Changes

Another key feature of the kabuki stage is the ''mawari-butai'', or rotating stage. A large circular section within the rectangular stage is able to rotate, allowing scene changes to be done quickly and dramatically, with one rotating out of view, and another, formerly upstage, set rotating into view. Though the revolving stage, lifts & trap doors, and other physical effects are today operated electronically, they would have traditionally been operated by a team of stagehands beneath the stage equipped with ropes and pulleys; in the case of the ''mawari butai'', a group of stagehands would simply push on spokes attached to the ''mawari butai'' above them, slowly turning it.

Another key feature of the kabuki stage is the ''mawari-butai'', or rotating stage. A large circular section within the rectangular stage is able to rotate, allowing scene changes to be done quickly and dramatically, with one rotating out of view, and another, formerly upstage, set rotating into view. Though the revolving stage, lifts & trap doors, and other physical effects are today operated electronically, they would have traditionally been operated by a team of stagehands beneath the stage equipped with ropes and pulleys; in the case of the ''mawari butai'', a group of stagehands would simply push on spokes attached to the ''mawari butai'' above them, slowly turning it.

Though today kabuki theaters are typically filled with Western-style seating, traditionally, the area today called "orchestra seating" would have been composed of ''masu-gata'' seating - a grid of square areas separated by a thin wooden rail elevated a short distance above the floor. Audience members would gather in these squares, bringing food and drink, and sitting on the floor, enjoying a somewhat picnic-like atmosphere. Productions went on all day, typically including one ''jidaimono'', and one ''sewamono'', within which the audience could expect to see at least one ''[[shosagoto]]'' dance number. Audience members would come and go, eating, drinking, chatting, and even commenting out loud about the play (including shouting at the performers). It is easy to imagine how the practice of ''kakegoe'', shouting one's excitement or appreciation of the appearance of a favorite actor or favorite dramatic moment, would have developed in such a laid-back atmosphere.

Though today kabuki theaters are typically filled with Western-style seating, traditionally, the area today called "orchestra seating" would have been composed of ''masu-gata'' seating - a grid of square areas separated by a thin wooden rail elevated a short distance above the floor. Audience members would gather in these squares, bringing food and drink, and sitting on the floor, enjoying a somewhat picnic-like atmosphere. Expensive box seats to either side of the "house" (audience area), known as ''sajiki'', could go for as much as eighteen times the price of the ''kiriotoshi'' seats directly in front of the stage; viewers who didn't mind viewing the whole production from behind the stage, seeing chiefly just the backs of the actors, could have even cheaper seats in an area known as the ''rakan dai''.<ref>Timothy Clark, "Edo Kabuki in the 1780s," ''The Actor's Image'', Art Institute of Chicago (1994), 34.</ref> Productions went on all day, typically including one ''jidaimono'', and one ''sewamono'', within which the audience could expect to see at least one ''[[shosagoto]]'' dance number. Audience members would come and go, eating, drinking, chatting, and even commenting out loud about the play (including shouting at the performers). It is easy to imagine how the practice of ''kakegoe'', shouting one's excitement or appreciation of the appearance of a favorite actor or favorite dramatic moment, would have developed in such a laid-back atmosphere.

[[File:Kabukiza-curtains.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The distinctive black, green, and orange kabuki stage curtain, seen here at [[Kabuki-za]] in 2008.]]

[[File:Kabukiza-curtains.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The distinctive black, green, and orange kabuki stage curtain, seen here at [[Kabuki-za]] in 2008.]]

===Costumes & Makeup===

===Costumes & Makeup===

Costumes, makeup,  

Costumes, makeup,  

Wigs built around a copper wire skeleton are the traditional standard.

Wigs built around a copper wire skeleton are the traditional standard. They are often made from human hair, with yak hair used for topknots.<ref>Gallery labels, Kabuki-za.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/33421810674/in/dateposted-public/]</ref>

Actors wear a skull cap called a ''[[habutae]]'' under their wigs. Those worn by ''[[onnagata]]'' (actors playing female roles) are purple in color, and are known as ''murasaki bôshi'' (lit. "purple hat"). Though these purple cloths are today invisible under the wigs, kabuki actors were for much of the Edo period forbidden from hiding their shaved pates (the mark that they were, in fact, adult men and not women) under a wig, and were, further, subject to periodic inspections to make sure their hair was maintained at within a legal length; the use of a cloth to cover the bald area was permitted however, and it became standard that a purple or persimmon-dyed cloth be used.

