumoto

Kôzô take the respective names of Ichikawa Danjûrô IV and Matsumoto Kôshirô III
during the kaomise program "Miura no Ôsuke Bumon no Kotobuki".

1755 (Hôreki 5)

 
January: publication of the hyôbanki "Yakusha Sankazu", which gives clearly the
reasons of the decline and dullness of Kabuki in the city of Kyôto.

1756 (Hôreki 6)

  3 January: the actor Suketakaya Takasuke I (1685~1756), who held also the name of
Sawamura Sôjûrô I, dies.

14 January: a fire breaks out in in the district of Shinzaimoku-chô. It spreads and

destroys both the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

23 November: a fire breaks out in in the district of Kôjimachi. It spreads and destroys
the Moritaza.

1757 (Hôreki 7)

  January: the play "Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki" is staged for the first time in Edo, at
 the Moritaza with the following casting [casting].

13 July: the actor Sadoshima Chôgorô I (1700~1757) dies.

September: first Kabuki adaptation of Namiki Senryû and Miyoshi Shôraku puppet
theater drama "Gempei Nunobiki no Taki" [JPN], which was written in 1749. The play is
produced by Anegawa Daikichi in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai (casting unknown).

25 November: the retired zamoto Nakamura Kankurô II (1688~1757) dies.

1758 (Hôreki 8)

  January: first Kabuki adaptation of the 5 acts puppet theater drama "Gion Sairei
Shinkôki", which was originally written by Asada Icchô, Nakamura Akei and Toyotake
Ôritsu in December 1757. It is simultaneously produced at the Minamigawa no Shibai
[casting] and the Kitagawa no Shibai [casting].

May: the play "Gion Sairei Shinkôki" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the Moritaza
[casting].

24 September: the actor Ichikawa Ebizô II (1688~1758), who held the prestigious
name of Ichikawa Danjûrô II from 1704 to 1735, dies.

1759 (Hôreki 9)

  19 October: the actor Ichikawa Yaozô I (1730~1759) dies.

November: the play "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura" is staged for the first time in Kyôto,
at the Minamigawa no Shibai. The play is produced by Sawamura Kunitarô I and
Somematsu Matsujirô and the roles of Yoshitsune and Tadanobu are played by Arashi
Sangorô II.

26 November: the actor and zamoto Iwai Hanshirô III (1698~1759) dies.

1760 (Hôreki 10)

  February: a fire breaks out in in the district of Kanda and spreads to Sûzaki in
Fukagawa. It destroys both the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza. It is called "Akashiya
no Kaji" ("the Akashiya fire"), based on the name of the shop where it started.

March: premiere of the bombastic play "Kaneiri Gedatsu no Koromo" (commonly called
"Gedatsu", a scene belonging to the kabuki jûhachiban collection), performed within the
drama "Soga Mannen Bashira" at the Ichimuraza, with Ichikawa Danjûrô IV and
Anegawa Daikichi in the roles of Kagekiyo and Princess Hitomaru.

1761 (Hôreki 11)

 
17 September: a fire breaks out in the Gekiza theater. It destroys the Ichimuraza and
damages the Nakamuraza.

1762 (Hôreki 12)

  April: first Kabuki adaptation of the 5-act puppet theater drama "Gosho Zakura
Horikawa no Youchi", which is staged at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

7 May: the actor et zamoto Ichimura Uzaemon VIII (1698~1762) dies.

12 November: the actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu I (1722~1762) dies.

1763 (Hôreki 13)

  February: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Ôshû Adachi-ga-Hara",
which is staged at the Moritaza [casting].

13 July: the actor Nakamura Sukegorô I (1711~1763) dies.

1766 (Meiwa 3)

  29 February: a fire breaks out in in the district of Sakai-chô, in the cosmetics shop
owned and managed by the actor Onoe Kikugorô I. It destroys both the Ichimuraza and
the Nakamuraza. This fire is nicknamed "Kikugorô Aburamise Kaji" ("Kikugorô's
cosmetics shop fire").

May: first Kabuki adaptation of the 5 acts puppet theater drama "Honchô Nijûshikô",
which was originally written by Chikamatsu Hanji, Miyoshi Shôraku and Takeda Inaba
and performed at the Takemotoza in January 1766. The play is staged in Ôsaka at the
Naka no Shibai [casting].

1767 (Meiwa 4)

  February: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Taiheiki Chûshin
Kôshaku", which was originally written by Chikamatsu Hanji and performed at the
Takemotoza in October 1766. The play is staged in edo at the Ichimuraza [casting].

12 April: the actor Ichikawa Raizô I (1724~1767) dies.

December: the drama "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura" is produced at the Kado no Shibai
for the first time [casting].

1768 (Meiwa 5)
  4 May: the actor Bandô Hikosaburô II (1741~1768) dies.

November: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the dance "Oshiegusa Yoshiwara Suzume",

the first version of "Yoshiwara Suzume" [more details].

1770 (Meiwa 7)

  11 January: the actor Bandô Sampachi I dies.

May: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Hanji's gidayû kyôgen "Ômi Genji Senjin
Yakata". The play is staged in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

30 August: the actor Sawamura Sôjûrô II (1713~1770) dies.

November 1770: great shûmei at the Nakamuraza; Ichikawa Danjûrô IV takes back his
previous name of Matsumoto Kôshirô II and his son Matsumoto Kôshirô III receives the
name of Ichikawa Danjûrô V during the kaomise drama "Nue no Mori Ichiyô no Mato",
which celebrates also the arrival of Ichikawa Danzô III and Yamashita Kinsaku II at the
Nakamuraza and the shûmei of the actors Nakamura Shichisaburô II, Ichikawa Benzô I
and Nakamura Shichinosuke I, who respectively take the names of Nakamura Shôchô,
Ichikawa Monnosuke II and Nakamura Shichisaburô III.

1771 (Meiwa 8)

  January 1771: Matsumoto Kôshirô II achieves a great success at the Nakamuraza by

playing the deity Aizen Myôô and the seven roles of Kagekiyo in the new year drama
"Sakaichô Soga no Nendaiki".

August 1771: Nakamura Tomijûrô I achieves a great success at the Moritaza by

performing a seven-roles Nagauta-based dance called "Kiku ha Yae Shichinin Geshô"
[more details].

1772 (Meiwa 9 / An'ei 1)

  24 June: the actor Ichikawa Danzô III (1709~1772) dies.

Fall: the Gidayû Kyôgen "Imoseyama Onna Teikin" is staged for the first time in Kyôto.
It is produced by Arashi Sanjûrô II, with the star Arashi Hinasuke I playing the role of
Sadaka.

1773 (An'ei 2)

 
November: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the play "Gohiiki Kanjinchô", performed as
a kaomise drama [casting].
1774 (An'ei 3)

  May: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the Nagauta-based dance "Sono Omokage Ninin
Wankyû". The roles of Wankyû and the courtesan Matsuyama are played by Ichimura
Uzaemon IX and Segawa Tomisaburô I. This dance commemorates the 12th
anniversary (13th memorial service) of the death of Ichimura Uzaemon VIII.

18 November: the actor Yoshizawa Ayame III (1720~1774) dies.

1775 (An'ei 4)

  24 January: the zamoto Kawarazaki Gonnosuke III dies.

28 February: the zamoto Nakamura Kanzaburô VII (1717~1775) dies.

1776 (An'ei 5)

  January: for the first time in Kabuki history, chiwata threads are used in the scene of
the bloody murder of the priest Dainichibô by Akoya in the new year program
"Tsukisenu Haru Hagoromo Soga, which is performed at the Ichimuraza. This new
technique is very well received by the audience.

May: the play "Honchô Nijûshikô" is performed for the first time in Edo, at the
Nakamuraza [casting].

1777 (An'ei 6)

  April: premiere in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai of Nagawa Kamesuke's drama "Meiboku
Sendai Hagi", which is produced by Arashi Shichisaburô [casting].

18 June: the actor Nakamura Kiyosaburô I (1721~1777) dies.

3 July: the actor Ichikawa Yaozô II (1735~1777) dies.

15 July: Nakamura Kumetarô I (1724~1777) dies.

November: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Nakamura Shigesuke's Fujimoto-based

(musical accompaniment is written by Namizaki Tokuji) dance-drama "Meotozake
Kawaranu Nakanaka" (commonly called "Kurama Jishi") [casting].

15 November: the actor and zamoto Nakamura Kanzaburô VIII (1719~1777) dies.

19 November 1777: the actor Nakamura Noshio I (1752~1777) dies.

1778 (An'ei 7)
  January: the drama "Imoseyama Onna Teikin" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the
Moritaza [casting].

25 February: the actor Ichikawa Ebizô III (1711~1778) dies.

April: premiere in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai of Namiki Gohei I's play "Kinmon Gosan
no Kiri", which is produced by the zamoto Ogawa Kichitarô with Arashi Hinasuke I and
Onoe Kikugorô I playing the roles of Ishikawa Goemon and Mashiba Hisayoshi.

July: premiere of the play "Date Kurabe Okuni Kabuki" at the Nakamuraza [casting].

1780 (An'ei 9)

  April: first Kabuki adaptation of Utei Emba, Kijô Tarô and Yô Yôdai puppet theater
drama "Go Taiheiki Shiraishi Banashi", which was written in January 1780. The play is
staged in Edo at the Moritaza [casting].

19 May: the actor and zamoto Morita Kan'ya VI (1724~1780) dies.

25 September: the actor Mimasu Daigorô I (1718~1780) dies.

1781 (Tenmei 1)

  March: Ichikawa Danzô IV plays 7 roles (nanayaku) in the drama "Kanadehon

Chûshingura", which is staged at the Moritaza. Roles: En'ya Hangan, Ôboshi
Yuranosuke, Honzô's wife Tonase, Amakawaya Gihei, Yoichibei, Ono no Sadakurô and
Ôwashi Bungo. This is the first time in Kabuki history that an actor plays seven roles in
the classic "Kanadehon Chûshingura".

16 August: the actor Ôtani Tomoemon I (1744~1781) dies.

November: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the dance-drama "Waga Sekogakoi no

Aizuchi" (commonly called "Kumo no Hyôshimai"), which is performed within the
kaomise program "Shitennô Tonoi no Kisewata" [casting].

December: premiere in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai of Nagawa Kamesuke's drama

"Tengajaya-Mura" [casting]. A similar play is staged a few days later under a different
title, "Renga Chaya Homare no Bundai", at the Naka no Shibai [casting]. The
competition for the best performance and the best line-up is open between the 2
theaters. The performance at the Kado no Shibai is a huge success and a long run. The
performance at the Naka no Shibai is a commercial failure.

1782 (Tenmei 2)

  January: the play "Tengajaya-Mura" is staged for the first time in Kyôto, produced at
the Kitagawa no Shibai by Nakayama Ihachi [casting]

10 April: the actor Bandô Mitsugorô I (1745~1782) dies.

1783 (Tenmei 3)

  April: first Kabuki adaptation of Yô Yôdai's puppet theater drama "Kagamiyama Kokyô
no Nishikie", which was written in 1782. The play is staged in Edo at the Moritaza
[casting].

July: the play "Kagamiyama Kokyô no Nishikie" is staged for the first time in Ôsaka, at
the Kado no Shibai [casting].

10 August: the zamoto Morita Kan'ya VII dies.

29 December: the actor Onoe Kikugorô I (1717~1783) dies.

1784 (Tenmei 4)

  November: premiere at the Kiriza (Edo) of the drama "Tsumoru Koi Yuki no seki no To",
which is performed within the drama "Jûni Hitoe Komachi Zakura" [casting].

26 December: a fire breaks out in Edo in the palace of a daimyô and destroys the
Moritaza.

1785 (Tenmei 5)

  February: Segawa Kikunojô III performs at the Kiriza all the roles of a Nagauta-based
5-role hengemono, which is titled "Haru-ha Mukashi Yukari no Hanabusa". 2 of these
roles became independent dances, which are still part of the current repertoire: "Hane
no Kamuro" (a kamuro with a Japanese battledore and shuttlecock racket) and
"Shirozake Uri" (the sweet white sake seller).

May: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Hanji's puppet theater drama "Shimpan
Utazaimon", which was written in September 1780. The play is produced in Ôsaka at
the Naka no Shibai [casting].

25 August: the actor and zamoto Ichimura Uzaemon IX (1725~1785) dies.

26 August: the actor Arashi San'emon VI (1760~1785) dies.

1786 (Tenmei 6)

  3 August: the actor Nakamura Tomijûrô I (1719~1786) dies.

11 October: the actor Nakamura Rikô I (1742~1786) dies.

1787 (Tenmei 7)
 
12 July: the actor Onoe Kikugorô II (1769~1787) dies.

1788 (Tenmei 8)

 
May: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Yasuzô and Umeno Shitakaze puppet
theater drama "Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi", which was written in 1786. The
play is produced in Ise at the Furuichi no Shibai, with the actors Mimasu Daigorô II and
Yamashita Kamenojô IV in the roles of Rokusuke and Osono.

1789 (Tenmei 9 / Kansei 1)

 
15 September: the actor Miogi Gizaemon II (1731~1789) dies.

1790 (Kansei 2)

  March: the play "Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi" is staged for the first time in
Ôsaka, at the Naka no Shibai. The casting is unknown.

23 April: the actor Nakamura Nakazô I (1736~1790) dies.

14 September: the katakiyaku actor Ôtani Hiroemon III (1726~1790) dies.

1791 (Kansei 3)

 
January: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the Nagauta-based dance "Taimen Hana no
Harukoma", which is performed at the end of the new year program "Haru no Sekai
Nigiwai Soga" [casting].

1792 (Kansei 4)

 
28 September: the actor Yoshizawa Ayame IV (1737~1792) dies.

1794 (Kansei 6)

  The print-maker Tôshûzai Sharaku begins his short career, doing all his works between
1794 and February 1795 before disappearing mysteriously, leaving behind him some of
 the most famous actor prints.

January ~ March: premiere of Tatsuoka Mansaku's drama "Keisei Haru no Tori" (7 acts
- 23 scenes), which is produced by the zamoto Asao Okujirô in Ôsaka at the Kado no
Shibai. The role of Oda Sanshichirô Nobutaka is played by Ichikawa Danzô IV. Only one
scene, called "Uma Giri", survived but it is hardly performed.

September: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Hanji's puppet theater drama

"Kamakura Sandaiki", which was written in 1781. The play is produced by the zamoto
Asao Okujirô in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

19 November: the actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II (1743~1794) dies.

1795 (Kansei 7)

  June: the play "Miura no Ôsuke Ôbai Tazuna" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the
Kiriza [casting].

6 June: the actor Sakata Hangorô III (1756~1795) dies.

1796 (Kansei 8)

  4 January: the zamoto Kawarazaki Gonnosuke IV dies.

February: Suga Sensuke's puppet theater drama "Keisei Koi no Hikyaku" is adapted to
Kabuki for the first time and staged at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

29 March: the great Kamigata star Arashi Hinasuke I (1741~1796) dies.

July: premiere of Chikamatsu Tokuzô's play "Ise Ondo Koi no Netaba" in Ôsaka at the
Kado no Shibai [casting].

