Danjuro: A Kabuki Star for Three Centuries

There is a kabuki custom called "shumei" of succeeding to the names of famous actors.

The name Ichikawa Danjuro has continued for 300 years.

Kabuki was born in the Edo period which ran from the 17th c. to the 19th c.

In the Edo period, actors with the name Danjuro created a brash, dynamic acting style.

For generations, Danjuro's have been popular stars.

And now in 2022, there is a "shumei" creating Ichikawa Danjuro XIII.

November 2022.

This is the beginning of kabuki's biggest event, the performances to commemorate the "shumei" or name-taking of Ichikawa Danjuro XIII.

Well, it’s a name
that goes back to the Edo Period!

That’s really something!

So many things happened with Covid.
I’ve waited so long for this!

Some 30 years ago I saw him when he first appeared with his father
and I’ve continued watching him since.

Now finally he’s becoming Danjuro!

There are so many people gathering in front of Kabukiza, Ginza in Tokyo today to celebrate the name-taking ceremony of the 13th generation of the actor, Ichikawa Danjuro.

My name is Tove Bjoerk.

I am from Finland.

But I have spent 15 years studying the Ichikawa Danjuro family here in Tokyo.

And today, to celebrate with the actors, I am actually dressed in kimono myself.

So, Ichikawa Danjuro, the 13th, has also performed in New York, Paris, and on many other international stages.

So, he may be familiar to some of you.

But today to celebrate the wonderful day, with me, Professor Kominz from Portland State University, will be joining me.

It's great to be with you, Tove today for this.

It's the most remarkable event.

I have been coming to this theatre for 36 years since I began studying Kabuki myself.

And I have never been to an event like this one.

Danjuro, Ichikawa Danjuro, the biggest name in all of Kabuki history.

And it has been passed on to a new generation.

It is going to be an exciting show.

And the plays are the most vibrant and exciting in the entire repertory.

Yes, let's go.

Let us go to see it.

The performance includes a ceremony called a "Kojo" announcing the new name.

I now take my ancestor’s name
which has continued for generations...

to become Danjuro XIII.

With this, the actor changes from the name Ebizo to Danjuro.

Greetings to the audience.

I now take my father’s previous name
to become Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII.

Here, there was a name-taking by father and son, each taking a name highly cherished by the Ichikawa family.

Now, following family tradition,
I show you the Ichikawa Danjuro Nirami!

The ceremony ends with a feature unique to the Danjuro family.

It is a special pose called "nirami," glaring.

Then the play "Sukeroku" begins.

Sukeroku is the handsomest and most stylish man in the city of Edo.

This is a play that has been a specialty of the Danjuro line of actors.

There will be two months of performances to commemorate this name-taking, each with a different program, but all featuring plays like "Sukeroku" associated with the Danjuro family.

To know more about this acting name of Danjuro that has lasted for 300 years, first we need to go a little farther back, to the roots of kabuki.

In 1603, the same year as the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in the city of Edo, the old name for Tokyo a woman named Okuni created a sensation in Kyoto doing dance shows called, "kabuki odori."

On a temporary stage, Okuni dressed as a man and performed sensuous stories about visiting courtesans.

The shogunate saw this as a threat to morality and banned women from the stage.

The result was that kabuki was performed all by men and men called "onnagata" performed female roles.

Despite all these restrictions, kabuki became extremely popular, and there came to be permanent theaters in Kyoto, Osaka and Edo.

Then in 1673, an actor appeared in Edo with an original vigorous acting style.

This was Ichikawa Danjuro I.

He delighted the crowd by playing super-strong heroes fighting villainy.

"Shibaraku" was written by Danjuro I and retains his acting and staging techniques.

The good guys have been captured by the villains and are about to be killed.

Prepare to die!

Suddenly, a voice comes out of nowhere.

Wait!

A hero with super human power appears.

He is played by Danjuro XIII.

Look at that costume with the enormous sleeves!

Everything about the way he looks is exaggerated to show his strength.