Actors wear a skull cap called a ''[[habutae]]'' under their wigs. Those worn by ''[[onnagata]]'' (actors playing female roles) are purple in color, and are known as ''murasaki bôshi'' (lit. "purple hat"). Though these purple cloths are today invisible under the wigs, kabuki actors were for much of the Edo period forbidden from hiding their shaved pates (the mark that they were, in fact, adult men and not women) under a wig, and were, further, subject to periodic inspections to make sure their hair was maintained at within a legal length; the use of a cloth to cover the bald area was permitted however, and it became standard that a purple or persimmon-dyed cloth be used.

In addition to the shamisen, the ensemble also includes a variety of drums, including ''ôtsuzumi'', ''kotsuzumi'', ''[[shime-daiko]]'', and ''[[taiko|ô-daiko]]'', which not only play alongside the shamisen, but are also used for announcements, and for sound effects. Prior to a show beginning, traditionally, a large ''taiko'' (drum) placed in a drum tower (''yagura'') above the theater would be played, in a pattern known as ''ichiban-daiko'', to announce that a show was going to be taking place. Once the lead actor had entered the theater and begun his preparations (i.e. putting on makeup, getting dressed), the drum pattern would shift to ''niban daiko'', indicating to passersby and to the audience that the show would be starting soon. During the show, drums could be used in a variety of ways to create sound effects to help set the scene, such as waves (for a seaside or shipboard scene), wind, rain, or snow. To take one example, even though snow in reality falls silently, heavy drumbeats, hit at a very slow tempo, set the mood of the cold and dark night, and of the weight of the snow as it rests on tree branches and rooftops.

In addition to the shamisen, the ensemble also includes a variety of drums, including ''ôtsuzumi'', ''kotsuzumi'', ''[[shime-daiko]]'', and ''[[taiko|ô-daiko]]'', which not only play alongside the shamisen, but are also used for announcements, and for sound effects. Prior to a show beginning, traditionally, a large ''taiko'' (drum) placed in a drum tower (''yagura'') above the theater would be played, in a pattern known as ''ichiban-daiko'', to announce that a show was going to be taking place. Once the lead actor had entered the theater and begun his preparations (i.e. putting on makeup, getting dressed), the drum pattern would shift to ''niban daiko'', indicating to passersby and to the audience that the show would be starting soon. During the show, drums could be used in a variety of ways to create sound effects to help set the scene, such as waves (for a seaside or shipboard scene), wind, rain, or snow. To take one example, even though snow in reality falls silently, heavy drumbeats, hit at a very slow tempo, set the mood of the cold and dark night, and of the weight of the snow as it rests on tree branches and rooftops.

The ''hayashi'' is rounded out by flutes, bells, gongs, and other struck or rung instruments known as ''narimono''<ref>鳴り物, lit. "things that ring", often used interchangeably with the word ''hayashi'', to refer to the entire ensemble outside of the shamisen players.</ref>. These, too, accompany the shamisen and drums in performing songs during a play, but can also be used for sound effects. A variety of objects designed specifically for sound effects are employed in kabuki, including a set of clappers used specifically for the clip-clop of a horse, and a tiny reed instrument which, when blown in one manner produces surprisingly realistic bird tweets or chirps, and when used in a different manner, produces the sound of crickets or the buzz of summer cicadas. Stories call for a wide variety of sound effects, depending on the settings and events, and the ''hayashi'' is prepared to produce more or less any sound necessary, some more literal (such as a Buddhist temple bell, or summer cicadas), and some more stylized and distinctive to kabuki (such as the example of the sound of snow).

The ''hayashi'' is rounded out by flutes, bells, gongs, and other struck or rung instruments known as ''narimono''<ref>鳴り物, lit. "things that ring", often used interchangeably with the word ''hayashi'', to refer to the entire ensemble outside of the shamisen players.</ref>. These, too, accompany the shamisen and drums in performing songs during a play, but can also be used for sound effects. A variety of objects designed specifically for sound effects are employed in kabuki, including a set of clappers used specifically for the clip-clop of a horse, and a tiny reed instrument which, when blown in one manner produces surprisingly realistic bird tweets or chirps, and when used in a different manner, produces the sound of crickets or the buzz of summer cicadas. Fans with beads tied onto them were shaken to produce the sound of rain, while red beans poured back and forth in a long basket (like a rainstick) were used for the sound of waves on the ocean.<ref>Gallery labels, Kabukiza Gallery.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/50017571147/in/photostream/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/50017571282/in/photostream/]</ref> Stories call for a wide variety of sound effects, depending on the settings and events, and the ''hayashi'' is prepared to produce more or less any sound necessary, some more literal (such as a Buddhist temple bell, or summer cicadas), and some more stylized and distinctive to kabuki (such as the example of the sound of snow).

