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The traditional kaomise in Kyôto at the Minamiza.
Sushiya: this is one act of an epic originally written for the
Bunraku puppet theatre. The full-length play shows the fate of various
Taira generals in hiding after the victory of their enemy, the Genji.
In this act, Koremori (Nakamura Hayato ), the heir to the Taira clan is hiding
in a sushi shop disguised as
a humble apprentice, and Osato (Nakamura Kazutarô),
the daughter of the house, falls in love with him. However, Gonta (Nakamura Shidô),
the evil son of the house plots to gain a reward by turning in
Koremori to the top Genji general Kajiwara (Nakamura Ganjirô), but in the end,
he has a surprising change of heart in one of the most heart-rending scenes
in Kabuki. Also featuring Kataoka Kamezô as Yazaemon, the proprietor of the sushi shop.
Ryûko: this is a modern piece created after the end of World War II
on the universal theme of the unending fight between the dragon, the greatest power in the sky,
and the tiger, the greatest power on land. Starring Nakamura Senjaku as the spirit of the dragon and
Nakamura Senjaku's son Nakamura Toranosuke as the spirit of the tiger (tora means ... tiger in Japanese).
Fûin Giri:
(Breaking the Seals)
In the pleasure quarters, the most important possessions
were money and reputation. In danger of losing his lover, the courtesan Umegawa,
the money courier Kameya Chûbê breaks the seals on a package of money entrusted to him
after being taunted by a rival, even though the use of such money is punishable
by death. Starring Nakamura Ganjirô as Chûbê, Sn3 as Umegawa, Kataoka Ainosuke as Chûbê's treacherous friend
Tanbaya Hachiemon, Kataoka Kamezô as as Tsuchiya Jiemon and Living National Treasure Nakamura Tôzô as Oen, the proprietress of the teahouse.
Matsuura no Taiko: Lord Matsuura (Living National Treasure Kataoka Nizaemon) lives next door to the
enemy of the loyal retainers and is disgusted because they do not seem to be
interested in avenging the death of the lord. He is especially upset because
he studied with the same fighting teacher as Kuranosuke, the senior retainer
who should be leading the vendetta. Moreover, he learns from the haiku teacher
Takarai Kikaku (Nakamura Karoku) that his student Ôtaka Gengo (Nakamura Shidô) who should be part of
the vendetta left a poem suggesting that he was forgetting his former lord and
going to take service with another samurai lord. Gengo's sister Onui (Kataoka Sennosuke)
serves Lord Matsuura and in disgust he is about to dismiss her, when there
is a disturbance from next door. The attack has begun, and in joy, Lord Matsuura
counts out the strokes of the drum, struck in a pattern that is only
known by students of his fighting teacher.
Toshima: In a short dance full of the mood of old Edo, "Toshima" features the sophistication and pride of a toshima, a woman who was
once a geisha and is now a mistress to a wealthy man. As the cherry trees are in full bloom she muses on the fleetingness of love,
she sits in a palanquin by the river bank hoping to catch her lover on his way to visit another woman.
In a comic dance, she recalls a knockdown dragout fight she had with another rival and she mimes musical instruments
that got involved in the fight, the shamisen, koto and bowed kokyû.
Starring Nakamura Tokizô in a dance that he has made his own.
Abura no Jigoku: this play has become phenomenally popular in modern times for its hard-boiled sensibility and sensuous
killing scene with the protagonists slipping and struggling through puddles of spilled oil, but was virtually ignored at the time it was written.
It shows Yohê, the wastrel son of a well-to-do merchant, who constantly tries to borrow money from Okichi,
the wife of a neighboring oil merchant. Pressed for funds, he tries to blackmail her,
but ends up killing her in the long, dream-like scene that gives this plays its title, "the woman killer and the hell of oil".
Starring Kataoka Ainosuke and Kataoka Takatarô in the roles of Yohê and Okichi.
Sources: Earphone Guide Website or Shôchiku Kabuki Official Website
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