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Nakamura Kankurô's two sons Nakamura Kantarô III and Nakamura Chôzaburô II make their debut on stage (hatsubutai)!
These two programs also celebrate the 390th anniversary of Edo Kabuki (Okuni and her troupe performed at the Shôgun palace in Edo in 1607).
Saruwaka Edo no Hatsuyagura: Kabuki began with sensuous dances by a woman named
Okuni and comic routines with a man named Saruwaka,
who eventually led to the founding of the Nakamuraza, the oldest and most important of the
three licensed theatres of Edo. This play evokes those figures and the earliest days of Kabuki.
Starring Nakamura Kankurô in the role of Saruwaka.
Featuring Nakamura Shichinosuke, Nakamura Ganjirô and Bandô Yajûrô.
Ôakinai Hiru-ga-Kojima: this is a jidaimono history
play set at the end of the Heian period (12th century).
It is a time when the powerful Heike clan lives in splendor,
eclipsing their rivals, the Genji clan. The leader of the latter,
Minamoto no Yoritomo is now in exile. Masaki Kôzaemon (Onoe Shôroku),
a writing-master in Shimoda, Izu Province, lives with his wife Ofuji (Nakamura Tokizô).
Kôzaemon and Ofuji are always having matrimonial quarrels because he is so shameless with other women.
But however often they argue she always pardons him when he flirts with her. Due to Ofuji's habitual jealousy,
one day when the beautiful Omasu (Nakamura Shichinosuke) appears at the door asking to become a pupil, Ofuji drives her away.
Omasu is just on her way home when she encounters Kôzaemon, and he brings her back with him.
Kôzaemon is, in reality, Minamoto no Yoritomo who is concealing his
ambition to destroy the Heike clan. Ofuji,
on the other hand, is really Princess Tatsu, the daughter of Itô Sukechika who is allied with
the Heike. Furthermore, Omasu is none other than the daughter
of Hôjô no Tokimasa, Yoritomo's ally.
Princess Tatsu has Yoritomo's interests at heart and yields
the position of wife to Masako. However, overhearing their intimate talk, Princess Tatsu is seized with jealousy.
Just then, a mendicant priest named Seizaemon (Nakamura Kankurô) who is staying at Kôzaemon's house, strikes her with
his Buddhist rosary and suddenly her sinful thoughts disappear and she comes to her senses.
Seizaemon is, in reality, Saint Mongaku. He has brought an Imperial
decree from the cloistered emperor Goshirakawa which orders
Yoritomo to destroy the Heike clan.
Yoritomo and Mongaku reveal their
identities to each other. Yoritomo accepts the Imperial order and
prepares to raise his standard to destroy the Heike.
Shisen Ryô:
(Four Thousand Gold Coins)
In this play loosely based on a true incident, two men, Fujioka Tôjûrô (Nakamura Baigyoku) and Yashû no Tomizô (Living National Treasure Onoe Kikugorô),
the former a masterless samurai, the latter a seasoned thief,
break into the treasury of the Shogunate and steal the immense sum of four thousand gold coins.
Though the samurai tries to use the money to support a normal life by starting a loan business, the other wastes
his money gambling and resorts to extorting money from his former partner. The enormity of their crime makes it
impossible to keep it secret and they are soon caught. Written by Kawatake Mokuami,
this play caused a sensation in its day for its realistic depiction of a Meiji period jail.
Featuring also Nakamura Tokizô, Ichikawa Sadanji, Nakamura Kinnosuke, Onoe Shôroku, Nakamura Karoku, Bandô Hikosaburô and Living National Treasure Nakamura Tôzô.
Ôgi Jishi:
(The Lion-head Fans)
This dance portrays the brilliant atmosphere of Edo (the old name for Tôkyô).
A fireman chief (Nakamura Baigyoku) and a geisha (Nakamura Jakuemon) dance with an ôgi jishi,
a fan beautifully decorated with flowers and with a cloth trailing from the end.
