The Culture of Play: Kabuki and the Production of Texts
- Volume 20, Number 2
- Andrew Gerstle
- View PDF | Download PDF
- http://journal.oraltradition.org/issues/20ii/gerstle
eCompanion
Supplementary Images
Ihara Saikaku, Kōshoku gonin onna ("Five Women Who Loved Love," 1686). Note that the text, though commercially printed, has no punctuation.
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Shinshū kawa-nakajima kassen ("Battles at Kawa-nakajima," 1721). The large triangle-like punctuation marks are breath stops for the Jōruri (Bunraku) chanter.
Ryūkōsai Jokei, Yakusha mono iwai ("A Celebration of Actors," 1784). The actor is listed only by his haiku pen name (haimyō) and his clan stage name (yago). The actor is Nakamura Tomijūrō I. The haiku poem is presented as if by the actor himself, although it could be by the artist Ryūkōsai, who published a book of haiku.
Shōkōsai Hanbei, Shibai gakuya zue ("Theater Behind the Scenes," 1800-02). Poems composed and written by actors each in his own calligraphy. The one on the right is by Sawamura Kunitarō I.
Shōkōsai Hanbei, Shibai gakuya zue ("Theater Behind the Scenes," 1800-02). Portraits of two actors both listed by their pen names (haimyō) only. The haiku poems beside are by poets of the day, in praise of the actors.
Shōkōsai Hanbei, Masukagami (Mirror of Actors, 1806). Ichikawa Danzō IV; kyōka poem by Shōkōsai himself. Courtesy of the British Museum.
Shōkōsai Hanbei, Masukagami (Mirror of Actors, 1806). Arashi Kichisaburō II, poem by a contemporary poet. Courtesy of the British Museum.
Shōkōsai Hanbei, Masukagami (Mirror of Actors, 1806). Nakamura Utaemon III (right), poem by a contemporary poet. Courtesy of the British Museum.
Print privately produced in 1805 (surimono), in Amata kyakushokujō (a series of albums of theater sources). Courtesy of the Waseda University Theater Museum.
Print privately produced in 1805 (surimono), in Amata kyakushokujō (a series of albums of theater sources). Courtesy of the Waseda University Theater Museum.
Print privately produced in 1805 (surimono), in Amata kyakushokujō (a series of albums of theater sources). Courtesy of the Waseda University Theater Museum.
A print by Ashifune privately produced in the fifth month of 1813 (surimono), in Nishizawa Ippō harikomichō (a three-volume album of theater resources). Arashi Kichisaburō II is in the role of the courtier calligrapher, Ono no Tōfū. Courtesy of the Waseda University Theater Museum.
Single-sheet actor print issued in the first month of 1821. Arashi Kitsusaburō I (Kichisaburō II). A reissue, with changes, of the 1813 print (Figure 12). The poem is by Kitsusaburō in his own calligraphy.
An anonymous single-sheet actor print produced in the eleventh month of 1815. Ichikawa Ebijūrō I in the role of the fisherman Fukashichi. The poem is by the actor who is listed only by his haiku pen name Shinshō. The frontal portrait is rare and reflects his recent taking of a new name as a disciple of the famous Edo actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII. Ebijūrō had returned to Osaka after many years away.
Kunihiro print of the actor Arashi Kichisaburō II in the role of Akizuki, for a performance in the second month of 1816. This unusual frontal portrait was most likely in response to the print in Figure 14. Ebijūrō was in a rival troupe to Kichisaburō.