===Calendar and Events===

===Calendar and Events===

The actors themselves, like prostitutes, were considered a separate social category or sub-class, outside of the [[mibunsei|four-class schema]] of samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. They were restricted to the theatre districts, and forbidden from living alongside non-actors. It has been suggested that these restrictions were put into place chiefly in order to prevent actors from performing at the private residences of wealthy merchants or samurai. Of course, as with so many of the other regulations, these were not strictly observed, and actors ''did'' perform at private parties. Actors were further forbidden from going out disguised as normal townsmen, and normal townsmen forbidden from dressing as actors or performing entertainments; as with many social policies of the Tokugawa era, responsibility for enforcement was placed chiefly in the hands of ''[[goningumi]]'' and other local neighborhood- and district-based self-regulatory systems. It has also been suggested that part of the reason that actors, prostitutes, and other entertainers were separated out from the four-class structure was because their work, being intangible, was more difficult to tax; thus, as people producing little to no taxable or directly financially measurable contributions to society, they were considered a sort of outcaste.

The actors themselves, like prostitutes, were considered a separate social category or sub-class, outside of the [[mibunsei|four-class schema]] of samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. They were restricted to the theatre districts, and forbidden from living alongside non-actors. It has been suggested that these restrictions were put into place chiefly in order to prevent actors from performing at the private residences of wealthy merchants or samurai. Of course, as with so many of the other regulations, these were not strictly observed, and actors ''did'' perform at private parties. Actors were further forbidden from going out disguised as normal townsmen, and normal townsmen forbidden from dressing as actors or performing entertainments; as with many social policies of the Tokugawa era, responsibility for enforcement was placed chiefly in the hands of ''[[goningumi]]'' and other local neighborhood- and district-based self-regulatory systems. It has also been suggested that part of the reason that actors, prostitutes, and other entertainers were separated out from the four-class structure was because their work, being intangible, was more difficult to tax; thus, as people producing little to no taxable or directly financially measurable contributions to society, they were considered a sort of outcaste.

Edicts issued by the shogunate chiefly included attempts to restrict or eliminate prostitution (including same-sex relations) among those associated with the theaters, [[sumptuary regulations]] aimed at keeping the costumes, architecture, and other material aspects of the theaters within the boundaries of what was appropriate for commoners, and bans on certain political content. Sumptuary laws issued in the 1630s-60s attempted to ban kabuki actors and ''ningyô jôruri'' puppets from wearing sumptuous fabrics onstage; however, by the late 1660s, the authorities began to concede ground on this.<ref>Actors were also forbidden from riding in palanquins or on horseback, though this was often violated, and their swords could be painted wood, but could not be made of metal, nor covered in metal foil to give the impression of being a real blade.</ref> As for the matter of policing content, as with policies regarding the content of ''ukiyo-e'' prints, any major samurai figures or events from roughly the 1570s onwards were forbidden from being portrayed, as were current events whether political or popular in nature. Nevertheless, plays based on recent scandals ([[shinju|love suicides]], revenge stories, etc.), and plays commenting on contemporary politics but faintly disguised by setting them in the historical or literary past, were among the most common and popular. Kabuki was tolerated as a commoner theatre, but it was strongly discouraged that samurai, especially high-ranking lords, should attend; they regularly did, however. Theaters constructed temporary screens to shield elites from being seen by the ''hoi polloi'', and made sure they could be put up and taken down quite quickly, in order to avoid enforcement of a series of bans on such screens issued repeatedly beginning in 1646. Many lower-ranking samurai, though also forbidden from going to the kabuki theaters, did so relatively openly, purchasing box seats often without screens. Elite ladies, meanwhile, very often did not go into the theaters, but merely peeked from within their palanquins in through the entrance of the theater; this was a common enough practice that edicts were issued specifically banning it. Even so, despite these various divisions, the kabuki theatre was nevertheless one of the chief places in the city where people of nearly all hierarchical statuses - from ''daimyô'' down to the lowest urban laborer who could afford a ticket - mingled, or at least occupied the same building, to a greater extent than almost anywhere else in the city.<ref>Clark, 34.</ref>