7 November: the actor Nakamura Nakazô II (1759~1796) dies.

1798 (Kansei 10)

  January: premiere at the Kiriza (Edo) of Namiki Gohei I's play "Tomioka Koi no
Yamabiraki", which is commonly called "Ninin Shimbei" [casting].

19 June: the actor Azuma Tôzô III (1756~1798) dies.

29 September: the choreographer Shigayama Mansaku IX (1768~1798) dies.

1799 (Kansei 11)

  15 February: the zamoto Ichimura Uzaemon X (1748~1799) dies.

 13 May: the actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VI (1778~1799) dies.

28 August: the actor Nakamura Denkurô IV (1774~1799) dies.

12 September: the actor Yamashita Kinsaku II (1733~1799) dies.

1800 (Kansei 12)

  28 March: the actor Iwai Hanshirô IV (1747~1800) dies.

November: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Yanagi's puppet theater drama "Ehon
Taikôki", which was written in July 1799. The play is produced by Nakayama Tokujirô in
Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

 
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NINETEENTH CENTURY 1801~1900

1801 (Kansei 13 / Kyôwa 1)

  4 February: the actor Arashi Hinasuke II (1774~1801) dies.

29 March: the actor Sawamura Sôjûrô III (1753~1801) dies.

August: great shûmei at the Ichimuraza for the Hamamuraya guild; the actors Segawa
Kikunojô III, Segawa Kikunosuke, Segawa Kikusaburô I and Segawa Matsunosuke
respectively take the names of Segawa Rokô III, Segawa Michinosuke, Segawa
Michisaburô I and Segawa Hamajirô.

13 September: the actor Bandô Matatarô IV dies.

November: great shûmei at the Ichimuraza for the Kôraiya guild; the actors Matsumoto
Kôshirô IV, his son Ichikawa Komazô III and Ichikawa Santarô respectively take the
names of Omegawa Kyôjûrô, Matsumoto Kôshirô V and Ichikawa Komazô IV.

1802 (Kyôwa 2)
  11 May: the actor Ôtani Hiroji III (1746~1802) dies.

27 June: the actor Matsumoto Kôshirô IV (1737~1802) dies.

Summer: the play "Ehon Taikôki" is staged for the first time in Kyôto, produced by
Arashi Sankichi at the Kitagawa no Shibai [casting].

4 November: a fire breaks out in Edo in the district of Naniwa-chô and destroys both
the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

1803 (Kyôwa 3)

 
August: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Sakurada Jisuke I's drama "Banzui Chôbei
Shôjin Manaita" [casting].

1806 (Bunka 3)

  February: the play "Kamakura Sandaiki" is staged for the first time in Kyôto, in the
precinct of the Inaba Yakushi temple. The main roles are played by Yamashina
Jinkichi III (Princess Toki), Bandô Jûtarô I (Miuranosuke) and Mimasu Daigorô III
(Takatsuna).

29 October: the actor Naritaya Shichizaemon (1741~1806), who held the prestigious
name of Ichikawa Danjûrô V from 1770 to 1791, dies.

13 November: a fire breaks out from the shop of the hair-dresser Tomokurô in the
district of Nihombashi Fukiya-chô. It spreads and burns both the Ichimuraza and the
Nakamuraza, killing many spectators.

1808 (Bunka 5)

  10 June: the actor Seki San'emon (1747~1808) dies.

16 August: the actor Osagawa Tsuneyo II (1753~1808) dies.

October: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the drama "Kuruwa Bunshô" [casting].

9 October: the actor Ichikawa Danzô IV (1745~1808) dies.

1809 (Bunka 6)

  1 January: a fire breaks out in the district of Nihombashi Sanai-chô and destroys both
the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

June: premiere at the Moritaza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's ghost play "Okuni Gozen
 Keshô no Sugatami" [casting].

1810 (Bunka 7)

  January: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV and Sakurada Jisuke II

drama "Kokoro no Nazô Toketa Iroito". The main roles are played by Onoe
Matsusuke II, Matsumoto Kôshirô V and Iwai Hanshirô V.

March: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kachi Zumô Ukina
no Hanabure" (commonly called "Shirafuji Genta") [casting].

May: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV and Sakurada Jisuke II drama
"Ehon Gappô-ga-Tsuji" [casting].

26 August: the actor Yoshizawa Ayame V (1754~1810) dies.

4 December: the actor Segawa Senjo, who held the name of Segawa Kikunojô III from
November 1774 to July 1801, dies.

25 December: the actor Yoshizawa Sakinosuke IV (1785~1810) dies.

1811 (Bunka 8)

 
March: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the Sakurada Jisuke II's 7-role Tokiwazu-based
hengemono "Shichimai Tsuzuki Hana no Sugatae", a program made up of of seven
dances: "Nyo San no Miya", "Kajiwara Genta", "Shio Kumi", "Sarumawashi" (a monkey
showman), "Gannin Bôzu" (a monk), "Rôjo" (an old woman) and "Kan'u" (a Chinese
warlord). All the roles are played by Bandô Mitsugorô III. The choreography is made by
Fujima Kanjûrô I and the musical accompaniment is made by Kishizawa Koshikibu III.
The dances "Gannin Bôzu" and "Shio Kumi" are still part of the current repertoire; the
former is staged under the title "Ukare Bôzu".

1813 (Bunka 10)

  March: premiere at the Moritaza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's play "Osome Hisamatsu

Ukina no Yomiuri" (commonly called "Osome no Nanayaku", in English "The seven roles
of Osome"). The seven roles are played by Iwai Hanshirô V.

13 November: the actor Ichikawa Aragorô I (1759~1813) dies.

29 November: a fire breaks out in Edo in the district of Takasago-chô and destroys both
the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

1814 (Bunka 11)
  January: premiere at the Kado no Shibai of Nagawa Kiyosuke's drama "Keisei Tsukushi
no Tsumagoto", the first play in Kabuki history based on the "Asagao Nikki" world
[casting].

22 February: the actor and zamoto Bandô Yasosuke I (1759~1814) dies.

March: premiere of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Sumidagawa Hana no Goshozome",

commonly called "Onna Seigen", at the Ichimuraza, starring Iwai Hanshirô V, Ichikawa
Danjûrô VII and Matsumoto Kôshirô V.

1815 (Bunka 12)

  May: premiere of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kakitsubata Iro mo Edo Zome"

(commonly called "Oroku to Gantetsu", in English "The female Seigen") at the
Kawarazakiza, starring Iwai Hanshirô V, Ichikawa Danjûrô VII, Bandô Mitsugorô III and
Matsumoto Kôshirô V.

July: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Haji Momiji Ase
no Kaomise" (commonly called "Date no Jûyaku", in English the ten roles of Date),
whose plot and characters belong to the "Meiboku Sendai Hagi" world. The ten roles are
played by Ichikawa Danjûrô VII [casting].

16 October: the actor Onoe Shôroku I (1744~1815) dies.

1817 (Bunka 14)

  12 January: a fire breaks out in Edo in the district of Norimono-chô and destroys both
the Nakamuraza and the Kiriza.

28 January: the actor Sawamura Tanosuke II (1788~1817) dies.

March: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Sakura Hime

Azuma Bunshô". The main roles are played by Ichikawa Danjûrô VII (Seigen, Tsurigane
no Gonsuke) and Iwai Hanshirô V (Princess Sakura).

1818 (Bunka 15 / Bunsei 1)

  February: the play "Kamakura Sandaiki" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the
Nakamuraza [casting].

March: premiere at the Miyakoza of the 7-role hengemono "Miyama no Hana Todokanu
Edaburi", starring Onoe Kikugorô III in the seven roles. One of these roles is "Kosode
Monogurui" ("the short-sleeved garment madness"), staged nowadays as an
independent Kiyomoto-based dance called "Yasuna".

2 July: the actor Sawamura Kunitarô I (1739~1818) dies.

13 December: the actor Suketakaya Takasuke II (1747~1818) dies.

1820 (Bunsei 3)

 
11 July: the zamoto Ichimura Uzaemon XI (1791~1820) dies.

1821 (Bunsei 4)

  March: premiere at the Kado no Shibai of the drama "Kajiwara Heizô Kôbai Tazuna", a
new version of the third act of "Miura no Ôsuke Ôbai Tazuna", revised by Kanazawa
Ryûgoku [casting].

June: Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kachi Zumô Ukina no Hanabure", commonly called
"Shirafuji Genta", is revived for the first time, 11 years and 3 months after its premiere
in Edo at the Ichimuraza [casting], in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai [casting].

September: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Tsuki no

En Tsuki no Shiranami". The main role is played by Onoe Kikugorô III (Sadakurô)
[Utagawa Toyokuni I print].

26 September: the actor Arashi Rikan I (1769~1821) dies.

November: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Imoseyama

Hitome Sembon", which mixes the "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura" and "Imoseyama Onna
Teikin" worlds [casting].

1822 (Bunsei 5)

 
November: premiere at the Kitagawa no Shibai of the drama "Kajiwara Heizô Kidai no
Ishikiri", a new version of the third act of "Miura no Ôsuke Ôbai Tazuna", revised by
Kanazawa Ryûgoku [casting].

1823 (Bunsei 6)

  March: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Ukiyozuka Hiyoku

no Inazuma" [casting].

June: premiere at the Moritaza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kesakake Matsu

Narita no Riken", starring Onoe Kikugorô III and Ichikawa Danjûrô VII in the roles of
Kasane and Yoemon. The michiyuki, commonly called "Iro Moyô Chotto Karimame", is
still regularly performed.

1824 (Bunsei 7)

  27 July: the actor Ichikawa Monnosuke III (1794~1824) dies.

 22 August: the actor Asao Kuzaemon I (1758~1824) dies.

17 October: the actor Mimasu Daigorô III (1782~1824) dies.

1825 (Bunsei 8)

  July: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's ghost play "Tôkaidô

Yotsuya Kaidan" [casting].

September: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kamikakete

Sango Taisetsu" [casting].

November: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Oniwaka

Kongen Butai". The main roles are played by Ichikawa Danjûrô VII, Iwai Shijaku I
(Osome) and Iwai Kumesaburô II (Hisamatsu). The michiyuki, which is called "Ukine no
Tomodori", is still part of the current Kabuki repertoire.

8 December: a fire breaks out in Edo in the puppet theater Yûkiza, located in the
district of Fukiya-chô, and destroys both the Nakamuraza and the Ichimuraza.

1826 (Bunsei 9)

  June: Bandô Mitsugorô III performs at the Ichimuraza in a 3-role Kiyomoto-based

hengemono titled "Mata Koko-ni Kabuki no Hanadashi". The 3 roles are Take-no-Uchi
no Sukeneya (a legendary character famous for his extraordinary long life), a fisherman
fighting a giant octopus and a tekomai festival dancer. The fisherman and the dancer
are nowadays independent dances, which are staged under the respective titles of "Ami
Uchi" and "Omatsuri".

September: Seki Sanjûrô II, who is about to travel back to his native Kamigata after 19
seasons spent in Edo, performs his onagori kyôgen at the Nakamuraza. The program
includes a 5-role hengemono titled "Kaesu Gaesu Onagori no Ôtsue". The 5 roles are
the Wisteria Maiden, a blind masseur, the God Tenjin, a footman (yakko) and a
boatman. These roles are created based on ôtsue, popular paintings made in the city of
Ôtsu (close to Kyôto). Three of these roles are still part of the current Kabuki
repertoire: the Wisteria Maiden (the first version of the famous dance "Fuji Musume"),
the blind masseur (performed under the title "Zatô") and the footman, which is
performed in the independent dance "Sekisan Yakko".

15 November: the wakaonnagata actor Arashi Koroku IV (1783~1826) dies.

1827 (Bunsei 10)

  3 January: a fire breaks out in Edo from the third floor of the Ichimuraza and destroys
the Ichimuraza, the Nakamuraza and 2 puppet theaters.
 5 February: a fire breaks out in the Kadomaru no Shibai in Ôsaka and destroys also the
Naka no Shibai and the Ônishi no Shibai.

16 July: the actor Ichikawa Ebijûrô I (1777~1827) dies.

25 October: the actor Nakayama Shinkurô III (1761~1827) dies.

1828 (Bunsei 11)

  18 February: the actor Bandô Hikosaburô III (1754~1828) dies.

September: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the drama "Nochi no Tsuki Shuen no

Shimadai" (commonly called "Kakuemon"). The main roles are played by Nakamura
Shikan II and Segawa Kikunojô V.

1829 (Bunsei 12)

  January: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kin no Zai Saru
Shima Dairi". The main roles are played by Segawa Kikunojô V (Takiyasha) and
Nakamura Shikan II (Bandô Tarô).

21 March: a fire breaks out from the shop of Owariya Tokuemon, in the district of
Kanda Sakuma-chô. It spreads and destroys the Edo theaters district. The Moritaza, the
Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza are burnt to ashes.

4 August 1829: the zamoto Nakamura Kanzaburô XI (1766~1829) dies.

September: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of the dance "Hana ni Chô Magaki no

Ukareme", commonly called "Mitsumen Komori"; the leading role is played by Segawa
Kikunojô V.

3 October: the actor Ogino Izaburô II, who held the name of Bandô Mitsugorô II from
November 1785 to October 1799, dies.

27 November: the great playwright Tsuruya Namboku IV (1755~1829) dies. He wrote

around 120 plays.

1830 (Tenpô 1)

  24 March: the actor Ôtani Tomoemon II (1769~1830) dies.

23 December: a fire breaks out in the district of Nihombashi Kodemma-chô. It spreads

and destroys the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

1831 (Tenpô 2)
  5 January: the actor Onoe Fujaku III (1793~1831) dies.

27 December: the actor Bandô Mitsugorô III (1775~1831) dies.

1832 (Tenpô 3)

  7 January: the actor Segawa Kikunojô V (1802~1832) dies.

March: great shûmei at the Ichimuraza for the Naritaya guild; Ichikawa Danjûrô VII
takes back the name of Ichikawa Ebizô V and his son Ichikawa Ebizô VI, who is only 9
years old, becomes Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII.

March: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the 3-part Kiyomoto-based dance "Yayoi no

Hana Asakusa Matsuri", starring Bandô Mitsugorô IV and Nakamura Shikan II in the
leading roles. This dance is still sometimes performed in its entirety but the first part,
"Sanja Matsuri" is frequently staged independently.

6 July: the actor Sawamura Shirogorô II dies.

November: great shûmei at the Nakamuraza for the Iwai clan; Iwai Hanshirô V, Iwai
Kumesaburô II and Iwai Hisajirô II respectively take the names of Iwai Tojaku, Iwai
Hanshirô VI and Iwai Kumesaburô III. They play together in Segawa Jokô II's drama
"Goban Tadanobu Yuki no Kuroshiro".