Who are you?

Take a good look, everybody!

There is kabuki's unique "kumadori" make-up.

Tradition says that Danjuro I originated this make-up.

The red lines signify blood vessels and muscles.

Climaxes are depicted with dynamic poses called "mie."

Danjuro I developed these techniques combining spectacle and comedy to show a powerful hero and this acting style is called "aragoto."

"Shibaraku" is a showcase for "aragoto" acting.

Let's ask Professor Byoerk where the "mie" poses and the "nirami" come from.

These poses are actually very deeply connected to the Buddhist deities we have here in Japan.

And this temple itself also has a very special connection to especially Danjuro the 1st.

There is a statue that holds the key to the origins of "mie" and "nirami."

This is a really magnificent Acala representation.

"Fudomyoo" or Acala always holds a sword and a rope in order to lead people from purgatory or hell to pure land or another world we think of as heaven.

If you see that, his one eye points in one direction, and the other eye points in another direction.

This is about Danjuro family does when they do "nirami," which for example Danjuro the 13th performed here at his name-taking ceremony.

This means "Fudomyoo" can see the all dimensions at once.

Also, the teeth, one tooth going down and one going up, this also symbolizes that his power reaches all realms of the world.

And this is the statue that Danjuro the 1st and 2nd mimicked.

They performed as if they were on the Edo stage.

Which so impressed the audience.

People even threw money at the stage and prayed to them as if they were real Buddhist statues.

At least according to the legend as it were.

This enormous mirror was donated to Shinshoji temple by Danjuro I.

It is said that when he lamented that he did not have a son and prayed to the god "Fudo" at this temple, immediately a boy was born who became Danjuro II.

This solidified Danjuro's faith in this temple.

Danjuro I established a family tradition of playing the god "Fudo" on stage.

This tradition was followed by generation after generation of Danjuros.

The temples such as Naritasan Shinshoji Temple, who is located a little further away from big cities.

They would, every 33 years, be able to bring their Buddhist statue, the "Fudo" statue to Edo and show them to Edo audiences.

And here, the people of Edo were very excited to see this very powerful deity.

And on these occasions, the Danjuro family always acted as "Fudo" deity on stage too.

Creating a synergy effect between the theaters and temples.

Which benefits both.

And made the people of Edo very happy to support both temples and theaters even today.

When an actor takes the name of Danjuro, he always makes a ceremonial visit to this temple to announce the name-taking.

Danjuro XIII made this visit as well before taking the name.

In the Edo period, it was a common custom to receive a name important in your family.

But in kabuki, the "shumei" custom has some unique features.

I mean, in Kabuki, the concept of the "Shumei" or name-taking ceremony come from Kabuki actors mimicking the merchant of artisan culture

where the family business is passed down from the father to son, and on that occasion, the son receives the father's name.

Kabuki actors were keen on, how should I say, upgrading the social status and they want to be regarded as stars of craftsman, and artisan.

So the big difference between Kabuki and craft men or artisans taking his father's name is that kabuki shares these experiences with entire audiences.

And this way, what they are doing is bringing the entire audience day after day, into their family.

The first appearance of Danjuro II - this gift of the deities of Naritasan temple - was when he was 10.

He took the name of Danjuro in 1704.

In the plays in the current program, "Sukeroku" was created by Danjuro II.

Here we see Danjuro II as "Sukeroku."

The setting is Edo's fabulous Yoshiwara pleasure quarters.

The courtesans are enjoying the view of the cherry blossoms at night.

Coming late to join them is the most popular courtesan in the pleasure quarters, Sukeroku's lover Agemaki.

With her, the bearded man with a fearsome expression is Ikyu, a wealthy patron who desires to take Agemaki away from Sukeroku.

Once more tonight, I will attack and kill...
the best sake in the place!

Finally the hero, Sukeroku, played by Danjuro XIII.

When it premiered, Sukeroku was a totally new kind of hero: a fashionable playboy who is also a powerful fighter.