Edicts issued by the shogunate chiefly included attempts to restrict or eliminate prostitution (including same-sex relations) among those associated with the theaters, [[sumptuary regulations]] aimed at keeping the costumes, architecture, and other material aspects of the theaters within the boundaries of what was appropriate for commoners, and bans on certain political content. Sumptuary laws issued in the 1630s-60s attempted to ban kabuki actors and ''ningyô jôruri'' puppets from wearing sumptuous fabrics onstage; however, by the late 1660s, the authorities began to concede ground on this.<ref>Actors were also forbidden from riding in palanquins or on horseback, though this was often violated, and their swords could be painted wood, but could not be made of metal, nor covered in metal foil to give the impression of being a real blade.</ref> As for the matter of policing content, as with policies regarding the content of ''ukiyo-e'' prints, any major samurai figures or events from roughly the 1570s onwards were forbidden from being portrayed, as were current events whether political or popular in nature. Nevertheless, plays based on recent scandals ([[shinju|love suicides]], revenge stories, etc.), and plays commenting on contemporary politics but faintly disguised by setting them in the historical or literary past, were among the most common and popular. Kabuki was tolerated as a commoner theatre, but it was strongly discouraged that samurai, especially high-ranking lords, should attend; they regularly did, however. There is little evidence that samurai were ever arrested for merely attending the theatre, though there were incidents in which samurai were arrested and occasionally even disenfeoffed for being involved in fights at the theatre, or for performing.<ref>The diary of [[Asahi Shigeaki]] indicates gives an example of two [[Owari han]] retainers who were disenfeoffed in [[1686]] after it was found out they were performing a traveling puppet show. Luke Roberts, "A Transgressive Life: the Diary of a Genroku Samurai," ''Early Modern Japan'' 5:2 (1995), 27.</ref> Theaters constructed temporary screens to shield elites from being seen by the ''hoi polloi'', and made sure they could be put up and taken down quite quickly, in order to avoid enforcement of a series of bans on such screens issued repeatedly beginning in 1646. Many lower-ranking samurai, though also forbidden from going to the kabuki theaters, did so relatively openly, purchasing box seats often without screens. Elite ladies, meanwhile, very often did not go into the theaters, but merely peeked from within their palanquins in through the entrance of the theater; this was a common enough practice that edicts were issued specifically banning it. Even so, despite these various divisions, the kabuki theatre was nevertheless one of the chief places in the city where people of nearly all hierarchical statuses - from ''daimyô'' down to the lowest urban laborer who could afford a ticket - mingled, or at least occupied the same building, to a greater extent than almost anywhere else in the city.<ref>Clark, 34.</ref>

===Genroku===

===Genroku===

While kabuki continued to be performed chiefly only at the few licensed theaters in each city, small theaters called ''[[yose]]'' sprang up over the course of the 18th century, throughout Edo and other cities, hosting performances of a wide variety of other arts, including ''[[rakugo]]'', ''[[joruri|jôruri]]'' chanting, stage magic, and shadowplay shows.<ref>Ikegami, 316.</ref>

While kabuki continued to be performed chiefly only at the few licensed theaters in each city, small theaters called ''[[yose]]'' sprang up over the course of the 18th century, throughout Edo and other cities, hosting performances of a wide variety of other arts, including ''[[rakugo]]'', ''[[joruri|jôruri]]'' chanting, stage magic, and shadowplay shows.<ref>Ikegami, 316.</ref>

The theatre district, located near the city's commercial center at Nihonbashi, was destroyed in a fire in [[1841]]. Following this, the authorities obliged the theaters to rebuild in Saruwaka-chô, a neighborhood on the northeastern edges of the city, near [[Asakusa]] (and the Buddhist temple of [[Senso-ji|Sensô-ji]]), and the [[Yoshiwara]].<ref>Christine Guth, ''Art of Edo Japan'', Yale University Press (1996), 94.</ref>

The theatre district, located near the city's commercial center at Nihonbashi, was destroyed in a fire in [[1841]]. Following this, the authorities obliged the theaters to rebuild in Saruwaka-chô, a neighborhood on the northeastern edges of the city, near [[Asakusa]] (and the Buddhist temple of [[Senso-ji|Sensô-ji]]), and the [[Yoshiwara]].<ref>Christine Guth, ''Art of Edo Japan'', Yale University Press (1996), 94.</ref> Saruwaka-chô is said to have been named after [[Saruwaka Kanzaburo|Saruwaka Kanzaburô]], predecessor or progenitor of the Edo actor. The Nakamura-za was placed in Saruwaka-chô 1-chôme (the "first" section of the district), the Ichimura-za in 2-chôme, and the [[Kawarazaki-za]] (and later, the Morita-za) in 3-chôme.<ref>Monument at former site of the Morita-za, at Asakusa 6-26-11.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/10568775095/in/photostream/]</ref>

===Meiji through Wartime===

===Meiji through Wartime===

*[[Nihon buyo|Nihon buyô]] - lit. "Japanese dance"; the most prominent form of traditional Japanese dance today, based closely upon kabuki dance

*[[Nihon buyo|Nihon buyô]] - lit. "Japanese dance"; the most prominent form of traditional Japanese dance today, based closely upon kabuki dance

*[[Jishibai]] - regional amateur kabuki productions, performed in most cases only one day, or one week, annually, as part of annual local festivals

*[[Jishibai]] - regional amateur kabuki productions, performed in most cases only one day, or one week, annually, as part of annual local festivals

[[Category:Poetry and Theater]]

[[Category:Poetry and Theater]]

[[Category:Edo Period]]

[[Category:Edo Period]]