1833 (Tenpô 4)

  January: Asao Gakujûrô and Asao Enzaburô take the respective names of Jitsukawa
Gakujûrô I and Jitsukawa Enzaburô I at the Naka no Shibai. This is the foundation of
the Jitsukawa clan.

7 June: the actor Ichikawa Omezô I (1781~1833) dies.

The actor Arashi Sangorô III dies.

1834 (Tenpô 5)

 
7 February: a fire breaks out in the district of Kanda Sakuma-chô. It spreads and
destroys the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

1835 (Tenpô 6)

 
4 November: the actor Jitsukawa Gakujûrô I dies.
1836 (Tenpô 7)

  8 April: the actor Iwai Hanshirô VI (1799~1836) dies.

July: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the drama "Shinobi Yoru Koi no Kusemono". The
roles of Princess Takiyasha and Mitsukuni are played by Ichikawa Kuzô II and Ichimura
Uzaemon XII.

1837 (Tenpô 8)

 
13 June: the actor Arashi Rikan II (1788~1837) dies.

1838 (Tenpô 9)

  10 May: the actor Matsumoto Kôshirô V (1764~1838) dies.

November: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Nakamura Jûsuke IV's Tokiwazu-based dance

"Hanabutai Kasumi no Saruhiki", commonly called "Utsubô Zaru". The choreography is
made by Matsumoto Goroichi and the musical accompaniment is made by Kishizawa
Shikisa V [casting].

1839 (Tenpô 10)

  5 November: the actor Ôtani Tomoemon III (1793~1839) dies.

28 September: the actor Seki Sanjûrô II (1786~1839) dies.

1840 (Tenpô 11)

 
March: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of the dance-drama "Kanjinchô" [more details].

1841 (Tenpô 12)

  Beginning of the Tenpô reforms led by Mizuno Tadakuni; sumptuary laws are enforced
and the Kabuki world is targeted: the theaters have to move to the remote district of
Saruwaka-chô, performances within the precincts of temples or shrines are forbidden,
actors prints are temporarily proscribed and the Edo star Ichikawa Ebizô V is exiled to
Kamigata.

6 October: a fire breaks out from the backstages of the Nakamuraza in the district of
 Sakai-chô. It spreads and destroys the Ichimuraza and the Nakamuraza.

20 October: the Edo authorities forbid the reconstruction of the destroyed theaters in
Sakai-chô.

19 December: the Nakamuraza, Ichimuraza and Kawarazakiza are ordered to move to

the remote district of Asakusa Saruwaka-chô.

1845 (Kôka 2)

  1 April: the actor Iwai Hanshirô VII (1804~1845) dies.

8 March: the actor Ichikawa Danzaburô V dies.

6 June: the actor Ichikawa Danzô V (1788~1845) dies.

3 July: the actor Ichikawa Yaozô IV (1772~1845) dies.

11 September: the actor Asao Kuzaemon II (1786~1845) dies.

1846 (Kôka 3)

 
27 July: the actor Arashi Izaburô II (1774~1846) dies.

1847 (Kôka 4)

  6 April: the actor Iwai Tojaku (1776~1847) dies.

The actor Ichimura Uzaemon XII organises a great pilgrimage to the Narita Fudô
temple, gathering a band of forty people (actors, hair-dressers, musicians, geisha and
taiko mochi from the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter). They revel nights and days on the
way to the temple, there and on the way back to Edo. According to the chronicles, this
revellers pilgrimage costed around 1,200 ryô, the huge amount of money at that time.

November: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the 7-role hengemono "Shiki Utsushi Tosae
no Futsutsuka". The seven roles are Otohime (Princess Oto), Sentô (the boatman),
Daikoku, Keisei, Daijin (the Minister), Kaminari (the thunder) and Ushiwaka (young
Yoshitsune). All are danced by Ichikawa Kodanji IV. The musical accompaniment is
made up of three ensembles: Tokiwazu, Takemoto and Nagauta.

1849 (Kaei 2)

  24 April: the actor Onoe Kikugorô III (1784~1849) dies.

 3 November: the actor Matsumoto Kinshô (1812~1849) dies.

1851 (Kaei 4)

  January: the actors Ichimura Uzaemon XII and Ichimura Kurôemon respectively take
the names of Ichimura Takenojô V and Ichimura Uzaemon XIII; the new Uzaemon
becomes the manager of the Ichimuraza.

February: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Sakurada Jisuke III Kiyomoto-based dance

"Akegarasu Hana no Nureginu", commonly called "Urazato Tokijirô" or "Akegarasu"
[casting].

April: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the Tokiwazu-based dance "Kioi Jishi Kabuki no
Hanakago", commonly called "Kioi Jishi", starring Ichikawa Kodanji IV, Bandô
Takesaburô I, Onoe Kikujirô II and Iwai Kumesaburô III.

22 May: the zamoto Morita Kan'ya X dies.

July: the actor Onoe Matsusuke III (1805~1851) dies.

August: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Segawa Jokô III's drama "Higashiyama Sakura

Sôshi" (commonly called "Sakura Giminden") [casting].

20 August: the actor Ichimura Takenojô V (1812~1851), who held the name of
Ichimura Uzaemon XII from November 1821 to December 1850, dies.

11 October: the actor and zamoto Nakamura Kanzaburô XII (1800~1851) dies.

1852 (Kaei 5)

  21 April: a fire breaks out within the Kado no Shibai in Ôsaka and destroys three
theaters and numerous others buildings.

July: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Jiraiya Gôketsu

Monogatari" [casting].

1853 (Kaei 6)

 
March: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Segawa Jokô III's drama "Yowa Nasake Ukina
no Yokogushi" (commonly called "Kirare Yosa") [casting].

1854 Kaei 7 / Ansei 1)

  6 August: the actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII (1823~1854) commits suicide in Ôsaka.

5 November: a big fire breaks out in Edo in the district of Seiten-chô and reduces to
ashes the Ichimuraza, the Nakamuraza and the Moritaza.

1855 (Ansei 2)

  13 February: the actor Nakamura Tomijûrô II (1786~1855) dies.

6 March: the actor Bandô Shûka I (1813~1855) dies.

2 October: the Ansei earthquake (Ansei Daijishin) destroys Edo, killing many people
and tearing down all the theaters.

1856 (Ansei 3)

  March: great shûmei at the Ichimuraza for the Bandô branch of the Otowaya guild;
Bandô Hikosaburô IV and Bandô Takesaburô I respectively take the names of Bandô
Kamezô I and Bandô Hikosaburô V. The two actors play together in the dramas
"Tsuruhachi to Suehiro Soga", "Hikinuide Kasumi no Midomise" and "Yume Musubu Chô
ni Torioi".

6 April: the actor Nakamura Shibajaku I (1820~1856) dies.

September: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's 9-act drama "Tsuta

Momiji Utsunoya Tôge". The 2 leading stars are Ichikawa Kodanji IV (the blind masseur
Bun'ya and the thief Niza) and Bandô Kamezô I (Itamiya Jûbei).

November: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the dance "Joro no Makoto Osada no Chûkô"
[casting].

1857 (Ansei 4)

  July: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Ami Moyô Dôro no
Kikukiri" (commonly called "Kozaru Shichinosuke"). The roles of Shichinosuke and
Takigawa are played by Ichikawa Kodanji IV and Onoe Kikugorô IV.

11 November: the actor Nakamura Daikichi III (1815~1857) dies.

1858 (Ansei 5)

 
23 December: the actor Yamashita Kinsaku IV (1791~1858) dies.

1859 (Ansei 6)
  February: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Kosode Soga
Azami no Ironui" (commonly called "Izayoi Seishin") [casting].

16 March: the actor Arashi San'emon IX (1805~1859) dies.

23 March: the actor Ichikawa Ebizô V (1791~1859), who held the name of Ichikawa
Danjûrô VII from 1800 to 1832, dies.

13 May: the actor Mimasu Daigorô IV (1798~1859) dies.

September: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's Kiyomoto-based dance

"Jitsugetsusei Chûya no Oriwake", commonly called "Ryûsei". The leading roles are
played by Kawarazaki Gonjûrô I, Iwai Kumesaburô III and Ichikawa Kodanji IV.

1860 (Ansei 7 / Man'en 1)

  January: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Sannin Kichisa

Kuruwa no Hatsugai" (commonly called "Sannin Kichisa") [casting].

28 June: the actor Onoe Kikugorô IV (1808~1860) dies.

1861 (Man'en 2 / Bunkyû 1)

  6 January: the actor Ôtani Tomoemon IV (1791~1861) dies.

7 January: the actor Nakamura Kanjaku II (1834~1861) dies.

August: premiere at the Moritaza of of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Sakura Sôshi

Gonichi no Bundan", a revised version of Segawa Jokô III's drama "Higashiyama
Sakura Sôshi", [casting].

1862 (Bunkyû 2)

  March 1862: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Aoto Zôshi
Hana no Nishikie" (commonly called "Shiranami Gonin Otoko") [casting].

22 July: the actor Kataoka Ichizô I (1792~1862) dies.

8 August: the musician Tokiwazu Bungonodaijô I, also named Ichikawa Monnosuke IV,

(1804~1862) dies.

1863 (Bunkyû 3)

  16 February: the actor Kataoka Nizaemon VIII (1810~1863) dies.

21 April 1863: the actor Arashi Rikan III (1812~1863) dies.

1864 (Bunkyû 4 / Genji 1)

  April: premiere at the Moritaza of the drama "Wakaba Ume Ukino no Yokogushi"
(commonly called "Kirare Otomi", in English "Scarface Otomi") [casting].

14 July: the actor Arashi Rikaku II (1812~1864) dies.

28 September: the actor Arashi Kichisaburô III (1810~1864) dies.

November: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Koharunagi

Okitsu Shiranami" (commonly called "Kogitsune Reiza") [casting].

1866 (Keiô 2)

  7 May: the actor Ichikawa Raizô V (1820~1866) dies.

8 May: the actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV (1812~1866) dies.

1867 (Keiô 3)

  22 February: the actor Jitsukawa Gakujûrô II (1813~1867).

6 August: the actor Nakamura Fukusuke II (1839~1867) dies.

1868 (Keiô 4 / Meiji 1)

  August: great shûmei at the Ichimuraza; Ichimura Kakitsu IV and Ichimura

Takematsu III respectively take the names of Onoe Kikugorô V and Ichimura
Uzaemon XIV.

8 September: beginning of the Meiji era, which means the end of both the Tokugawa
shogounate and the Edo period and the restoration of the imperial power.

23 September: the zamoto Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VI (1814~1868) dies.

1869 (Meiji 2)

  July: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Kichisama Mairu

Yukari no Otozure". The main roles are played by Onoe Kikugorô V and Bandô
Mitsugorô VI.

September: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Momoyama

Monogatari", commonly called "Jishin Katô" ("Earthquake Katô"); Kawarazaki
Gonnosuke VII plays the leading role of Katô Kiyomasa. This drama is a first
experiment, which foreshadows the katsureki plays.
1870 (Meiji 3)

  March: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Keian Taiheiki". The
leading role of Marubashi Chûya is played by Ichikawa Sadanji I.

18 December: the actor Seki Sanjûrô III (1805~1870) dies.

1871 (Meiji 4)

  11 August: the actor Ogino Senjo dies.

18 August: the actor Nakamura Jakuemon I (1806~1871) dies.

22 October: the actor Ichikawa Danzô VI (1800~1871) dies.

22 November: the actor Kataoka Gatô II (1839~1871) dies.

1872 (Meiji 5)

  July: premiere at the Murayamaza of Kawatake Mokuami's dance "Renjishi", which

stars Bandô Hikosaburô V and Sawamura Tosshô II in the roles of the spirits of Lions
(parent and cub).

30 July: the actor Bandô Minosuke IV (1831~1872) dies.

October: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's zangirimono "Tsuki no En

Masu no Igaguri" [casting].

1873 (Meiji 6)

  1 February: the actor Ôtani Hiroji V (1833~1873) dies.

June: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Tsuyu Kosode

Mukashi Hachijô" (commonly called "Kamiyui Shinza") [casting].

11 September: the actor Bandô Mitsugorô VI (1846~1873) dies.

5 october: the actor Iwai Shijaku III (1840~1873) dies.

14 November: the actor Bandô Kamezô I (1800~1873) dies.

1876 (Meiji 9)

  1 November: the actor Mimasu Daigorô V (1807~1876) dies.

 28 November: a fire breaks out in the district of Sukiya-chô and destroys both the
Nakabashiza and the Shintomiza.

31 December: a fire breaks out in Edo in Asakusa and destroys both the Satsumaza
and the Nakamuraza.

1877 (Meiji 10)

 
13 October: the actor Bandô Hikosaburô V (1832~1877) dies.

1878 (Meiji 11)

  7 July: the actor Sawamura Tanosuke III (1845~1878) dies.

12 September: the actor Ichikawa Monnosuke V (1821~1878) dies.

1879 (Meiji 12)

  September: the zamoto Morita Kan'ya XII produces at the Shintomiza an original play
"Hyôryû Kidan Seiyô Kabuki" ("A strange story about drifters and Western Kabuki"!),
written by Kawatake Mokuami and staged with some Western actors. The plot is about
the adventures of a group of Japanese in Europe and in the USA. The play includes
several Italian-style operettas, which disconcert the audience. This original
performance is a complete commercial failure.

16 october: the actor Sawamura Shozan IV (1842~1879) dies.

1881 (Meiji 14)

  3 February: the actor Nakamura Kanjaku III (1841~1881) dies.

March: premiere at the Shintomiza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Kumo ni Magou

Ueno no Hatsuhana" [casting].

June: premiere at the Shintomiza of Kawatake Mokuami's dance-drama "Tsuchi Gumo",

which is staged to commemorate the 32nd anniversary (33rd memorial service) of late
Onoe Kikugorô III [casting].

October: premiere at the Harukiza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Kiwametsuki Banzui

Chôbei" [casting].

November: premiere at the Shintomiza of Kawatake Mokuami's zangirimono drama

"Shima Chidori Tsuki no Shiranami" [casting].
1882 (Meiji 15)

  23 January: a fire destroys the Saruwakaza.

19 February: the actor Iwai Hanshirô VIII (1829~1882) dies.

1883 (Meiji 16)

  April: premiere at the Shintomiza of Kawatake Mokuami's Nagauta-based

matsubamemono "Ibaraki" [casting].

May: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Shinsarayashiki Tsuki

no Amagasa" [casting].

1885 (Meiji 18)

  May 1885: first performance at the Harukiza for the Torikuma Shibai troupe.

18 September: the actor Jitsukawa Enjaku I (1831~1885) dies.

November: premiere at the Shintomiza of Kawatake Mokuami's Nagauta-based

matsubamemono "Funa Benkei" [casting].

1886 (Meiji 19)

  2 March: the actor Onoe Tamizô II (1799~1886) dies.

March: final performance at the Harukiza for the Torikuma Shibai troupe.

March: premiere at the Chitoseza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Mekura Nagaya

Umegakagatobi" [casting].

