Changes

In any case, though the kabuki play as it is known today did not debut until 1713, the characters of Sukeroku and Agemaki appeared on the [[ningyo joruri|bunraku]] stage as early as [[1678]]. [[Kamigata]] (Kansai) kabuki theatres soon afterward began to stage productions featuring the couple in love suicide stories, including ''Sennichi-dera Shinjû'' ("Love Suicide at Sennichi Temple") and ''Kyô Sukeroku Shinjû'' ("Kyoto Sukeroku Love Suicide").<ref name=blumner/>

In any case, though the kabuki play as it is known today did not debut until 1713, the characters of Sukeroku and Agemaki appeared on the [[ningyo joruri|bunraku]] stage as early as [[1678]]. [[Kamigata]] (Kansai) kabuki theatres soon afterward began to stage productions featuring the couple in love suicide stories, including ''Sennichi-dera Shinjû'' ("Love Suicide at Sennichi Temple") and ''Kyô Sukeroku Shinjû'' ("Kyoto Sukeroku Love Suicide").<ref name=blumner/>

The play as it is known today - the [[Edo]] Kabuki version associated with the Ichikawa family - was first developed by [[Ichikawa Danjuro II|Ichikawa Danjûrô II]], who witnessed performances of these Kamigata plays while touring in that part of the country, and who then brought it back to Edo, where he worked with popular writer [[Tsuuchi Jihei II]], and Yamamura-za head playwright [[Tsuuchi Han'emon]], to develop an Edo version.<ref name=vaporis195> This then debuted in 1713<ref name=blumner/>, at the Yamamura-za, with Danjûrô, [[Tamazawa Rin'ya]], [[Ikushima Shingoro|Ikushima Shingorô]] and [[Yamanaka Heikuro I|Yamanaka Heikurô I]] as Sukeroku, Agemaki, Shimbei the saké merchant, and Ikyû respectively.<ref name=kabuki21/>

The play as it is known today - the [[Edo]] Kabuki version associated with the Ichikawa family - was first developed by [[Ichikawa Danjuro II|Ichikawa Danjûrô II]], who witnessed performances of these Kamigata plays while touring in that part of the country, and who then brought it back to Edo, where he worked with popular writer [[Tsuuchi Jihei II]], and Yamamura-za head playwright [[Tsuuchi Han'emon]], to develop an Edo version.<ref name=vaporis195/> This then debuted in 1713<ref name=blumner/>, at the Yamamura-za, with Danjûrô, [[Tamazawa Rin'ya]], [[Ikushima Shingoro|Ikushima Shingorô]] and [[Yamanaka Heikuro I|Yamanaka Heikurô I]] as Sukeroku, Agemaki, Shimbei the saké merchant, and Ikyû respectively.<ref name=kabuki21/>

Whereas in the Kamigata plays Sukeroku was often a merchant, Danjûrô made him a samurai, giving him a black kimono, red-yellow headband, and a pattern of black [[kumadori|face makeup]] (today, chiefly red on a white foundation). Danjûrô, 26 years old at the time, performed the role in the distinctive ''[[aragoto]]'' fashion pioneered by [[Ichikawa Danjuro I|his father]]. Danjûrô also added a number of characters who are now standard elements of the plot, including the fool Monbei, Sukeroku's brother Shinbei (secretly Soga Jûrô), their mother Manko, and the villain Ikyû, many of whom were based on real figures. Shinbei and the Noodle Vendor served initially as onstage advertisements for specific neighborhood merchants, as was a common practice in kabuki at the time, Shinbei being a reference to the ''asagao [[senbei]]'' ("Morning Glory Rice Crackers") sold by [[Fujiya Seizaemon]]. The noodle vendor, similarly, was introduced by [[Ichikawa Danjuro III|Danjûrô III]] and named Ichikawa-ya, after an actual local noodle vendor; when the real-life noodle shop changed its name to Fukuyama, [[Ichikawa Danjuro VII|Danjûrô VII]] changed the character's name to Fukuyama as well. Ikyû, meanwhile, was based on the gangster [[Fukami Juzaemon|Fukami Jûzaemon]], also known as "Bearded Jikyû," who had in 1713 or so, at the time Danjûrô II was first adapting the story, recently returned from exile and who was thus a topic of conversation.<ref name=blumner/>

Whereas in the Kamigata plays Sukeroku was often a merchant, Danjûrô made him a samurai, giving him a black kimono, red-yellow headband, and a pattern of black [[kumadori|face makeup]] (today, chiefly red on a white foundation). Danjûrô, 26 years old at the time, performed the role in the distinctive ''[[aragoto]]'' fashion pioneered by [[Ichikawa Danjuro I|his father]]. Danjûrô also added a number of characters who are now standard elements of the plot, including the fool Monbei, Sukeroku's brother Shinbei (secretly Soga Jûrô), their mother Manko, and the villain Ikyû, many of whom were based on real figures. Shinbei and the Noodle Vendor served initially as onstage advertisements for specific neighborhood merchants, as was a common practice in kabuki at the time, Shinbei being a reference to the ''asagao [[senbei]]'' ("Morning Glory Rice Crackers") sold by [[Fujiya Seizaemon]]. The noodle vendor, similarly, was introduced by [[Ichikawa Danjuro III|Danjûrô III]] and named Ichikawa-ya, after an actual local noodle vendor; when the real-life noodle shop changed its name to Fukuyama, [[Ichikawa Danjuro VII|Danjûrô VII]] changed the character's name to Fukuyama as well. Ikyû, meanwhile, was based on the gangster [[Fukami Juzaemon|Fukami Jûzaemon]], also known as "Bearded Jikyû," who had in 1713 or so, at the time Danjûrô II was first adapting the story, recently returned from exile and who was thus a topic of conversation.<ref name=blumner/>