Kataoka Ainosuke takes his first turn as our host. Ainosuke is a renowned kabuki actor. He'll be our guide to the attractions of kabuki looking at some of the roles he's played.
It's a traditional performing art with a rich history.
It draws a million theater-goers per year...
it's kabuki!
Kabuki Kool introduces you to the attractions of kabuki.
Today, Kataoka Ainosuke takes his first turn as our host.
Ainosuke is a renowned kabuki actor.
He'll be our guide to the attractions of kabuki looking at some of the roles he's played.
Let's open the curtain to find out more.
Hi, I’m Sara Àlainn.
I’m a singer and violinist and I’m absolutely fascinated with traditional Japanese performance arts.
So I’m very, very excited to be able to learn all about kabuki from, none other than kabuki actor Kataoka Ainosuke.
Hello. I'm Kataoka Ainosuke.
As the host of this program, I hope I can help people abroad learn more about kabuki and about how amazing it is.
Let's all have fun together.
Sara, have you ever seen kabuki?
As a matter of fact, you were in the first kabuki I saw.
Thank you very much!
It was all so new to me.
Since I studied classical music, at first I thought it might be similar to opera.
But it turned out to be something completely different!
I was curious about everything I saw, and was extremely moved by the performance.
It's a fantasy world, isn't it?
Yes. It's fantastic, but somehow human.
I'd love to learn more about it along with our overseas viewers.
Yes, I hope you enjoy learning about it.
I can't wait!
Kataoka Ainosuke is a kabuki actor who plays an astonishing variety of roles.
In "Kuruma-biki," he plays the powerful, Matsuōmaru.
Matsuomaru shows his strength through his "mie" poses and the powerful "kumadori" make-up.
In "The Tale of Sanemori," he plays a figure from history, Saito Sanemori.
He is a man of mercy and wisdom.
Although he now serves the Heike clan, he originally belonged to the enemy Genji clan.
He is as gentle and kind as a father with a little boy, who is on the Genji side,
the side that has now become an enemy to Sanemori.
But kind as he is, Sanemori is also a tough samurai with a dashing air.
In "Ninokuchi-mura," he plays the money courier Kameya Chūbei.
He has ended up embezzling a large sum of money.
Chubei is prepared for death, but hoping to see his father again,
he brings his lover, the courtesan Umegawa, to his native village, Ninokuchi.
Father!
The authorities are on their trail, but even so, Chūbei has a last moment with his father.
With fine detail, Ainosuke shows Chūbei, a man led to destruction by his love for Umegawa.
That was absolutely beautiful and kool!
I'm glad you think so.
When you play Matsuomaru, you sort of cross your eyes.
What does that mean?
This is a kabuki "mie."
It's a very important acting technique.
It's like a close up on TV.
It tells the audience to focus here.
I'd like you to try it, Sara-san.
Let's do a "mie."
It looks hard, but I'll try.
OK. First, to do a "mie" you move one eye inward.
The direction you move it has a meaning.
When there's an enemy to your left, you move your right eye to the center looking left.
You leave your left eye looking straight to the front.
Is that even possible?
Yes, of course!
I'll show you.
Kool!
That's it.
Hold your arms out...like this... Yes.
Make a half-circle with your head, stop, Go!
Are your eyes OK? Your eyes...
Now There's a way to practice it.
Follow my index finger.
OK? Now Keep looking at it.
Keep your eyes open.
Keep looking, keep looking, OK? All right?
That's it! This is a "mie."
Oh no! My eyes moved...!
Yes. Please try and practice at home.
I will.
Bring your index finger close to one eye, like this.
Yes, that's right.
But please don't walk around outside like this, it's dangerous.
Now Ainosuke-san, I'd like to ask you about your upbringing.
How did you become a kabuki actor?
I was born in Osaka, not Tokyo.
My family had absolutely nothing to do with kabuki.
You know ship propellers?