He wears a black kimono, but there are touches of bright red at his collar, his cuffs and the bottom hem.

And he has a headband of deep purple.

Holding a parasol and with loud clatters of his geta clogs, the sight of Sukeroku entranced Edo audiences.

What is that purple headband?

Are you mystified?
It is a gift from an exalted patron.

Without hesitation, Sukeroku joins the most glamorous courtesans of the Yoshiwara.

This is Sukeroku's "mie" pose.

Sukeroku! How we’ve waited for you!

Thanks! You are all as beautiful as always!

Then, let me sit with you.

Oh, please do!

Pardon me!

The courtesans all hand him their pipes.

This was a special sign that a courtesan liked you.

There are so many pipes, it’s a fire hazard!
Girls, be more careful!

Tove Byoerk's research is focused on the creator of "Sukeroku," Danjuro II.

Danjuro II left a diary.

Parts of it have been preserved.

The diary is a clue to his acting, but also shows his wide interests and is a glimpse of society in the city of Edo in his time.

What made Danjuro the 2nd famous? Was that he inherited his father's "Aragoto" acting?

But he didn't just copy his father.

He made innovations.

And one of his greatest innovations was adding the so-called "Wagoto" or softer elements to the "Aragoto" acting.

And the most famous role that he created using this technique is "Sukeroku".

Which was first performed in the year 1730.

Now, "Sukeroku" is actually a medieval warrior called "Soga Goro".

Undercover looking for a sword to commit a vendetta.

But he appears, um, at the beginning of the 18th-century modern playboy in the pleasure quarter.

Which to the audience was innovative, fresh, a new approach to the medieval warrior's image, as it were.

This scene here as it still acted Sukeroku today Danjuro the 13th performed magnificently on his name-taking ceremony.

This is the scene where all these courtesans of pleasure quarters come handing Sukeroku a lit pipe is the so-called "Suitsuke Tabako" scene.

It was costumery for a courtesan to give a tabaco to men they fancied, men they would like to serve.

This is to show how sexy and how good looking Sukeroku is.

But Those are Danjuro the 2nd, he considered tabaco to be a medicine.

He considers it to be the essence of long life.

So, for him, he is here receiving, how should I say, life energy from the women around him.

Danjuro II not only created new kinds of heroes, he brought commercial products into the world of kabuki and made them popular.

This is "Uiro Uri," "The Medicine Peddler," created by Danjuro II.

"Uiro" is a kind of throat medicine sold in Edo at the time.

Often members of the Danjuro family perform the role of the medicine peddler when very young.

Here, it is Shinnosuke VIII.

A medicine peddler comes to a samurai lord's banquet.

Now the famous sales pitch, full of tongue twisters.

Now, it also has some commercial value in this scene.

It's kind of a product placement in a sense.

And the people who saw this commercial on stage and then they would, especially his fans of course they would also buy the same brand.

Kabuki is not only about creating shows on stage.

But Kabuki also sold products.

And was therefore beneficial to a lot of merchants and townspeople.

And that's why townspeople really considered actors to be kind of gods of prosperity because they really brought a lot of income to them like quite really.

Danjuro VII was active in the late Edo period.

Danjuro VII collected plays created by his predecessors into the "Kabuki Juhachiban," The Eighteen Favorite Plays of the Ichikawa Danjuro Family.

This deluxe woodblock print commemorates this collection.

It includes plays like "Shibaraku," "Sukeroku," and "Uiro Uri."

Danjuro VII is especially known for creating the play "Kanjincho, The Subscription List."

It adapts a noh play, a classical drama for the elite, for commoners.

It digs deep into the psychology of the characters, Benkei, his lord Yoshitsune, and the barrier keeper Togashi.

Yoshitsune is being pursued by his brother Yoritomo, the ruler of Japan and comes to a barrier.

He is saved by Benkei.

Danjuro XIII plays the main role of Yoshitsune's faithful retainer, Benkei.