10 November: the actor Nakamura Nakazô III (1809~1886) dies.

1887 (Meiji 20)

  21 April: the emperor views Kabuki for the first time at the residence of the Minister of
Foreign Affairs. The casting includes the three leading stars Ichikawa Danjûrô IX, Onoe
Kikugorô V and Ichikawa Sadanji I.

October: premiere at the Shintomiza of Kawatake Mokuami's matsubamemono

"Momijigari" [casting].

1888 (Meiji 21)
 
5 May: the actor Nakamura Fukusuke III (1846~1888) dies.

1889 (Meiji 22)

  13 March: the actor Iwai Shijaku IV (1854~1889) dies.

July: the actor Seki Sanjûrô IV (1835~1889) dies.

8 October: the actor Nakamura Sôjûrô (1835~1889) dies.

21 November: opening of the Kabukiza in the district of Kobiki-chô in Tôkyô.

1890 (Meiji 23)

  17 March: the actor Nakamura Shibajaku III (1856~1890) dies.

April: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the drama "Hitotsuya"; Onoe Kikugorô V plays the
leading role of the old woman Ibara.

23 June: a fire destroys the Harukiza.

October: premiere at the Kabukiza of Kawatake Mokuami's Tokiwazu-based dance-

drama "Modoribashi" [casting].

1891 (Meiji 24)

 
5 May: the actor Bandô Shûka II dies.

1892 (Meiji 25)

  6 February: the actor Jitsukawa Yaozô I (1838~1892) dies.

July: premiere at the Kabukiza of the drama "Kaidan Botan Dôrô", adapted to Kabuki
from a famous Rakugo story created by San'yûtei Enchô [casting].

25 September: the actor Nakamura Tsurusuke V (1846~1892) dies.

1893 (Meiji 26)

  22 January: the playwright Kawatake Mokuami (1816~1893) dies. He wrote around

360 plays. The same day, a fire breaks out in Edo in the district of Torigoe-chô and
reduces to ashes the Torigoeza.
 March: premiere at the Kabukiza of Fukuchi Ôchi's Nagauta-based dance "Kagami
Jishi". The musical accompaniment is written by Kineya Shôjirô III, the choreography is
made by Fujima Kan'emon II and the leading role is danced by Ichikawa Danjûrô IX.

18 March: the actor Bandô Kakitsu I (1847~1893) dies.

1894 (Meiji 27)

 
31 May: the actor Arashi Rikan IV (1837~1894) dies.

1895 (Meiji 28)

  15 April: the actor Kataoka Nizaemon X (1851~1895) dies.

20 July: the actor Nakamura Jakuemon II (1841~1895) dies.

19 October: the zamoto Nakamura Kanzaburô XIII (1828~1895) dies.

1897 (Meiji 30)

  28 June: the actor Onoe Kikunosuke II dies.

9 July: the actor Ichikawa Shinzô V (1861~1897) dies.

21 August: the zamoto Morita Kan'ya XII (1846~1897) dies.

October: premiere at the Meijiza of Fukuchi Ôchi's drama "Ômori Hikoshichi" [casting].

1898 (Meiji 31)

 
23 March: a fire destroys the Harukiza.

1899 (Meiji 32)

  16 January: the actor Nakamura Shikan IV (1830~1899) dies.

26 June: the actor Onoe Taganojô II (1849~1899) dies.

 
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TWENTIETH CENTURY 1901~2000

1901 (Meiji 34)

  10 January: the playwright Kawatake Shinshichi III dies.

21 February: the actor Nakamura Tomijûrô III (1859~1901) dies.

March 1901: Kataoka Tsuchinosuke II takes the name of Kataoka Gadô IV in Ôsaka at
the Kadoza.

May 1901: Nakamura Fukusuke IV takes the name of Nakamura Shikan V at the
Kabukiza [more details].

July: premiere at the Tôkyôza of "Tsuri Onna", the Kabuki version of the kyôgen
"Tsuribari", originally written in 1883 by Kawatake Mokuami (lyrics) and Kishizawa
Shikisa VI (music) and revised for the stage by Takeshiba Shinkichi. It stars Ichikawa
Ennosuke I and Nakamura Kangorô XII in the roles of Tarôkaja and the ugly girl.

21 September: the actor Ichikawa Raizô VI dies.

29 September: the actor Bandô Shûchô II (1848~1901) dies.

1902 (Meiji 35)

  March: the Harukiza is renamed Hongôza.

October: premiere at the Kabukiza of Enokido Kenji's drama "Ninjô Banashi Bunshichi
Mottoi" [casting].

1903 (Meiji 36)

  18 February: the actor Onoe Kikugorô V (1844~1903) dies.

March: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for the Otowaya guild; the actors Onoe
Ushinosuke II, Onoe Eizaburô V and Onoe Eizô respectively take the names of Onoe
Kikugorô VI, Onoe Baikô VI and Onoe Eizaburô VI [more details].
 May: Ichikawa Somegorô IV takes the name of Ichikawa Komazô VIII at the Kabukiza.

13 October: the actor Ichikawa Danjûrô IX (1838~1903) dies.

1904 (Meiji 37)

  March: successful premiere at the Tôkyôza of Tsubouchi Shôyô's drama "Kiri Hitoha".
The roles of Yodogimi and Katagiri Katsumoto are played by Nakamura Shikan V and
Kataoka Gatô III.

27 March: the actor Ichikawa Gonjûrô (1848~1904) dies.

April: premiere at the Kabukiza of Mori Ôgai's drama "Nichiren Shônin Tsujiseppô". The
leading roles are played by Onoe Baikô VI, Ichimura Uzaemon XV and Ichikawa
Yaozô VII (he plays the role of the priest Nichiren).

7 August: the actor Ichikawa Sadanji I (1842~1904) dies.

1906 (Meiji 39)

  March: Tsubouchi Shôyô's drama "Hototogisu Kojô no Rakugetsu" is produced for the
first time in Tôkyô, at the Tôkyôza [casting].

7 May: the actor Ichikawa Sumizô V (1845~1906) dies.

11 December: the actor Kataoka Ichizô III (1851~1906) dies.

1908 (Meiji 41)

 
November: revival at the Kabukiza of the kabuki jûhachiban drama "Kagekiyo"
[casting].

1909 (Meiji 42)

 
September: revival at the Meijiza of the drama "Kenuki", a long-forgotten play
belonging to the kabuki jûhachiban [casting].

1910 (Meiji 43)

  March: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the kyôgen "Hanago", adapted to Kabuki by

 Okamura Shikô and staged under the title "Migawari Zazen" [casting].

May: revival at the Meijiza of the drama "Narukami", a long-forgotten play belonging to
the kabuki jûhachiban [casting].

10 September: the actor Bandô Minosuke V (1860~1910) dies.

1911 (Meiji 44)

  May: premiere at the Meijiza of the Okamoto Kidô's drama "Shuzenji Monogatari"
[casting].

11 September: the actor Ichikawa Danzô VII (1836~1911) dies.

1912 (Meiji 45 / Taishô 1)

  11 October: the actor Arashi Yoshisaburô IV (1872~1912) dies.

November: premiere at the Kabukiza of Enomoto Torahiko's drama "Meikô Kakiemon".

The role of Kakiemon, a kind of Japanese Bernard Palissy, is played by Kataoka
Nizaemon XI.

1914 (Taishô 3)

  January: revival at the Hongôza of the drama "Gedatsu", a long-forgotten play

belonging to the kabuki jûhachiban. The roles of the warrior Taira no Kagekiyo and
Akoya are played by Ichikawa Sadanji II and Ichikawa Shôchô II.

20 August: the actor Ichikawa Monnosuke VI (1862~1914) dies.

September: premiere at the Imperial Theater of the dance "Onatsu Kyôran". The
choreography is made by Fujima Kan'emon II and the music is made by xxx. The roles
of Onatsu and the pack-horse driver are played by Onoe Baikô VI and Matsumoto
Kôshirô VII.

October: premiere at the Shintomiza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Sasaki Takatsuna". The
role of Sasaki Takatsuna is played by Ichikawa Sadanji II.

1915 (Taishô 4)

  20 April: the actor Arashi Kitsusaburô IV (1841~1915) dies.

September: premiere at the Hongôza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Toribeyama Shinjû"

[casting].
1916 (Taishô 5)

  January: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the kyôgen "Bô Shibari", which is adapted to
kabuki by Okamura Kikô and performed by Onoe Kikugorô VI and Bandô Mitsugorô VII.

31 january: the actor Nakamura Nakazô IV (1855~1916) dies.

February: premiere at the Hongôza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Banchô Sarayashiki"

[casting].

18 March: the actor Ichikawa Sai'nyû (1843~1916) dies.

April: Nakamura Yonekichi II takes the name of Nakamura Tokizô III at the Ichimuraza.

16 November: the playwright Enomoto Torahiko dies.

1917 (Taishô 6)

  July: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the kyôgen "Tachi Nusubito", adapted to Kabuki by
Okamura Shikô with a musical accompaniment written by Kineya Mitarô. Onoe
Kikugorô VI, Bandô Hikosaburô VI and Bandô Mitsugorô VII play the 3 roles of the
dance.

9 November: the zamoto Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VIII dies.

1918 (Taishô 7)

  November: premiere at the Shintomiza of Matsui Shôyô's drama "Yodogimi". The

leading role of Lady Yodo (Yodogimi) is played by Nakamura Utaemon V.

24 November: the actor Arashi Rikaku IV (1853~1918) dies.

1919 (Taishô 8)

  17 May: the actor Nakamura Karoku III dies (1849~1919).

13 August: the actor Kawarazaki Kunitarô IV (1888~1919) dies.

27 August: the actor Onoe Kikujirô III dies (1882~1919).

September 1919: premiere at the Kabukiza of the Kiyomoto-based dance

"Sumidagawa", a Nô adapted to Kabuki by Yamazaki Shikô with a musical
accompaniment made by Kiyomoto Umekichi II and inspired by Russian ballets seen by
Ichikawa Ennosuke II during his European study tour. Ennosuke plays the role of the
wandering woman Hanjo-no-Mae, desesparately looking for her abducted son
 Umewakamaru along the Sumida River [casting].

October: premiere at the Naniwaza (Ôsaka) of Kikuchi Kan's drama "Tôjûrô no Koi",
inspired by the life of the actor Sakata Tôjûrô I. Nakamura Ganjirô I and Nakamura
Fukusuke IV play the roles of Tôjûrô and Okaji.

1920 (Taishô 9)

  19 March: the actor Nakamura Matagorô I (1885~1920) dies.

6 September: the actor Arashi Rikan V dies (1870~1920).

1921 (Taishô 10)

  March: premiere at the Imperial Theater of the kyôgen "Chatsubo", which is adapted to
Kabuki by Okamura Kikô and starred Onoe Kikugorô VI and Bandô Mitsugorô VII.

June: premiere at the Shintomiza of Takayasu Gekkô's drama "Daigo no Haru". The
leading role of Lady Yodo (Yodogimi) is played by Nakamura Utaemon V.

8 June: the actor Nakamura Baigyoku II (1841~1921) dies.

October: premiere at the Kabukiza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Ôsakajô". The leading
role of Lady Yodo (Yodogimi) is played by Nakamura Utaemon V.

30 October: the Kabukiza is burnt to the ground in a fire caused by an electrical short
circuit.

1922 (Taishô 11)

  February: premiere at the Shintomiza of Yamazaki Shikô's drama "Hatsushiraga". The

leading role of Lady Yodo (Yodogimi) is played by Nakamura Utaemon V.

February: premiere at the Ichimuraza of "Shibahama no Kawazaifu", a drama adapted

from a famous Rakugo story created by San'yûtei Enchô. Onoe Kikugorô VI and
Sawamura Sônosuke I play the roles of Masagorô and Masagorô's wife Otatsu.

6 February: the actor Ichikawa Danshirô II (1855~1922) dies.

6 May: the actor Ichikawa Kodanji V dies.

November: creation of the Tôeikai, a Kabuki dance study group led by Onoe
Eizaburô VII and Ichikawa Omezô IV.

1923 (Taishô 12)

  March: premiere at the Hongôza of Matsui Shôyô's drama "Satsuma no Yodogimi". The
leading role of Lady Yodo (Yodogimi) is played by Nakamura Utaemon V.

20 July: the actor Nakamura Denkurô VI (1859~1923) dies.

1 September (11:58 AM): Tôkyô is destroyed by a powerful earthquake called Kantô

Daijishin, which kills more than 200,000 people and destroys all the Kabuki theaters.

1924 (Taishô 13)

  June: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the Nagauta-based kyôgen "Akutarô", which is

adapted to Kabuki by Okamura Kikô, with a choreography and a musical
accompaniment made by Hanayagi Jusuke II and Kineya Sakichi IV. The leading role of
Akutarô is played by Ichikawa Ennosuke II.

8 April: the actor Sawamura Sônosuke I (1886~1924) dies.

1925 (Taishô 14)

 
5 June: the actor Arashi Sangorô VI (1851~1925) dies.

1926 (Taishô 15 / Shôwa 1)

  26 March: the actor Sawamura Tosshi VII (1860~1926) dies.

April: premiere at the Kabukiza of Matsui Shôô's drama "Yodogimi Odawara Jin". The
leading role of Lady Yodo (Yodogimi) is played by Nakamura Utaemon V.

27 may: the actor Onoe Eizaburô VII (1899~1926) dies.

19 August: the actor Ichikawa Shôchô II (1886~1926) dies.

23 December: the actor Kataoka Ichizô IV (1880~1926) dies.

1927 (Shôwa 2)

  7 January: the actor Onoe Tamizô III (1866~1927) dies.

July: premiere at the Kabukiza of Kimura Kinka's drama "Ume Goyomi".

4 October: the actor Arashi Kichisaburô VI (1875~1927) dies.

October: revival at the Hongôza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's masterpiece "Sakura Hime

Azuma Bunshô", produced under the title "Kiyomizudera Azuma Bunshô", which has not
 been staged since March 1817 [casting].

November: premiere at the Hongôza of Kimura Tomiko's dance "Kôya Monogurui" (a Nô

drama adapted to Kabuki), which mixes Nagauta and Gidayû musical accompaniments.
The leading role of Kôshi no Shirô is played by Ichikawa Ennosuke II.

15 November: the actor Nakamura Jakuemon III (1875~1927) dies.

1928 (Shôwa 3)

  Summer: Ichikawa Sadanji II organizes the first tour of a Kabuki troupe outside Japan.
The destination is the USSR and the troupe performs in Moscow and Leningrad [more
details].

5 September: the actor Onoe Matsusuke IV dies.

September: premiere at the Kabukiza of Kimura Tomiko's Tokiwazu-based dance

"Koma", with a choreography and a musical accompaniment made by Hanayagi
Jusuke II and Tokiwazu Mojibei III. The leading role is played by Ichikawa Ennosuke II.

1929 (Shôwa 4)

 
June: revival at the Kabukiza of the dance "Gannin Bôzu", which was premiered in
March 1811 by Bandô Mitsugorô III. It is staged under the title "Ukare Bôzu". The role
of the bonze look-alike beggar is played by the star Onoe Kikugorô VI, who uses a
different musical accompaniment, written by Kiyomoto Enjudayû V.