My family ran a steelworks where they made them.
I went to a place that taught kabuki.
That was my first contact with the kabuki world.
I first appeared on stage in kabuki when I was eight.
Here's a photograph.
Oh, you look so cute!
I really enjoyed it.
It was like being in a theme park.
Ever since this first encounter, I've always loved kabuki.
How wonderful!
I became a student of Kataoka Nizaemon the 13th when I was nine.
He looks strict but gentle as well.
He was gentle.
I was a "heya-go." That meant an apprentice.
I spent all my time in his dressing room or "heya."
You watch and absorb what people are doing, without being taught.
This is called "stealing art."
"Stealing?"
Yes. I was taught not to expect to be told things directly, but to watch carefully and absorb what my master was doing.
I am very grateful I was a "heya-go."
When I was nineteen, I was adopted by Nizaemon's second son Hidetaro
and took the professional name of Kataoka Ainosuke the sixth.
What's the Kataoka Nizaemon family like?
We perform kamigata kabuki, that is the style of kabuki of Kyoto and Osaka.
Let me show you some of the famous holders of the name Nizaemon.
Yes, please.
Oh, Who's this?
This is Nizaemon the seventh.
He was very popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, which is the late Edo period.
He was born in Kyoto and acted in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo, today's Tokyo.
This is Nizaemon the eighth.
He was active in the second half of the 19th century, mainly playing handsome, refined young men.
He also worked in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo.
This is Nizaemon the 11th.
He worked from the Meiji into the Showa era.
He was famed as a great actor.
He also was very popular in both east and west Japan.
So all These actors not only worked in Kyoto and Osaka, but also in Tokyo.
That's right.
And this is the son of Kataoka Nizaemon the 11th; Kataoka Nizaemon the 13th, my teacher.
I learned a lot by being at his side from the age of nine.
Kataoka Nizaemon XIII was a great actor that virtually embodied Kamigata kabuki.
One of his most famous roles was Kan Shojo in "Domyoji."
Kan Shojo was the historical imperial court aristocrat Sugawara no Michizane.
He was a man of great learning and after his death, became worshipped as the god Tenjin.
Due to plots by the villains, Kan Shojo is exiled.
Here he must part forever from his daughter, Princess Kariya.
For this role, there would be an altar to Tenjin in his dressing room
and he would always pray to it for a long time before going on.
How stoic! So he incorporated his role into his daily life!
Yes, he did.
Nizaemon XIII was also famous for Izaemon in "Kuruwa Bunsho."
This is Kamigata kabuki's idea of the ideal man.
Izaemon is the son and heir of a rich family.
But he spends so much money seeing his lover, the courtesan Yūgiri, that he is disowned.
Even penniless, Izaemon still comes to the pleasure quarters hoping to see Yugiri.
Izaemon goes to the banquet room where Yugiri is.
He peeks in and is ecstatic that she is there.
But, she is with another patron.
Then Izaemon is shocked and angry.
Izaemon is jealous.
Despite the efforts of the proprietor and his wife to calm him, Izaemon insists that he will go.
Out of my way!
I'll show you I can go!
You can't stop me!
I'm going now!
He says he's going, but he really wants them to stop him.
I can see that!
Izaemon is petulant, but charming.
When Nizaemon XIII played Izaemon, he always looked like he was having a lot of fun.
In later life, due to illness, Nizaemon the 13th started losing his sight.
Actually, at the time of this performance, he could hardly see at all.
You can't tell at all!
We're always nervous on stage even if we can see.
So, he was extraordinary in every way.
His stance toward the theater was to study hard every day no matter how old he became.
He even asked me for my opinion, saying he'd changed something and what did I think of it.
He listened to all the people around him.
He thought that theater is a living thing, so you mustn't play roles the same way every day.
He never lost the urge to take on fresh challenges.
Ainosuke-san, have you played Izaemon?
Yes, I have. I played him once at Asakusa Public Hall.