The fugitives are disguised as "yamabushi" mountain priests collecting donations, and Yoshitsune is disguised as their luggage carrier.

They approach the barrier set up to stop them.

We are a group of mountain priests
that wish to pass through this barrier.

You must have a subscription list.
Please read it to me.

Very well, as you wish.

Priests collecting funds should have a subscription list showing that they have official permission.

Benkei has no such thing, but takes a scroll that he has and reads, making up the difficult text as he goes.

And lo...

...the emperor declared a great Buddha
be built.

The barrier keeper is still suspicious, so Benkei continues reading to the end of the imaginary document.

The subscription list is in order
and there is no doubt of your identity.

I wish to make a donation myself.

Just when it seems like they have escaped difficulty, one of the guards notices someone looking like Yoshitsune in their party.

Porter! Stop immediately!

Why are you stopping him?

He looks like Yoshitsune!

What? You say this stupid porter
looks like Yoshitsune?

To prove that this is just an ordinary porter, Benkei beats Yoshitsune.

Doing this is torture for Benkei, since it was unthinkable to hurt one's lord.

Benkei must hold back Yoshitsune's retainers as they confront the keepers of the barrier.

Shall I leave this miserable porter with you?

Or shall I beat him to death here and now?

No! Don’t act so hastily.

It was my mistake to stop someone
who is not Yoshitsune.

Once they are safely through the barrier, Benkei catches up with the others with the dynamic jump-step called a "roppo."

Danjuro VII incorporated this acting technique used by Danjuro I for the climax of the play.

Danjuro VII solidly established the name of Danjuro and his family's acting style, but his life was full of tragedy.

As part of one of its reforms, the shogunate banished Danjuro VII from Edo, using the fact that he used real armor on stage as an excuse.

Apparently, they wanted to make an example of him by punishing the most popular actor of the commoners.

His son succeeded to the name to become Danjuro VIII.

He was gentle and handsome and extremely popular.

But he died at the age of 32.

This memorial picture is based on images of the death of the Buddha.

Danjuro VIII's fans are grieving around him.

But at his pillow is his heartbroken father, who was allowed to return to Edo.

Despite all this tragedy, Danjuro VII continued to protect the acting style of his family.

Professor Byoerk has analyzed 35 prints from the beginning to the end of the Edo period showing the audiences for kabuki.

What kind of people watched kabuki?

It is usually said that Kabuki is the art of the common people.

But who are the common people?

Who actually did, visit the theater?

We also see quite many swords like this.

This would be the denominator of a warrior.

I mean, all of these famous and wealthy people; they sit together watching the same play as these day laborers and the people from the very lowest social ranks.

Which meant Kabuki was a performance art which was consumed by all social classes during the Edo period.

The theaters themselves became a place for social discourse which also transcend social classes of the feudal Tokugawa period.

In Europe in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, theaters became places for social criticism.

Play writes and playmakers would try to improve society by creating plays with an educational issues.

This is in Europe what is called a public sphere.

It's a place for social discourse which transcends social classes.

In my view, Kabuki theaters functioned as prototypes for a public sphere also in Japan.

After over 260 years, the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end.

Japan opened to the outside world and the Meiji government was born.

People's lives became increasingly westernized.

Danjuro IX was active even after the Meiji Restoration.

Danjuro IX created new forms of kabuki.

But he also worked to preserve the classics.

He was central to a project to have the emperor see kabuki for the first time ever.

This was a performance of "Kanjincho."

From this time, kabuki began to be considered Japan's representative form of theater and the status of kabuki began to rise.

In 1889, Kabuki-za opened as a new palace for theater.

Danjuro IX's efforts were vital to this project as well.

The modernization of Japan had tragic consequences as well and helped to propel Japan into World War II.

During the war the Kabuki-za theater was burned out and after the war kabuki had to start again from zero.

In the chaos after the war, a new generation of kabuki actors began to appear.

One of them was Danjuro XI.