1930 (Shôwa 5)

 
19 November: the actor Arashi Ganshô (1862~1930) dies.

1931 (Shôwa 6)

  25 February: the actor Seki Sanjûrô V (1879~1931) dies.

March: premiere at the Meijiza of Hasegawa Shin's drama "Mabuta no Haha", starring
Morita Kan'ya XIII and Onoe Taganojô III in the roles of Chûtarô and Ohama.

May: formation of the Zenshinza troupe led by Nakamura Kan'emon III and Kawarasaki
Chôjûrô IV.

July: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Hasegawa Shin's drama "Ippon Gatana Dohyô Iri"
[casting].
1932 (Shôwa 7)

  21 May: a fire destroys the Ichimuraza. This famous theater is not rebuilt.

June: premiere at the Kabukiza of Hasegawa Shin's drama "Irezumi Chôhan". The
leading role is played by Onoe Kikugorô VI.

16 June: the actor Morita Kan'ya XIII (1885~1932) dies.

2 July: the actor Nakamura Tsuruzô III dies.

October: opening of the Ôsaka Kabukiza.

1933 (Shôwa 8)

  September: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of the Nagauta-based kyôgen "Takatsuki",

which is adapted to Kabuki by Hisamatsu Issei (lyrics) and Kineya Izaburô (music) and
performed by Onoe Kikugorô VI and Bandô Mitsugorô VII.

1 August: the actor Nakamura Fukusuke V (1900~1933) dies.

1934 (Shôwa 9)

  April: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Kimura Tomiko's Tokiwazu-based dance "Hanami
Yakko", with a choreography and a musical accompaniment made by Hanayagi
Jusuke II and Tokiwazu Mojibei III. The leading role of the yakko is played by Ichikawa
Ennosuke II.

June: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Hasegawa Shin's drama "Kurayami no

Ushimatsu" [casting].

16 October: the actor Kataoka Nizaemon XI (1857~1934) dies.

8 November: the actor Onoe Baikô VI (1870~1934) dies.

1935 (Shôwa 10)

  January: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Uno Nobuo's drama "Fubuki Tôge" [casting].

1 February: the actor Nakamura Ganjirô I (1860~1935) dies.

22 September: the actor Bandô Shûchô III (1880~1935) dies.

1936 (Shôwa 11)
  April: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of "Ninin Sambasô", a 2-dancer version of the
Sambasô dance, starring Ichikawa Ennosuke II and his son Ichikawa Danshirô III.

20 April: the actor Sawamura Gennosuke IV (1859~1936) dies.

12 July: the actor Ichikawa Chûsha VII (1860~1936) dies.

1938 (Shôwa 13)

 
28 December: the actor Bandô Hikosaburô VI (1886~1938) dies.

1939 (Shôwa 14)

  September: premiere at the Meijiza of Kimura Tomiko's dance "Kokaji" (a Nô drama

adapted to Kabuki), which mixes Nagauta and Gidayû musical accompaniments. The
leading role of the God Inari is played by Ichikawa Ennosuke II.

November: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Kimura Tomiko's dance-drama "Kurozuka"

[casting]. The musical accompaniment is written by Kineya Sakichi IV and the
choreography is made by Hanayanagi Jusuke II.

1940 (Shôwa 15)

  22 February: the actor Ichikawa Sadanji II dies (1880~1940).

19 August: the actor Ichikawa Shôchô II dies (1886~1940).

29 September: the actor Nakamura Utaemon V dies (1865~1940).

1941 (Shôwa 16)

 
April: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Kimura Tomiko's Gidayû-based dance "Yoi
Yakko". The leading role of the yakko Bekunai is played by Ichikawa Ennosuke II.

1943 (Shôwa 18)

  January: Bandô Tsurunosuke III takes the prestigious name of Nakamura Tomijûrô IV

at the Ôsaka Kabukiza.

1 September: the actor Ôtani Tomoemon VI (1886~1943) dies.

1945 (Shôwa 20)

  10 March (00:08 AM): 344 US Army B29 bombers drops 2,000 tons of bombs on
Tôkyô, killing more than 120,000 people and destroying almost everything.

13 March: the actor Nakamura Kaisha (1875~1945) is killed during the bombing of
Ôsaka.

6 May: the actor Ichimura Uzaemon XV (1874~1945) dies.

7 December: the actor Nakamura Tsuruzô IV (1899~1945) dies.

10 December: the actor Onoe Eizaburô VIII (1924~1945) dies in China.

1946 (Shôwa 21)

 
16 March: the actor Kataoka Nizaemon XII (1882~1946) is assassinated.

1947 (Shôwa 22)

  January: Nakamura Kanjaku IV takes the name of Nakamura Ganjirô II in Ôsaka at the
Kabukiza.

10 May: the actor Ichikawa Enshô III dies.

1948 (Shôwa 23)

 
18 March: the actor Nakamura Baigyoku III (1875~1948) dies.

1949 (Shôwa 24)

  27 january: the actor Matsumoto Kôshirô VII (1870~1949) dies.

2 March: the actor Sawamura Sôjûrô VII (1875~1949) dies.

10 July: the actor Onoe Kikugorô VI (1885~1949) dies.

1951 (Shôwa 26)

  January: the Kabukiza reopens.

 22 February: the actor Jitsukawa Enjaku II (1877~1951) dies.

April: Nakamura Shikan VI takes the name of Nakamura Utaemon VI at the Kabukiza.

July: premiere in Tôkyô at the Kabukiza [casting] and in Ôsaka at the Ôsaka Kabukiza
[casting] of Uno Nobuo's drama "Jiisan Baasan".

1952 (Shôwa 27)

  2 October: the actor Ichimura Uzaemon XVI (1904~1952) dies.

October 1952: premiere at the Kabukiza of Osaragi Jirô's drama "Wakaki Hi no

Nobunaga" [casting].

1953 (Shôwa 28)

  June: Ichikawa Yaozô VIII takes the name of Ichikawa Chûsha VIII at the Kabukiza.

September: Sawamura Tosshô IV takes the name of Sawamura Sôjûrô VIII at the

Kabukiza.

1954 (Shôwa 29)

  5 September: the actor Nakamura Kichiemon I (1886~1954) dies.

24 September: the actor Bandô Jusaburô III (1886~1954) dies.

November: premiere at the Kabukiza of Mishima Yukio's drama "Iwashi Uri Koi no
Hikiami". The leading roles are played by Nakamura Kanzaburô XVII and Nakamura
Utaemon VI.

1955 (Shôwa 30)

  January: premiere at the Ôsaka Kabukiza of Uno Nobuo's drama "Naniwa no Ashi"
[casting].

11 January: the actor Kawarazaki Gonjûrô II (1879~1955) dies.

22 April: the actor Nakamura Takesaburô V (1882~1955) dies.

October: Bandô Hikosaburô VII takes the name of Ichimura Uzaemon XVII at the

Kabukiza.
 October: first Kabuki tour in the Popular Republic of China, in Beijing (2~13 october),
Shanghai (17~18 october) and Guangzhou (24~25 october) [casting].

8 November: the actor Arashi Tokusaburô VI (1883~1955) dies.

1956 (Shôwa 31)

 
1 February: the actor Ichikawa Sanshô V (1882~1956) dies.

1957 (Shôwa 32)

 
13 January: the actor Ichikawa Shinnosuke V (1885~1957) dies.

1958 (Shôwa 33)

 
March: final Kabuki performance at the Ôsaka Kabukiza [more details].

1959 (Shôwa 34)

 
11 July: the actor Nakamura Tokizô III (1895~1959) dies.

1960 (Shôwa 35)

  The actors Ichikawa Jukai III and Ichikawa Dannosuke VI receive the prestigious title of
Living National Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

June ~ July: first Kabuki tour in the USA, in New York at the City Center (2~22 June),
in Los Angeles at the Greek Theatre (27 June~10 July) and in San Francisco at the War
Memorial Opera House (12~16 July) [casting].

17 October: the actor Nakamura Tomijûrô IV (1908~1960) dies.

1961 (Shôwa 36)

  January: the actors Ichikawa Somegorô VI and Nakamura Mannosuke sign exclusive
contracts with the Tôhô and leave the Shôchiku.
 March: the actors Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII, Ichikawa Chûsha VIII and Nakamura
Shikaku II sign exclusive contracts with the Tôhô and leave the Shôchiku.

4 November: the actor Bandô Mitsugorô VII (1882~1961) dies.

1962 (Shôwa 37)

  28 January: the actor Nakamura Tokizô IV (1927~1962) dies.

April: Ichikawa Ebizô IX takes the name of Ichikawa Danjûrô XI at the Kabukiza. his
adopted father Ichikawa Sanshô V becomes posthumously Ichikawa Danjûrô X.

30 August: the actor Suketakaya Takasuke V (1900~1962) dies.

September: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for 3 generations of actors belonging to the
Yamatoya guild (Yamatoya Sandai Shûmei); Bandô Minosuke VI takes the name of
Bandô Mitsugorô VIII, Bandô Yasosuke IV becomes Bandô Minosuke VII and Bandô
Yasosuke V makes his first appearance on stage.

1963 (Shôwa 38)

  29 March: the actor Sawamura Tosshi VIII (1887~1963) dies.

May: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for the Omodakaya guild; Ichikawa Ennosuke II,
Ichikawa Danko III and Ichikawa Kamejirô I respectively take the names of Ichikawa
En'ô, Ichikawa Ennosuke III and Ichikawa Danko IV.

12 June: the actor Ichikawa En'ô (1888~1963) dies.

18 November: the actor Ichikawa Danshirô III (1908~1963) dies.

1964 (Shôwa 39)

  The actor Ichikawa Sadanji III receives the prestigious title of Living National Treasure
(ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

April: Sawamura Yoshijirô IV and his father Sawamura Tanosuke V respectively take
the names of Sawamura Tanosuke VI and Sawamura Shozan V at the Kabukiza.

September: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for the Kyôya and Akashiya guilds; Ôtani
Tomoemon VII, Ôtani Hirotarô II and Ôtani Hiromatsu I respectively take the names of
Nakamura Jakuemon IV, Ôtani Tomoemon VIII and Nakamura Shibajaku VII.

1965 (Shôwa 40)
  May: shûmei at the Kabukiza for 3 young actors of the Otowaya guild; Onoe
Ushinosuke V, Bandô Kamesaburô IV and Onoe Sakon I respectively take the names of
Onoe Kikunosuke IV, Bandô Shinsui VIII, and Onoe Tatsunosuke I.

October: first Kabuki tour in Western Europe, in West Berlin at the Der Freien
Volksbühne (2~8 october), in Paris at the Théâtre de l'Odéon (15~24 october) and in
Lisbonne at the Teatro São Luis (29~31 october) [casting].

10 November: the actor Ichikawa Danjûrô XI (1909~1965) dies.

1966 (Shôwa 41)

  4 June: the actor Ichikawa Danzô VIII (1882~1966) dies.

November: opening ceremony for the National Theater in Tôkyô [more details].

31 December: the actor Hayashi Mataichirô II dies.

1967 (Shôwa 42)

  The actor Nakamura Ganjirô II receives the prestigious title of Living National Treasure
(ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

April: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for the Narikomaya and Kagaya guilds; Nakamura
Fukusuke VII, Kagaya Fukunosuke, Kagaya Hashinosuke and Nakamura Tamatarô III
respectively take the names of Nakamura Shikan VII, Nakamura Fukusuke VIII,
Nakamura Matsue V and Nakamura Tôzô VI; Shikan's son Nakamura Kotarô V makes
his first stage appearance.

1968 (Shôwa 43)

  The actors Nakamura Utaemon VI, Onoe Baikô VII and Onoe Taganojô III receive the
prestigious title of Living National Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

3 December: the actor Sawamura Shozan V dies.

22 November: the actor Seki Sanjûrô VI (1911~1968) dies.

28 December: birth in France of Shôriya Aragorô, futur webmaster of

www.kabuki21.com.

1969 (Shôwa 44)

  1 January: the actor Nakamura Fukusuke V (1910~1969), Takasagoya guild, dies.

 May: Ichikawa Danko IV takes the name of Ichikawa Danshirô IV at the Kabukiza.

3 October: the actor Ichikawa Sadanji III (1898~1969) dies.

November: Ichikawa Shinnosuke VI takes the name of Ichikawa Ebizô X at the

Kabukiza.

1971 (Shôwa 46)

  3 April: the actor Ichikawa Jukai III (1886~1971) dies.

20 June: the actor Ichikawa Chûsha VIII (1896~1971) dies.

1972 (Shôwa 47)

  Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII, Nakamura Shikaku II, Ichikawa Somegorô VI and Nakamura

Mannosuke are back to Shôchiku, after the failure of Tôhô Kabuki.

The actors Onoe Shôroku II and Kataoka Nizaemon XIII receive the prestigious title of
Living National Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

May: Bandô Shinsui VIII and Ichimura Takematsu V respectively take the name of
Bandô Kamezô II and Ichimura Manjirô II at the Kabukiza.

September: Ichimura Takenojô VI takes the prestigious name of Nakamura Tomijûrô V

at the Kabukiza.

1973 (Shôwa 48)

  The actor Bandô Mitsugorô VIII receives the prestigious title of Living National Treasure
(ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

11 February: the actor Arashi Kichisaburô VII dies.

October: Onoe Kikunosuke IV takes the name of Onoe Kikugorô VII at the Kabukiza.

1974 (Shôwa 49)

 
20 December: the actor Onoe Koisaburô III dies.

1975 (Shôwa 50)
  The actors Nakamura Kanzaburô XVII and Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII receive the
prestigious title of Living National Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

16 January: the actor Bandô Mitsugorô VIII (1913~1975) dies.

28 March: the actor Morita Kan'ya XIV (1907~1975) dies.

25 December: the actor Sawamura Sôjûrô VIII (1908~1975) dies.

1976 (Shôwa 51)

  September: Sawamura Tosshô V takes the name of Sawamura Sôjûrô IX at the

Kabukiza.

3 November: the actor Segawa Kikunojô VI (1907~1976) dies.

1977 (Shôwa 52)

 
14 November: the actor Arashi Yoshisaburô V (1907~1977) dies.

1978 (Shôwa 53)

  20 June: the actor Onoe Taganojô III dies.

2 October 1978: the actor Ichikawa Kuzô V (1910~1978) dies.

1979 (Shôwa 54)

  February: Ichikawa Omezô V takes the name of Ichikawa Sadanji IV at the Kabukiza.

April: historic revival at the Meijiza of Tsuruya Namboku IV long-forgotten play "Haji
Momiji Ase no Kaomise" (commonly called "Date no Jûyaku", in English "the ten roles
of Date"), whose plot and characters belong to the "Meiboku Sendai Hagi" and
"Kasane" worlds. The ten roles are played by Ichikawa Ennosuke III [casting].

1980 (Shôwa 55)

  February: Bandô Kamezô II takes the name of Bandô Hikosaburô VIII at the Kabukiza.