Look! Here's your doppleganger!
Yes, this is me as Izaemon.
Izaemon is like a child who has grown up without becoming an adult.
He has to be very cute, but at the same time,
you have to be careful that it doesn't become cloying or annoying to the audience.
You have to play him so that the audience sympathizes with him.
I thought Izaemon was supposed to be the handsome hero.
Yes, that's right.
But he seemed rather comical.
These lovers in Kamigata kabuki are always pale and weak, but somehow,
even though they never have money, they are popular with women.
- This is the gentle "wagoto" style of acting.
- Oh.
For some reason, that's the protagonist of Kamigata kabuki.
If you just push him a little, he falls over.
OK, then...
Ow! Yes, like that. Just like that.
I see.
Just a little push and they collapse.
That's the kind of character.
I'm surrounded by people like that.
Really?
Yes, and I find them quite attractive.
I don't know, it's like I have the power to change them.
But they're useless! Not good for anything!
That's exactly why! I feel like I might be the only one to change them.
And this is maybe why I fall for people like this.
Did you all hear that? Great.
Thank you very much for your opinion.
I also head a school of one kind of Japanese classical dance called "Kamigata-mai," the style of dance of Kyoto and Osaka.
My school is the "Umemoto-ryu" and I am the "iemoto" or head of it.
Oh! I'm curious to know what kind of music you dance to.
- Really?
- Of course!
This is a "shishi" lion in the form of a human being; three lions, a father, a mother and their son.
In the Umemoto school of "Kamigata mai," the mother appears, which you never see in the usual version.
Here the entire family plays with the butterflies.
Are they trying to be butterflies?
Yes. It looks like fun, but this is really very difficult.
It's hard on the legs.
Now the three are in the form of "shishi" lions.
What?! How come he kicked his son?
Well, that's because there is an old legend that the parent lion kicks his child off a mountain,
hoping that he has raised him so that his child will be able to climb back up all by himself.
This is one theme of the dance.
The mother looks so worried!
Of course she does.
The son climbs back from the valley and rejoins his parents.
Thank goodness!
His father and mother look relieved too!
Yes, they have very good reason to be happy.
Now there is the climax of the dance where all three throw their manes in the air very powerfully.
How dynamic!
Yes, it is.
Wow!
Now that was kool! It's like headbanging in rock!
Really?
But aren't the wigs heavy?
Quite heavy, yes.
Doesn't your he...neck hurt, though?
Actually, you don't swing the wig around with your neck.
- You don't? - No, what muscles do you think we use?
Hmmm...
- The hips.
- No way!
If you used your neck you could injure yourself if you swing it like that.
I'm sure it would!
There's a trick, you don't get dizzy either.
Ah, I had no idea.
I see.
It looks as though you're swinging your head around,
but you actually do a half circle then jump back to the start, which get faster and faster.
That was a surprise!
That's how you do it.
Sara, kabuki is usually performed at modern theaters such as Kabuki-za,
but I've been performing kabuki in different spaces.
What kind of spaces?
In the city of Toyooka in a corner of Hyogo prefecture, there is a very special place for Ainosuke.
Thank you! I'm back here again!
There is an old kabuki theater there and the local people wanted to make it active again.
Ainosuke has worked with the people of the town and every year, there are performances there.
I remember this first performance very well.
The audience are so close to you and the stage!
They really are!
What a wonderful atmosphere!
In this dance, first I appear as a female court dancer named Hanako.
She's come to dance for the dedication of a temple bell at Dojoji temple.
Ainosuke-san, you play female roles as well?
Yes I do. I play both male and female roles.
But Hanako is actually a male kyogen actor.
- What?!
- Really!
With these masks, he shows a man and woman having a lovers' quarrel and a man who tries to mediate.
The audience love it!
Yes and at Eiraku-kan, the audience is so close that you can feel their reactions very directly.
But he is actually after a treasure hidden in the bell.