The novel "The Tale of Genji" is one of Japan's greatest classics.

It shows romance in the imperial court, so it never could have been staged in pre-war Japan.

But in newly democratized Japan and at the rebuilt Kabuki-za, Danjuro XI appeared as Shining Prince Genji in a phenomenally popular staging of the classic.

The young, handsome Danjuro XI became a sensational new kabuki star, bringing the plays of the Danjuro line to life once more.

Now, following family tradition,
I show you the Ichikawa Danjuro Nirami!

This is the "shumei" in 1985 of Danjuro XII, the new Danjuro's father.

This created a sensation when for the first time, there were commemorative performances at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York as well as in Japan.

Here is some footage of Danjuro XII teaching his 8 year old son "Uiro Uri" before those performances.

And then, in the performances, father and son appeared together as a pair of medicine peddlers.

In these performances the current Danjuro took the name of Shinnosuke VII.

Then in 2004, he succeeded to the name of Ebizo.

In 2007, Danjuro XII was invited to perform at the Opera Garnier in Paris.

This theater is really incredible!

I have to work hard to live up to it.

At the time, the current Danjuro still held his previous name of Ebizo.

Together, father and son performed "Kanjincho."

Benkei's final big moment exiting with a "roppo" is on the hanamichi runway.

But the Paris Opera House doesn't have a hanamichi.

For the exit, we can build a ramp
from the stage to the aisle.

If it looks funny, we can change it.
But it might be interesting that way.

But I don’t think my father will like it.

Danjuro XII was uncertain about this.

This ramp was very steep for a "roppo."

I’m against it, but my son insists on
trying out everything.

Opening day.

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
I am Ichikawa Danjuro.

Welcome to the first performance
of our traditional kabuki at the Paris Opera House.

The first day Danjuro XII played Benkei, while the current Danjuro played the barrier keeper, Togashi.

Danjuro XII performed the "roppo" along the front of the stage.

The second day, they exchanged roles and Danjuro XIII played Benkei while his father played Togashi.

The final moments of the play.

Danjuro XIII took the challenge.

He went down the steep slope from the stage and along the aisle through the auditorium.

From his days as Ebizo, the current Danjuro has also worked to revive neglected plays from the Juhachiban collection.

One is "Jayanagi" that he revived in 2013.

It is the story of the spirit of an evil serpent that has been transformed into a willow tree that possesses the protagonist and causes all kinds of trouble.

Danjuro played three different roles.

Danjuro XII died in 2013.

His son and successor Danjuro XIII is constantly thinking about kabuki's future.

All the generations of Danjuro
didn’t just perform aragoto, they also experimented with new styles.
And that is why kabuki survives today.

Now I’m starting to be in the position of having to
think of what I can do to keep this culture alive.

At the same time as I value the classics, I also have to act
as though I were the very first Danjuro.

Danjuro the 1st was a big muscular man.

Danjuro the 2nd was slim and small and not really built for "Aragoto" acting.

So, he had to make inventions.

And actually, generations, each generation of Danjuro had made innovations.

Innovations to "Aragoto" acting.

That is how it has survived.

And I think the most important thing that comes from being Danjuro is owning the name.

This is his job to be Danjuro.

In my opinion, the reason why the name Danjyuro has been handed down for generations, for over 300 years lies in that they have a really good product s and a really good brand name.

Danjuro in itself to be Danjuro is to own a trademark.

But the content of this trademark "Aragoto" acting is that it possesses a power, a releasing power.

"Aragoto" is fun.

"Aragoto" makes you laugh.

"Aragoto" makes you feel strong.

"Aragoto" makes you feel invincible as an audience.

This "Aragoto" acting as it has the power to please audiences still today.

Is the reason why the name Danjuro also has survived up until today, I believe.

Today, a kabuki star with the name of Danjuro carries 300 years of history with him.

The newly born Danjuro XIII is a new actor fitting the present.

With him, kabuki will constantly grow and evolve as it continues into the future.