17 july: the actor Arashi San'emon XI dies.

27 December: the actor Arashi Rikaku V (1900~1980) dies.

1981 (Shôwa 56)

  9 March: the actor Ichikawa Komazô X (1925~1981) dies.

June: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for the Yorozuya guild; Nakamura Yonekichi IV,
Nakamura Baishi III, Nakamura Mitsuderu and Ogawa Mikihiro respectively take the
names of Nakamura Karoku V, Nakamura Tokizô V, Nakamura Kashô III and Nakamura
Shidô II.

24 July: the actor Onoe Kikujirô IV dies.

3 September: the actor Nakamura Shikaku II dies.

22 September: the actor Kawarazaki Chôjûrô IV (1902~1981) dies.

October: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for 3 generations of actors belonging to the
Kôraiya guild (kôraiya sandai shûmei); Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII, Ichikawa Somegorô VI,
Matsumoto Kintarô III, Ichikawa Nakanosuke III and Ichikawa Momomaru respectively
take the names of Matsumoto Hakuô, Matsumoto Kôshirô IX, Ichikawa Somegorô VII,
Matsumoto Kôemon and Ichikawa Shinsha II.

28 November: the actor Bandô Kôtarô dies.

1982 (Shôwa 57)

  11 January: the actor Matsumoto Hakuô (1910~1982) dies.

21 September: the actor Nakamura Kan'emon III (1901~1982) dies.

22 December: the actor Sawamura Gennosuke V dies.

1983 (Shôwa 58)

  13 April: the actor Nakamura Ganjirô II (1902~1983) dies.

??? July: the actor Arashi Sangorô VII dies.

1984 (Shôwa 59)

 
January: revival at the National Theater of the drama "Sankai Nagoya", which has not
been performed since 1697 [casting].

1985 (Shôwa 60)
  7 March: the actor Ichikawa Sumizô VII dies.

April: Ichikawa Ebizô IX takes the name of Ichikawa Danjûrô XII at the Kabukiza.

July ~ August: special Kabuki tour in the USA, which celebrates the shûmei of Ichikawa
Danjûrô XII; 38 performances in New York (Metropolitan Opera House, 8~20 July),
Washington (Kennedy Center, 23 July~4 August) and Los Angeles (UCLA Royce Hall,
7~11 August). This is the first time in Kabuki history that a shûmei is staged abroad
[more details].

20 December: the actor Bandô Shûchô IV (1901~1985) dies.

1986 (Shôwa 61)

 
29 January: the actor Arashi Hinasuke X dies.

1987 (Shôwa 62)

  19 January: the actor Ichikawa Yaozô IX (1906~1987) dies.

28 March: the actor Onoe Tatsunosuke I (1946~1987) dies.

3 September: the actor Arashi Kichisaburô VIII dies.

1988 (Shôwa 63)

 
16 April: the actor Nakamura Kanzaburô XVII (1909~1988) dies.

1989 (Shôwa 64 / Heisei 1)

  June: the drama "Kaidan Botan Dôrô" using Ônishi Nobuyuki's script is staged for the
first time with a full Kabuki casting, at the Shimbashi Embujô [casting].

25 June: the actor Onoe Shôroku II (1913~1989) dies.

1990 (Heisei 2)

  The actor Ichimura Uzaemon XVII receives the prestigious title of Living National
Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

June ~ July: Kabuki tour in the USA, 26 performances in Columbus (Ohio), San Antonio
(Texas), Atlanta (Georgia), Indianapolis (Indiana), Iowa City (Iowa), Lincoln
 (Nebraska), Minneapolis (Minnesota), Costa Mesa (California), Los Angeles (California),
Berkeley (California), Portland (Oregon) and Seattle (Washington) [casting].

11 October: the actor Kawarazaki Kunitarô V (1909~1990) dies.

13 October: the actor Ichikawa Monnosuke VII (1928~1990) dies.

November: Nakamura Senjaku II takes the name of Nakamura Ganjirô III at the

Kabukiza.

1991 (Heisei 3)

  The actor Nakamura Jakuemon IV receives the prestigious title of Living National
Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

14 May: the actor Jitsukawa Enjaku III (1921~1991) dies.

30 June: the actor Kataoka Ichizô V (1916~1991) dies.

28 December: the actor Ichikawa Nedanji II (1920~1991) dies.

1992 (Heisei 4)

  February: special program at the Kabukiza to commemorate the 99th anniversary

(100th memorial service) of the death of the great playwright Kawatake Mokuami,
which includes his best masterpieces like "Sannin Kichisa", "Shiranami Gonin Otoko",
"Momijigari", "Keian Taiheiki" and "Gosho no Gorozô". The casting is equal to the
importance of the event: Onoe Baikô VII, Ichikawa Danjûrô, Onoe Kikugorô, Sawamura
Sôjûrô IX, Ichimura Uzaemon and Bandô Mitsugorô IX.

20 February: the actor Suketakaya Kodenji II dies.

April: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for the Narikomaya and Takasagoya guilds;
Nakamura Fukusuke VIII and Nakamura Kotarô V respectively take the names of
Nakamura Baigyoku IV and Nakamura Fukusuke IX.

8 December: the actor Nakamura Nakazô V dies.

1993 (Heisei 5)

 
31 December: the actor Kataoka Gadô V (1910~1993) dies.

1994 (Heisei 6)
  The actors Nakamura Ganjirô III et Nakamura Tomijûrô V receive the prestigious title
of Living National Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

26 March: the actor Kataoka Nizaemon XIII (1903~1994) dies.

1995 (Heisei 7)

  January: great shûmei at the Nakaza (Ôsaka) for the Narikomaya guild; Nakamura
Tomotarô and Nakamura Hirotarô respectively take the names of Nakamura Kanjaku V
and Nakamura Senjaku III.

24 March: the actor Onoe Baikô VII (1915~1995) dies.

October: premiere at the Kabukiza of the drama "Ningen Banji Mawari Tôrô", based on
a comical torimonochô written by Okamoto Kidô, starring Nakamura Kankurô V in the
main role.

1996 (Heisei 8)

  The actor Nakamura Shikan VII receives the prestigious title of Living National Treasure
(ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

May: Onoe Ushinosuke VI takes the name of Onoe Kikunosuke V at the Kabukiza.

22 August: the actor Arashi Yoshisaburô VI (1935~1996) dies.

1997 (Heisei 9)

  January: tôshi kyôgen revival at the National Theater of the drama "Dan no Ura Kabuto
Gunki" [casting].

May: the actor Nakamura Matagorô II receives the prestigious title of Living National
Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).

1998 (Heisei 10)

  January: Kataoka Takao takes the prestigious name of Kataoka Nizaemon XV at the
Kabukiza.

18 February: the actor Kawarazaki Gonjûrô III (1918~1998) dies.

June: great revival of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's play "Keisei Mibu Dainenbutsu" for the
14th Chikamatsuza tour led by Nakamura Ganjirô III. This plays has not been
performed for 296 years !
 1999 (Heisei 11)

  January: revival at the National Theater of Kawatake Mokuami's zangirimono

"Irogoyomi Gen'yadana" [casting].

1 April: the actor Bandô Mitsugorô IX (1929~1999) dies.

June: opening of the Hakataza, a new theater in the city of Fukuoka.

August: the Nakaza (Ôsaka) definitively closes its doors.

2000 (Heisei 12)

  30 October: the actor Onoe Kikuzô VI dies.

November: Nakamura Kankurô supervises the construction of a temporary Theater in

the district of Asakusa in Tôkyô, called Heisei Nakamuraza (the Nakamuraza of the
Heisei Era), and produces the play "Sumidagawa Gonichi no Omokage" (commonly
called "Hôkaibô").

5 December: the actor Arashi Tokusaburô VII dies (1933~2000).

 
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Donald Richie Interview: Conversation with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
Page 4 of 6

Japan: Discovery
So how did you wind up in Japan? You last left us in China. Did one of your ships come to Japan and
you decided to stay?

No. What happened was, the war was over, I was back home. My escape route was cut off.
The only place for me to go was back to Ohio. I was unwilling to do that. I heard that the
foreign service was accepting people for the two occupied areas, which were Germany and
Japan. I signed up, and being a very good typist, I was taken. I put down Germany because
I had been all over Europe, but I had never been to Germany. But they, in their wisdom,
sent me to Japan. And so on the last day of 1946, I sailed into Yokohama harbor.

What sort of typing did you do? You worked for the civil administration there?

Yes, I worked for a certain part of the Occupation, which was concerned with war
repatriations. I thought it would be all about Tang horses and pearls and things. But it
wasn't. It was just lists in triplicate. No matter what a good typist I am, I'm not particularly
fond of that talent. So I determined to get out, and I went to Stars and Stripes, the Army
newspaper, and did a few articles for them on spec as it were, kind of human interest
articles, people living under bridges and things like that. And they liked it. The occupation
had humanized itself enough that people living under bridges were now something one
could read about. So I was put on the staff, and I became a staff writer. I pointed out they
didn't have a film critic, and they agreed, and so I became it. To be sure, I didn't review any
Japanese films -- we were not allowed in the theaters. But I reviewed Betty Grable for the
troops, that sort of thing.

Let's talk a little about reviewing American films. After all of this traveling, did you see American films
differently? Were you more conscious of the way they were because of these experiences?

Oh, yes, of course. When I first saw Betty Grable, for example, I treated her like sort of a
more favorably inclined mother. And --

This is in Lima, when you were young?

In Lima, yes. She would teach me things. I remember in Moon Over Miami, she taught me
how to make gas-house eggs, which is where you take the piece of bread and put a hole in
the middle, put the egg in and turn it over -- gas house eggs -- which I would then make. So
I would learn something that way.

Later on, when I was in Japan and was reviewing Betty Grable for the troops, of course, I
did not see her as an ersatz mother anymore, nor as a teacher of how to make food. I then
saw her as an icon for the troops. My interest had become much more generalized, and I
was able to talk more or less learnedly about the effects she was having on the troops, the
fact that there's a whole line of such icons in the films that are used for various political
purposes. And I could connect her to Theda Bara and [others]. I could do this sort of thing
by now.

When you look back at any of these writings, do you still have pride in them?

Thank God I don't have to look at them.

I see.

The entire collection is at the Museum of Modern Art. I haven't seen it for years.

I see. So somebody who wants to do a book or a dissertation on you might want to go there.

Now, at a certain point here you get the idea to do what you weren't supposed to do, which was to go to a
Japanese movie house and watch a Japanese movie. Why did you do that? And what was that experience
like?

Well, the reason I went ... of course, there are a number of reasons why one does things like
this. Our life there was circumscribed in a way which was rather like Lima. There were a
number of things one couldn't do. "No fraternization with the indigenous personnel" was
still a sign that you saw. And, of course, anybody with any American spirit in them would
want to break such a law. We all did that. And if you did and the MPs caught you, then you
were reprimanded. But if you were clever, they didn't catch you. And the kabuki, the coffee
shops, the bordellos -- they were all off limits, and the motion picture theaters were all off
limits, and I could live without kabuki or bordello, but I really, at this point, couldn't live
without film.

And besides, film, I knew, was a great teaching tool. I was in this new country and I wanted
to learn something about it. I already knew that I understood my own country through
films, and it seemed like I could look at Japanese films and I could learn something about
the country. So I used to go to places where the MPs weren't, and then sneak in and stand in
the back and look at these films. All in a language I could not understand, but when you
look at films and don't have titles, and have no idea if it's a mother or a lover that the hero's
involved with, you learn something else. You learn about the choices that a director has,
you learn about why he makes the movements that he has, you're undistracted by story,
you're undisturbed by understanding dialogue -- all of these things give you another way of
learning, another way of finding out -- which in the case of film is more true. And so you
learn exactly what the director wanted to do and then you can judge how well he did it.

So in a way, not knowing the language of the Japanese, you learned even more the language of their
cinema.

Yes. And through the language of their cinema, you learned the other more important
language of ... oh, the body language, the moves, the looks, the expressions, the
assumptions -- all of this you learn. Narrative, and understanding it, would only have been
an impediment to this.
You've written several studies of Japanese cinema and you've written about two of its most famous
directors, Ozu and Kurosawa. Tell us a little about your conclusions about Ozu and how very different
he was from most American directors, if not all American directors.

Well, paradox is involved, because Ozu learned probably more from

American cinema than anybody else. But he learned from the cinema
of the twenties -- from the popular cinema. So, if it hadn't been for Our
Gang, we probably wouldn't have great child comedies like I Was
Born, But.... The paradoxical thing is that he took these very means and
turned them to his own uses. He took the means of primitive cinema
and put them to the most sophisticated uses, which would include
things like allowing no pans, allowing no dollies -- cameras on wheels
-- allowing only one form of punctuation, which is a straight cut -- that
is, no dissolves, no fades-in/fades-out -- and making an extraordinarily
stringent, majestic kind of film, which in its way is not too different
from the films of 1918, except they are done with a degree of
sophistication which the West has yet to match. Which allows many a
critic -- Japanese, as well as Western -- to talk about the "haiku-like"
structure, the economy of means which they find Japanese -- the use of
space, which is found to be Japanese. And it is Japanese, as far as I
know. But the point is that it's more Ozu than it is anything else. And it
is these things which make his cinema the contained experience that it
is.

Kurosawa, on the other hand, also learns from the West. He's very fond
of John Wayne, for example. He's fond of the Western people and of
the Western genre. And so he's able to, again, move all of these things into his own vision
of his own world, which, again, is completely unique. But this is uniqueness on one side,
which is Kurosawa's, and one which is Ozu's.

You say at one point that Ozu doesn't want to show the story, but how his characters react to what
happens in the story and what patterns these relations create.

I said it.

And so it's really this -- and I fear I won't do justice to what you're saying -- but this very simple,
empirical presentation of an everyday life is done in such a way that we come to see patterns to which
we react. And you're saying that it requires a lot of the viewer. His simplicity makes our job more
complex.

Or makes our job more rewarding.

Yes, both, yes.

He builds his half of the bridge; we build ours. This is a modernist

trait. And, indeed, one can see and one has seen Ozu as a modernist.
That is, if you remember how Gertrude Stein, for example, or T.S.
Eliot, or Henry Green write, they write in a way which the ordinary
reader might find oblique, but if he moves toward them, he will find to be more rewarding
than not. In the case of Henry Green, for example, one is presented, much as in Ozu, with
these geometrical blocks. And it is of these that one makes one's own sense in creating a
narrative. But you have to bring your attention to it, because Ozu very often proceeds at a
deliberate pace. And while he may seek to lose you, it's always for playful purposes, never
seriously seeking [to lose you]. If you look at Tokyo Story, for example, and examine the
chronology, you will see there are many places where time and space are played with. The
discreet blocks of the narrative remain there, but are yours to interpret. And, in fact, if he
has anything really important like a wedding, he'll be just like Jane Austen, he'll leave it
out. She is also a modernist, which is why we like her so much.