So he's a baddy!
When I make this final pose, I can see everyone's faces very clearly from the stage.
I was so moved to see how much they enjoyed it.
In Naruto city, in Tokushima prefecture, there is a replica of the Sistine chapel in the Vatican in an art museum there.
Surprisingly, Ainosuke presented a kabuki version of a very familiar play here.
You find me frightening?
You will be my wife!
Never!
Now you are mine!
No!
This is "Beauty and the Beast" transposed to Japan.
Now there is only hope.
Now there is only prayer.
The play is like a spectacular kabuki musical with songs and action scenes.
Is that you?
Princess Misuzu?
Have I changed back?
The love of the princess has transformed the beast back into a man.
In this replica of the Sistine chapel, every year there are these bold experiments blending East and West.
Well, what do you think?
Gosh, where do I start? I could never have imagined such a mix!
Really?
Yes, you were singing a musical number!
I personally like this sort of crossover though.
There's a reason we chose "Beauty and the Beast."
Apparently, the French writer Jean Cocteau was inspired to make his film of "Beauty and the Beast"
by the kind of kabuki lion we just looked at.
This gave him the idea for the beast.
You say it came from kabuki?
Yes. So, it's kind of a reverse import.
Wow, it's interesting!
Since no one had tried it, I was very attracted by this project.
And while you're at it, you might as well put songs in it as well.
But my image of kabuki was sort of traditional and conservative, something that must be protected.
Doesn't this go against that?
Well, the word kabuki comes from the word "kabuku."
When you do something leading edge, something new and different, that's "kabuku."
I've inherited this "kabuku" spirit from previous generations.
I value it highly and continue to try out new things taking on all kinds of challenges.
- Hmm, so this is kabuki in its true sense.
- Yes, it is.
- So maybe we can do a collaboration...
- Yes.
- So it's possible?
- Yes, it is.
For the first episode of this season, our theme has been what I, Kataoka Ainosuke, do as a kabuki actor.
Sara, what did you think?
In one word, "ai" "love" juar like your name.
Thank you very much.
You fell in love with kabuki at a young age and have since wanted to popularize Kamigata kabuki.
You're always pushing boundaries and there's passion in absolutely everything you do.
Thank you very much.
I would love to share to the world just how amazing kabuki is.
That makes me very happy. Many thanks.
I look forward to hosting this program.
Thank you.
And now, we've received a lot of letters and messages from our viewers.
First, here's one from Zeynab in Iran.
Well She's beautiful, isn't she?
Mm, gorgeous!
I love Ainosuke.
If he wants to travel, please tell him to come to Esfahan city in Iran.
I want to see him. I’m his fan.
Oh, I love you so much Kataoka Ainosuke!
Please send my love to him.
Please tell him I want to meet him.
Sounds like a proposal...
Um, well..
Very passionate!
Thank you very much.
I'm very happy to receive such a passionate letter.
Please see me live, and see kabuki, and of course watch this program, and let other people know about it.
The next letter is also from Iran, this time from a male viewer.
His name is Benyamin.
Oh, wow! Impressive!
Hail to all! I painted on my T-shirt. (sorry for picrure's low quality)
Wow, he painted that!
Wow! He's painted the fox spirit.
The expression looks like that, doesn't it? It's very good.
Many thanks.
Don’t forget to visit our website.
You can find lots of information on kabuki and now you can also view video digests of our program.
You can also send comments so please do send us comments and questions.
And now, we've come to our first ending.
Yes. Since this program has always ended with a "mie" pose,
shall we try carrying on this tradition with a "mie?"
I'll try.
Ready?
What shall we do?
How about a strong pose, like this?
Can you place your hands like this?
And make your face visible...
And here we go, something like this.
Could you show me again? I'm so nervous!
Here we go.
Halfway like this, stop, here.
- Look up, and...
- Yes.
Right, let's go.
Right.
Hear ye! That's all for today!