This decorated fan represents the head of a shishi lion, and
the trailing cloth is its mane of hair.
Kadonde Futari Momotarô: this is a play based on the famous Japanese folktale Momotarô
(The Peach Boy). On this occasion, it is performed to commemorate the debut of Nakamura Kankurô's two sons, Nakamura Kantarô and Nakamura Chôzaburô.
Once upon a time, an old man (Nakamura Shikan) carrying firewood comes to pick up his wife (Nakamura Tokizô) who is washing clothes in a river.
Just then, a big peach comes floating towards them which they lift out of the water and take home.
Out of the peach appears two energetic boys. These brothers, both called Momotarô, declare that they will
head for Ogre's Island to vanquish the wicked ogres. The god of Kibitsu sends Inuhiko (Ichikawa Somegorô), Saruhiko (Onoe Shôroku) and Kijihiko (Onoe Kikunosuke)
to accompany them. Following this, the Shintô priest (Living National Treasure Onoe Kikugorô) and the
shrine maiden (Nakamura Kaishun) of Kibitsu Shrine, as well as the village headman (Nakamura Baigyoku) and his wife (Nakamura Jakuemon) all turn up to celebrate
the boys' birth. The brothers put on armor and leave their house with the three others sent by the god.
After a tough battle against the ogres at the Ogre's Castle, the Momotarô brothers capture the ogres,
receive much treasure from them and return home triumphantly. Starring Nakamura Kankurô as Kansaku (the son of the grandparents) and the commanding general of the ogres,
and Nakamura Shichinosuke as Kansaku's wife Otsuru.
Amagasaki Kankyo: Akechi Mitsuhide (known in this play as Takechi Mitsuhide) is known as the "three day ruler of Japan", having only control
for a brief time after attacking and killing Oda Nobunaga (known in this play as Harunaga) and before being
defeated in turn by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (known in this play as Mashiba Hisayoshi).
In the most famous act of this play, after assassinating Harunaga, Mitsuhide comes to see his mother,
but she refuses to forgive him for betraying his lord. Mitsuhide sees his son and mother both die before
his eyes as he tries to defeat his rival Hisayoshi, but instead is confronted with the drama of his own
immediate family. Starring Nakamura Shikan and Nakamura Kinnosuke as Mitsuhide and Hisayoshi.
Featuring also Nakamura Kaishun, Nakamura Ganjirô, Kataoka Takatarô and Kataoka Hidetarô
as Mitsuhide's wife Misao, Mitsuhide's son Jûjirô, Jûjirô's fiancee Hatsugiku and Mitsuhide's mother Satsuki.
Ume Goyomi: this work is a Kabuki adaptation of a famous love story from the Edo period
called "Shunshoku Ume Goyomi". Tanjirô (Ichikawa Somegorô), the foster child of a rich merchant in the Yoshiwara
pleasure quarters lives with Yonehachi (Nakamura Kankurô), a geisha of the Fukagawa
district, even though he has a fiancée named Ochô. Adakichi (Onoe Kikunosuke), another geisha in Fukagawa,
falls in love with him at first sight as they pass each other on boats, and she and Yonehachi become rivals for
Tanjirô's love. Tanjirô’s master Chiba Hanjirô (Nakamura Karoku) was disowned for losing a precious tea caddy named Zangetsu,
the heirloom of the Hatakeyama clan, and he now lives at Tanjirô's house. Adakichi persuades Furutori Sabunta
to sell the tea caddy in his possession as she wants to get it for Tanjirô who is searching for the lost
one with Hanjirô. But this tea caddy turns out to be a complete fake. Tanjirô recovers the genuine one
after great difficulty and hands it to Hanjirô. As a result, Hanjirô is permitted to return to his house and
the ill feeling between Adakichi and Yonehachi dispels and they make up.
Sources: Earphone Guide Website or Shôchiku Kabuki Official Website
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