This very discreet way of communicating is something which the modernists -- and I'm
talking of the school from 1920 to 1940, let's say -- learned to do. Ozu knew all of this.
There was a big modernist school in Japan -- Kawabata is part of this. He used these
techniques, coupled, again, with primitive means to lend a "quotidian" quality. I suppose
that's the word I would use, mainly --as in Vermeer. I mean, it's all milk jugs, but it's magic,
you know. The same way with Ozu's: it's just a red coffeepot, but it's magic.

How have you contributed to making the depth and complexity of Japanese cinema available to the
West?

You know, sometimes people say that I'm the man who introduced Japanese cinema. And
this is not true. I mean, many people did this. Joe Anderson and I, when I wrote our first
book ... we did write the first complete menu, so you don't know what's on the table until
you read our book.

Right.

And so in that sense, and also in the sense in that my later books have sought to disclose
whole fields, and to connect them to the sociology or the anthropology of Japanese life. All
of this which it gives the reader a context, which they hadn't had. People ask me what I am,
and I say I'm a film historian. I guess that's what I am.

Next page: Finding a Voice as an Expatriate Writer

© Copyright 2001, Regents of the University of California

Donald Richie Interview: Conversation with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
Page 5 of 6

Finding a Voice as an Expatriate Writer

It's really in Japan, writing about Japan as an expatriate, writing about film in Japan, that you found your
voice as a writer.

Yes, I think so. Everybody finds his subject, whether he knows it or not. I had certainly
never, when I first started writing, thought that I would find a country as my subject. I knew
it probably wouldn't be Lima that I'd write about, but I had no idea that I'd go to the
antipodes and discover my subject there. And, in fact, when I was living there and writing
-- it isn't until recently that I have really come to the realization that that is my subject. You
know, Henry James used to speak about what one's subject is. He realized that his subject
was expatriation. And I do, too. There's a whole American school -- Edith Wharton,
Hemingway to an extent, Ezra Pound, certainly, Eliot -- of people who are quite aware of
their expatriation. And they use this in those creative kinds of ways. I don't compare myself
to these people, but our ways of confronting our lives have some similarities.

You find satisfaction, you are attracted by this role of somebody who is an outsider but who is engaged
in writing. Is that a fair statement?

Yes. I would enlarge a little bit. I have chosen a particular place where the foreigner, as a
rule, is not welcome. Some people go to Japan wanting to become Japanese themselves.
This is a great error, since this will never occur, since Japanese would never allow this. The
Japanese are xenophobic to an extent. This, I have discovered, fits me very well. I became
very used to this marginalized position in little Lima, and it has become a vice of some
largeness, that I see myself as always ... I see alienation as a very positive, powerful,
beautiful thing. It's like being on a mountain range and you look back where you came from
and the foibles of where you came from can't reach you anymore. And then you look down
to where you are regarding, and you can't go down there. You have the best seat in the
house. You don't belong to anything. You're a social unit of one. I cannot think of anything
more free or more enlarging than this. You don't belong to anybody, except yourself.

You go on to say that the act of comparison, which is presumably involved here also, is the act of
creation. "I'm at home in Japan, precisely because I'm an alien body."
 There you see, I said it again. It's my theme song.

That's right. But it is this having a benchmark, having something to compare that
really is important.

Sure. You look here and you look there, a perfect view, and you're in a
perfect position to compare and to describe this lack of coordination or
this ... sometimes coordination. You can describe. I think being able to
describe something is the highest human goal.

There's a lot of that in your writing.

I hope so.

How do you write? Is it hard work for you? Do you get up in the morning and ...?

It's a habit.

It's a habit.

Hemingway used to say, "The hardest thing to do is pick up a pencil." He's absolutely right.
But he said the only hope is for him to have a habit, and he's absolutely right [on that], too.
So I treat it like it is a bodily function. I get up about 6 in the morning and I have my
shower, read the paper and have the coffee. And by 7:30 or 8, I'm in front of the computer,
without a thought.

But I don't want it to be a drag, so I do allow myself a degree of freedom. I have four or
five things I'm doing at once, and I'm allowed to pick which one I want to do -- what I feel
like. If you involve your feelings in your writing, you're lost.

You mean if your feelings aren't there?

No. If they are there.

If they are there?

Look at Thomas Wolfe, he's unreadable.

Oh, I see, I see. So it's a question of not being overwhelmed by your feelings?

Not even to acknowledge it. I don't believe feelings. Feelings are only ideas whose time has
not come yet. No, just throw away the feelings.

But in the end, the description leads to others feeling.

Oh, if it's any good, sure.

Okay.
If it's any good, that's what it's supposed to do.

Okay. So you're really clinical in the act of doing?

Yes.

But the impact on the reader is different.

Yes, it's supposed to be different. What you're doing is communicating the kind of feelings
you know well that you have, but you're trying to communicate them in a very cool kind of
way, through your writing, through a description which is so precise that the reader will
have no recourse but to say, "Yes, that's the way it is."

It's interesting, because one of the pieces that I read in this beautiful new book
that you have, The Donald Richie Reader, was your description of a stripper,
actually. And it was just what you said, very analytical but really sort of left you
with the feelings of that experience.

I hope so.

And its complexity ... "complexity" is not the word, but it captured both the
sordidness but also something else, the dimension of the work involved by the
participants.

If it did that, then it's successful.

You say somewhere, in learning about Japan, you learned about yourself. Your childhood positioned you
for this. What did you mean by that? Or was that something that you may not have said, but someone
wrote about you? And do you agree with that?

Oh, I agree about that, not only for myself but for everybody. Yes, I think your childhood
does position you. Life is an elimination process. And, eventually you paint yourself in the
corner. But in this process of elimination, a lot of things get eliminated when you are
young. You do it yourself. I did it myself, certainly. I was unable to play football well. I
was unable to eat tomatoes. I was unable to live in Lima. You make these decisions about
yourself. I had myself well positioned, and then fate, or whatever circumstance gave me
this particular country, which had a number of things in it which satisfied inchoate
emotional needs. if I hadn't led an active emotional life in Japan, I probably wouldn't have
stayed. I certainly don't want to go down in the annals as being a cold, analytical person.
I'm not. I have a very active, inconvenient emotional life. And I found ways in which this
country answered it, in a way in which my own country, in no form, did.

So this was, again, among the reasons why I stayed. They were not entirely intellectual, of
course. People say, "When did you fall in love with Japan?" Well, I don't know that I ever
did fall in love with Japan. But down there somewhere is it affected, admitted, a very
emotional need, and satisfied it to the extent that I could live there.
Let's talk a little about Japan, but before we do that, what do you think young writers should understand
about writing?

They should understand that it's not a question of inspiration. If they sit around waiting for
this, it will never occur. If you're very lucky, the impulse may be strong enough that you
can sit down one day and, "Oh look" -- you pull out a whole piece without it falling apart in
your hands. But, usually it's like going to the toilet, you know, you have goblets. Or like
giving birth -- if you're lucky, the child emerges; otherwise, you've got some mess that you
have to patch together.

Most writers, myself included, don't get whole roasts out of the oven. What you get is
something you can then put together. And one of the skills of the writer is to be able to do
this. But the point is that your emotions are not involved directly. You don't wait to be
inspired. You don't wait until you feel like it. If you wait until you feel like it, it will never
occur. It's a discipline like any other discipline. I mean, why don't people treat it like a
sport, or like bodybuilding or something? It is very much like bodybuilding, in that you
have a regime, and you submit to it, and it seems dull, and you do the same thing over and
over again. But something does come out. Muscle does grow, and you do get larger and
fitter, and better. And it does happen. But I think, one should treat one's writing as a habit.
Proust said that probably some of the most beautiful passages, ones that take our breath
away, were written by a writer with his elbow on the table and his head in his hand, who
was using the other one to fan away his yawns as he wrote. And this is probably quite true.

There must be a lot of courage involved in both the loneliness, on the one hand, and the chaos that you
have to bring order to.

Well, bringing order to chaos -- of course, there's nothing more fun than that. That is really
a good, cool thing to do. I love to do that. That's why I like to the arrange books and I like
to do all sorts of things like that. So that's so much for courage.

I don't know about this. I think need has something to do with this. I need to validate
myself. I keep journals, and I need them to validate my days, to make them having been
worthwhile. I stopped my diaries in '99, and I really miss them because it's as though I'm
living out of control. The days go by and I don't even remember what happened. My life
had less importance or less self-importance to me, once I stopped the diaries. Boswell says
exactly the same thing. He uses those very words. "He must validate the days, or else he
feels that he is not alive."

What is that process of validation? Is it not just describing and recording, but also interpreting,
analyzing, or what?

I would think all of those things. Boswell certainly thought so. Of course, he had a grand
goal, which was Dr. Johnson. Most of us don't have anything that grand to move toward.
But the very fact that you are making a record of your days signifies their worth, I suppose.

Next page: Japan: Retrospect

© Copyright 2001, Regents of the University of California

Donald Richie Interview: Conversation with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

Page 6 of 6

Japan: Retrospect
The story of your writing is really your continuing sojourn in Japan.

It turned out to be that way.

Japan is such a complicated place, and you have helped introduce it to us in very simple and powerful
ways. But what should we be left with? Is that a fair question? Is there some way to summarize those
few things that are a simple rendering of your understanding of Japan?

It's like a prism. A prism has lots of facets. One of the facets which must concern us now is
that Japan has usually been largely misrepresented as being monolithic, as being people all
with the same face and the same expression, and the same kind of thoughts. This is not true.
I mean, this is true of no people on earth. People are just as variegated in Japan as they are
in Brooklyn. But for political purposes, since all countries need to have an "other" to
compare themselves, and hence, find themselves, more and more in America, since we
have this new infatuation with China, Japan has been used as the "other" -- this mysterious,
enigmatic, and so forth and so forth. This is one of the things I think I have to correct.

I cannot correct the source of the problem, which is that people usually think that things
exist dualistically -- this is something the Greeks gave us. So people think you must either
like Bruckner or Mahler -- this is a pair-- or Debussy and Ravel -- that's another pair. It
doesn't occur to anybody that these are absolutely discreet things, not to be compared with
each other. So it's the same way Japan or China: Orient, right? Japan, China, right? Now,
China has ascended because it's got all the money. When Japan was really rich ten years
ago, then there was an awful lot of interest in the country.

So right now, Japan is a big monolith. It's them. It's the other. It's something against which
we can define ourselves. I would like to (and, indeed, I have to some extent done so) show
what the country is truly like, and to stop this sort of political nonsense.
You have written, "To think of Japan is to think of form. But beneath this, a social pattern also exists.
There's a way to pay calls, a way to go shopping, a way to drink tea, a way to arrange flowers, a way to
owe money. A formal absolute exists and is aspired to: social form must be satisfied, if social chaos is to
be avoided. Though other countries also have certain rituals that give the disordered flux of life a kind of
order, here these become an art of behavior."

That was true when I wrote it.

And it's still true, I'm sure.

No.

It's not true?

No.

And why not?

My other theme is the great metamorphosis of Japan. Japan is changing, as we speak, to

such an extraordinary sense, that the Japan that I wrote about is going to be like the Medes
and the Persians in another ten years. Enormous changes are afoot. And so the politesse of
which I write is pretty much vanished. The other day I did what I thought had been proper
-- I had to pay somebody some money, so I put it in a piece of paper, which is traditionally
done -- white paper, and then give them the money. And he laughed. He said, "What are
you wasting the paper for?" He got the paper and pulled the money out and put it in his
pocket. Ah, gone! There went a whole section of the [culture]. I see a hole, this whole
museum disappearing. I thought it would last forever. I subscribed to the theory that the
surface may change, but the core holds. Well, the core is not holding.

What does that mean for the world, if Japan changes in the way that you're talking about?

Oh, we all change. Heraclitus tells us that's what it's about. So it happens. But in the case of
Japan, it's very dramatic, because I cannot think of another country which, for well over
150 years, held its former feudal face. That the face is crumbling now is not surprising. It's
surprising it didn't crumble 100 years ago.

I am going to articulate a point about your work; tell me if I'm right or wrong. I find in your stance
toward Japan a Japanese-like quality, which is very much like the way you describe how the Japanese
relate to nature and the world, and the reality around it. Is that fair?

I'd be surprised if it weren't true, but with the question goes an assumption that this is
something which is to be learned exclusively from Japan. This is not true. What I find in
Japan is exactly the same thing that I find when I looked out of the window in my pensive
elegiac days and was able to discover what I had done. This quality, this refraction of
reality, is something which would have concerned me no matter where I went. But it has
taken the particular form of the country I'm in. If Henry James had gone to Luxembourg
instead of England, it would have been a different set of novels, right? In the same way, if
I'd gone to someplace else, the same thing would have operated. But the end product would
have looked different because it is, after all, Japan that I live in, and Japan that I describe,
so it's not surprising that it's Japanese.

I would conclude that your destiny was to wind up in a place like Japan, so that you could both find
yourself and effectively use the skills in two different, very important media.

I think you could say that, yes.

Let me ask you one final question. If students watch this interview, what lessons do you think they might
learn from this journey -- from Lima to Tokyo via cinema and writing as an expatriate?

I don't know. One of the great things which moved 1915 France was the final line of Les
Nourritures Terreste by André Gide, which I might translate as, "Nathaniel, get out! Get
out!" I think, maybe, that would be my message to you.

On that note, Mr. Richie, thank you very much for joining us today for this Conversation with History.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

© Copyright 2001, Regents of the University of California

To the Conversations page.

See the Globetrotter Research Gallery Movies and the Imagination.

Review/Film; Tea and Tragedy In Japan

By WALTER GOODMAN
Published: October 28, 1988, Friday

ARTICLE TOOLS
LEAD: Don't be put off by the title. ''Gonza the
Spearman'' is not an Eastern western. Masahiro Shinoda's
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stately work, which opens the Public Theater's Autumn
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in Japan series today, has few duels and only a gout or
two of blood. Instead, it is filled with historical
imagination, social comment and restrained passion,
along with scene after elegantly composed scene of a
culture that seems to have been paralyzed in a spare
beauty.

Don't be put off by the title. ''Gonza the Spearman'' is not an Eastern western. Masahiro
Shinoda's stately work, which opens the Public Theater's Autumn in Japan series
today, has few duels and only a gout or two of blood. Instead, it is filled with historical
imagination, social comment and restrained passion, along with scene after elegantly
composed scene of a culture that seems to have been paralyzed in a spare beauty.

The story, based on an 18th-century play by Monzaemon Chikamatsu, is set in the 17th
century, during the Tokugawa shogunate. Peace reigns, and an ambitious samurai like
young, handsome Gonza can find no employment for his martial arts. Getting ahead
now requires mastery of the elaborate tea ceremony, handed down in privileged
families from parent to child. In quest of its mysteries, Gonza finds himself in a late-
night meeting with the appealing Osai, wife of his absent lord, Ichinoshin. They are
discovered by a rival of Gonza and must flee.

For a modern audience, the tranquil, unchanging tea ceremony, rendered here in all its
delicate refinement, seems purposefully devoid of content. In its show of deference by
youth to age, women to men, subordinate to superior, it expresses in a pure form the
society's ideal structure. The charge of adultery against Gonza and Osai, although
false, endangers that structure and so they must be hunted down.

In his direction, Mr. Shinoda adopts the pace of the tea ceremony itself; the action is
controlled, every movement carefully ordered. The pace can be slow, and in a rare slip,
Mr. Shinoda stays too long with the grief of Osai's parents and children at her flight,
until the scene verges on the maudlin. Even when the story seems to be stretched out,
however, the visual rewards keep coming, as Kazuo Miyagawa's camera finds the
beauty in stone walls, sliding panels, simple gardens, rich gowns, women's faces.
When the action resumes, the strangely powerful music of Toru Takemitsu keeps us on
edge.

Once Gonza, played as a callow swashbuckler by Hiromi Goh, meets Osai, in a true
and lovely portrayal by Shima Iwashita, she becomes the tale's central figure. Bored
with her ritualized life, loyal to her humane husband and concerned for his reputation,
lusting for the unsophisticated Gonza yet trained to keep such feelings to herself, she is
the catalyst of tragedy.

When, with death a near certainty, she tells Gonza, ''I love running away with you,'' it
is a revelation to both of them. For their brief time together, the pair achieve an
honesty that was entirely suppressed in their sterile court existences. ''We've come so
far,'' she says. They catch the breath of life in time to die.

The philosophic Ichinoshin, bound by rules that he recognizes as cruel and senseless,
seems a bridge between centuries. ''What a world we live in,'' he sighs as he sets forth
to murder the mother of his children. Osai's final words to her lord, who has just killed
her lover, ''I have missed you, my husband,'' is rich in ambiguities yet moving in the
most basic way. Back at court, the tea ceremony goes on. LIFE-GIVING DISGRACE -
GONZA THE SPEARMAN, directed by Masahiro Shinoda; screenplay (Japanese with
English subtitles) by Taeko Tomioka, from a play by Monzaemon Chikamatsu;
photography by Kazuo Miyagawa; edited by Sachiko Yamachi; music by Toru
Takemitsu; produced by Kiyoshi Iwashita, Tomiyuki Motomichi and Masatake
Wakita; a Shochiko Hyogensha production. At the Public, 425 Lafayette Street.
Running time: 121 minutes. This film has no rating. Gonza Sasano...Hiromi Goh
Osai...Shima Iwashita Bannojo Kawazura...Shohej Hino Oyuki...Misako Tanaka
Oyuki's Governess...Haruko Kato Ichinoshin Asaka...Takashi Tsumura Okiku...Kaori
Mizushima

Published: 10 - 28 - 1988 , Late City Final Edition , Section C , Column 1 , Page 15

Screen: 'Ballad of Orin' Arrives From Japan:A Blind

Girl's Tragedy
VINCENT CANBY
Published: November 9, 1979

"THE BALLAD OF ORIN," the Japanese film that opens ARTICLE TOOLS
today at the Cinema Studio 2, is the sort of solemn,
perfectly composed, much too artfully designed movie Printer-Friendly Format
that sends you out of the theater longing to see something Most E-Mailed Articles
rude, crass and sloppy, like "Car Wash." It's the work of
Masahiro Shinoda ("Double Suicide," "The Scandalous
Adventures of Buraikan"), whose pretentiousness has
apparently been received with far more favor elsewhere
than here. According to the film's publicity notes, "The Ballad of Orin" was cited
earlier this year at the Los Angeles Filmex as "a romantic tragedy of the utmost beauty
and emotional impact."

Beauty it has — the kind that suffocates. Emotional impact is what it lacks, possibly
because one is aware that there's been so much theorizing before each scene, before
each camera set-up, that all sense of life has vanished. Mr. Shinoda's idols reportedly
are Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi, though the only things he seems to have
understood in their works are the surface looks. The grandeur of Mizoguchi's visions
appears to be beyond Mr. Shinoda's abilities, as are the humanity and wit that are
apparent even in Ozu's most reserved works.

"The Ballad of Orin," set near the end of World War I, is the sad but picture-postcard-
pretty tale of Orin, played by Shima Iwashita (the wife of the director), who, blind
from birth, is apprenticed as a child to an itinerant band of blind women singers,
known as the goze. The goze, we are told, live according to rules as strict as those that
govern geishas. They devote their lives, including their chastity, to their art.

When Orin falls from grace after having been "with a man," she wanders alone the
length and breadth of Japan, singing for her supper and sleeping with any available
fellow. In the course of her travels she is befriended by a young man who insists on
accompanying her though he refuses to make love to her. To him she must remain a
goddess. After an old peddler rapes Orin, the young man kills him, which means that
he's now wanted by both the police and the army, from which he has deserted.

Everything goes badly for poor Orin, which is the point of the movie that, I assume,
thinks it's making a statement about Japanese society though it looks more like a series
of weather reports from Japan's 50 most scenic spots. You've probably never seen so
many beautiful mountains, plains, seacoasts and quaint villages, in sunlight, rain, snow
and fog, in summer and winter, spring and fall. No matter where he looks Mr. Shinoda
finds beauty that simultaneously reflects Orin's essential nature and contrasts with her
awful lot in life.

Mr. Shinoda's poetic conceits reach some kind of apotheosis (can a conceit be
apotheosized?) in a sequence in which the 11-year-old Orin "becomes," as they say, "a
woman." She and her fellow goze are walking single-file across a great, lovely expanse
of virgin snow. Suddenly Orin drops back — she is experiencing her first menstrual
period. After a few moments she runs to catch up with her sisters, leaving in the snow
a trail of delicate drops of blood and one red poppy.

There's something more than a little fake, as well as patronizing, about this kind of film
making.

A Blind Girl's Tragedy

THE BALLAD OF ORIN, directed by Masahiro Shinoda; screenplay (Japanese with

English subtitles) by Keiji Hasebe and Masahiro Shinoda; original story by Tsutomu
Minakami; photography Kazuo Miyagawa; music, Toru Takemitsu; produced by
Kiyoshi Iwashita and Seikichi Iizumi; production by Hyogensha K.K.; a Toho
Company Ltd. release distributed through Kino International. At the Cinema Studio,
Broadway and 66th Street. Running time: 110 minutes. This film has no rating.
Orin . . . . . Shima Iwashita
Heltaro . . . . . Yoshio Harada
Teruyo . . . . . Tomoko Naraoka
Charcoal Maker . . . . . Shoji Tonoyama
Tsuketaro . . . . . Toshiyuki Nishida
Hikosaburo . . . . . Toru Abe

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' Buraikan,' Japanese Movie, Evokes Village Life

By HOWARD THOMPSON
Published: April 13, 1971

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Chalk up "The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan" as another Japanese import worth

seeing at the Bijou Playhouse in its current series. The film opened yesterday and runs
through tomorrow.

We haven't the foggiest notion whose scandalous adventures the title indicates. What do
come across, minutes after the opening, are the boldly mercurial direction, an arresting use
of color and a pulsating flow of vignettes depicting a village in mid-19th-ccntury Japan.

Masahiro Shinoda, one of his country's prominent young directors, sets the story in motion
vividly, briskly weaving terse fragments that create a teeming rogue's gallery of kimonoed
players. This picaresque stirring of characters and incidents is even enhanced by some
snappy English titles, as when one young buck approaches a stately geisha and professes
his love. "No kidding?," she retorts loftily. Good for you, baby.

The story, looping together the vignette strands, gets even better and more meaningful as it
pinpoints the village's feudal subjugation and simmering rebellion. Unfortunately, instead
of coming down to earth hard for an explosive climax, the film coats an ageless theme—
revolt against oppression—with artful but obvious theatricality. Thus the picture sheds its
juice and impact.

Most of the performances have a good cutting edge, especially those of Tatsuya Nakadai,
Suisen Ichikawa and Shoichi Ozawa. Mr. Shinoda's interesting movie is derived from a
well-known Kabuki play. It remains far more engrossing when concerned with mischief,
mockery and intrigue rather than with history — the old, old story.

THE SCANDALOUS ADVENTURES OF BURAIKAN, directed by Masahiro Shinoda;

screenplay by Shuji Terayama, from the play by Mokuami Kawatake; photographed by
Kozo Okazaki; music by Masaru Sato; a Ninjin Kurabu-Toho Production. At the Bijou
Playhouse, 45th Street west of Broadway. Running time: 100 minutes.
Naojiro . . . . . Tatsuya Nakadai
His Mother . . . . . Suisen Ichikawa
Michiose . . . . . Shima Iwashita
Soshun . . . . . Tetsuro Tamba
Ushimatsu . . . . . Shoichi Ozawa
The Killer . . . . . Masakane Yonckura

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Screen: 'Double Suicide'

By ROGER GREENSPUN
Published: March 11, 1971

ARTICLE TOOLS

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The Japanese playwright Monzaemon Chikamatsu died in 1724, but with the opening of
Masahiro Shinoda's "Double Suicide" at the Bijou yesterday and Kenji Mizoguchi's great
"The Crucified Lovers" at the New Yorker today, both closely based on his work, he
becomes, like Shakespeare, like Neil Simon, one of the better represented dramatists in the
city. But unlike Shakespeare, Chikamatsu, at least in these two plays, deals with problems
of bourgeois domesticity. And unlike Neil Simon, his mode is tragedy.

Shinoda's film concerns a paper-shop owner of Osaka (Kichiemon Nakamura) who neglects
his business and ruins his young family in order to court and to buy the redemption of a
woman of pleasure (Shima Iwashita) with whom he is in love. Ultimately the pressure of
patient wife (also Shima Iwashita) and impatient in-laws, relatives and rivals, grow too
great, and he runs away with his courtesan to consummate his love and commit the suicide
to which the two of them are fated.

Fate figures pretty heavily in "Double Suicide," a bit more heavily, I suspect, than in
Chikamatsu's original, which is a puppet play. Shinoda begins with puppets (a direct
connection with the bodies of his dead lovers, which he also introduces very early—so you
may know the end at the beginning), and all the way through his movie he retains the
puppeteers — black-cloaked, black-masked figures in the background or the foreground,
who help change sets, assist the characters and see the action to its conclusion.

It follows that "Double Suicide" understands that its story is theater, and that its space is
theatrical. It is a very modernist reading of classical material, turning walls into stage flats,
noticing that substance is insubstantial, and, in its multiple approaches to truth, feeling a
good deal like Pirandello.

All this may sound very interesting, but I am afraid that it sounds more interesting than in
the issue it actually is. For one thing, Shinoda (whose other work I have not seen) seems a
tirelessly arty director—with his camera, his props, his lights and his shadows—continually
discovering effective composition where others might find a revelation or two.

But more importantly, all his attempts to distance his material really do distance it
(although he allows his actors a good deal of emotion) and suggest an intellectual's mistrust
of mere event. Where Mizoguchi in "The Crucified Lovers" uses the multilevel spaces of
his middle-class houses to build a complex dramatic environment, Shinoda uses potentially
similar spaces to indicate a complicated stage set. It is as if he felt the idea of a theater were
enough to replace a theater or if he thought that the elaborate mechanics of a metaphor were
in themselves a meaning.

The Cast
DOUBLE SUICIDE, directed by Masahiro Shinoda; screenplay (Japanese with English
subtitles) by Taeko Tonika, Mr. Shinoda and Toru Takemitsu, based on a play by
Monzaemon Chikamatsu; photography by Teichiro Narushima; music by Mr. Takemitsu;
produced by Hyogensha/Nippon Art Theatre Guild; released by Toho International. At the
Bijou Cinema, 45th Street and Broadway. Running time: 104 minutes.
Jihei . . . . . Kichiemon Nakamura
Koharu/Osan . . . . . Shima Iwashita
Tahei . . . . . Hosei Komatsu
Mogoemon . . . . . Yuzuke Takita
Owner of the Yamatoya . . . . . Kamatari Fujiwara
Gosaemon . . . . . Yoshi Kato
Osan's Mother . . . . . Shizue Kawarazaki
Osugi . . . . . Tokie Hidari

Published: --, The New York Times Historical Newspaper , Section , Column , Page

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Director/Screenwriter : Born March 09, 1931 - Gifu Prefecture, Japan

From All Movie Guide: Masahiro Shinoda is one of the most prominent filmmakers of the
Japanese New Wave, along with Nagisa Oshima and Shohei Imamura. While Oshima's
films were often a venue for political provocation and Imamura's work seemed to be a
bawdy refutation of Yasujiro Ozu's refined passivity, Shinoda's movies detail the spiritual
emptiness of post-war Japanese life and search for some essence of the Japanese character.
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2000 Fukuro No Shiro Screenwriter / Director
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1994 Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu Actor: Interviewee
1991 Shonen Jidai Director
1990 Die Tanzerin Director / Screenwriter
1990 Takeshi Director
1986 Gonza the Spearman Director » Review
1984 MacArthur's Children Director » Review

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WEEKEND DESK | October 28, 1988, Friday

Review/Film; Tea and Tragedy In Japan
By WALTER GOODMAN

WEEKEND DESK | May 17, 1985, Friday

FILM: FROM SHINODA, 'MACARTHUR'S CHILDREN'
By Vincent Canby

CULTURAL DESK | July 21, 1982, Wednesday

TAMASABURO STARS IN JAPAN'S 'DEMON POND'
By Janet Maslin

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Screen: Pale Flower' Proves Triumph of Style

Published: May 13, 1974

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To see one of Masahiro Shinoda's films, it seems, is to bear witness to a triumph of style
over substance. Whether it is one of the director's samurai films, such as "the Assassin" or
"Sasuke Against the Wind," which played here last year, or one of the yakuza — gangster
films—such as "Pale Flower," which opened yesterday at the Regency Theater, the result is
the same.

One comes away with the memory of a well-defined pictorial style, moody, black and
white, given to depicting people in the shadowy perimeters around cores of light.

The stories are another matter. And "Pale Flower," a 1964 film being shown here for the
first time, shares with some of Mr. Shinoda's other works some vexing characters, some
unintentional vagueness and a set of subtitles that probably could have been more
illuminating.

"Pale Flower" is an existential work, chiefly occupied with the rather remote relationship
between a gangster (Ryo Ikebe) released from prison after serving time for murder and a
mysterious young woman (Mariko Kaga), who lives for such kicks as high-stakes
gambling, fast driving, drugs and witnessing the murder that sends the gangster back to jail
again.

"Pale Flower" is a film that has been likened to Jean-Luc Godard's memorable "Breathless."
At least, it is no more than a pale imitation.
PALE FLOWER, directed by Masahiro Shinoda; written by Ataru Baba and Mr. Shinoda
(Japanese, with English subtitles), based on an original novel by Shintaro Ishihara;
photography, Masao Kosugi; music, Toru Takemitsu; a Shoiku Release. Running time: 96
minutes. At the Regency Theater, Broadway between 67th and 68th Streets, through
tomorrow.

Muraki . . . . . Ryo Ikebe

Saeko . . . . . Mariko Kaga

Published: --, The New York Times Historical Newspaper , Section , Column , Page

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