year of the Gembun era, 1736, and continues to the end of the Hōreki era in 1764.
Hōreki audiences saw the golden age of the ningyō-jōruri-shibai—the puppet theater. Though completely overshadowed by this flourishing theater, Kabuki did not let puppet domination destroy the strong spirit of either the Kamigata (western) or the Edo (eastern) stage. Instead it continued to progress step by step as it prepared for the future.
Jidai-mono and sewa-mono written for the doll theater by the Kamigata playwrights—notably Tominaga Heibei, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and Mizushima Shirobei—were adapted for the Kabuki stage. Prior to this time, the two representative theaters had gone their separate ways. Adaptations from the puppet theater offered the Kabuki patrons more complex and interesting dramas, for puppet scripts had now reached the stage of sammaku or mimaku (san or mi, three; maku, act, curtain)—that is, of three-act plays.
The ballad singing of the jōruri was an indispensable element of the puppet theater and became the accepted accompaniment for all Kabuki maruhommono: plays originating in the doll theater. Before that, Kabuki had been composed chiefly of dialogue plays, although the geza or music and sound effects room was already in use.
The mid-eighteenth century was a time of marked improvement in Kabuki both in costumes and in stage settings. It must be acknowledged that the Kabuki not only patterned its costumes after those of the puppet theater but also copied the style of acting of that theater.
During Hōreki, Kabuki introduced many interesting actors, some of whose descendants are carrying on the family names and the kata (acting format) in twentieth-century Tokyo and Kansai Kabuki. Among these Hōreki actors were Ichikawa Danjūrō II, Ichikawa Danjūrō III, Ichikawa Danjūrō IV (known earlier as Matsumoto Kōshirō II), Sawamura Sōjūrō I, Ichikawa Danzō I, Onoe Kikugorō I, Ōtani Hiroji I, Bandō Hikosaburō I, Anegawa Shinshirō I, Arashi Sangorō I, Sadogashima Chōgorō I, Nakamura Jūzō I, Segawa Kikunojō I, Nakamura Karoku I, and Sanokawa Ichimatsu I.
Among the above, Ōtani Hiroji I is remembered for originating the hikinuki or quick change of costume on stage. Sadogashima Chōgorō I was famous for his dancing, but his acting family survived for only one generation, as did the acting family of Anegawa Shinshirō I. Sanokawa Ichimatsu I reached stardom in Edo, although he came from Kamigata.
Probably the greatest single inspiration to improve costumes and acting was generated by the competitive maneuvering of the various Kabuki managements in presenting identical plays. Kanadehon Chūshingura (The Noble Precept Set by the Loyal Retainers or, less literally, The Revenge of the Forty-seven Faithful Ronin) was first staged in 1748. Chūshingura became the foremost play in the Kabuki repertoire as well as an excellent vehicle for the versatility of Kabuki actors in designing costumes.
The basic story of Chūshingura is that of the Daimyo of Akō, Enya Hangan. Tried beyond endurance by the insults of a high official, Ko no Moronao, Hangan draws his sword and attacks Moronao in a room of the palace—an offense punishable by death. On orders from the shōgunate, Hangan commits seppuku, and his staunch retainers vow revenge upon Moronao. The play revolves around the accomplishment of this revenge by the forty-seven masterless samurai and their eventual mass suicide at the order of the government.
Descriptions of the costumes worn by three prominent actors in the role of Yuranosuke, leader of the rōnin, in Hangan's seppuku scene are found in the Hachimonji-ya Jishōhen (Self-Criticism by Hachimonji-ya) and the Kokon Iroha Hyoron (Old and New Criticism of Chūshingura), the "iroha" of the latter tide being the 47-symbol Japanese syllabary, here used metaphorically for the 47 rōnin of the play. The Kokon Iroha Hyoron was the first complete dissertation covering all plays produced on the theme of Chūshingura, from the appearance of the first one in 1748 to 1785.
The actors whose costumes for the role of Yuranosuke are described in these two books were Sawamura Sōjūrō I, Onoe Kikugorō I, and Bandō Hikosaburō I.
Sōjūrō dressed in a black kosode (small-sleeved kimono) over which he wore a brown kamishimo with white polka dots. He had presented Ōyakazu Shijūshichi-hon, another play about the incident of the Akō rōnin, the year before the initial appearance of Chūshingura in 1748. In the former play, he was a hit as Ōyakazu, but Chūshingura, since its first presentation, has been unsurpassed in popularity.
Onoe Kikugorō I chose a dark-green kamishimo with white polka dots and wore it over a kosode of the type known as koshigawari noshime (koshi, hips; kawari, change; noshime, a style of weaving). On the stage, a kimono having a different pattern across the midriff is called noshime. The pattern also extends across the lower part of the sleeves, so that when the arms are outstretched the pattern will appear in a continuous straight line. In everyday life, the noshime is a pattern woven with silk thread previously dyed by the tie-and-dye method.
Bandō Hikosaburō I appeared in a kamishimo of the type known as Kembō komon, the color of which is not recorded. The name Kembō was that of a famous master of fencing, Yoshioka Kembō, who is said to have originated the technique of dyeing komon—that is, a small over-all design somewhat difficult to differentiate from a solid color when seen from a distance.
Hikosaburō wore two swords, one long and one short. His hakama were tucked up at the sides, showing his bare legs from the thighs down and thereby displaying his sanri-ate (knee pads). To disclose the fact that Yuranosuke had traveled hurriedly on horseback, a horsewhip was pushed through the right side of the back of the obi. Today the actor taking the role of Yuranosuke does not wear swords during the scene of Hangan's suicide, and the horsewhip has also been discarded.
Throughout the Hōreki period and onward during the most popular years of Kabuki, actors exerted great influence on the choice of colors and textile patterns, as well as on styles worn by commoners. Moreover, styles worn by the people were appropriated and adapted by the actors. This exchange of ideas in clothing was made freely, though the stage versions were ordinarily not the exact facsimile of those of the everyday man.
The Sōjūrō zukin, a hood made popular by the actor Sawamura Sōjūrō I, however, was worn by samurai in everyday life, as well as by actors on the stage. It was conceived and worn by Sōjūrō when he played the role of Ume no Yoshibei, an otokodate (chivaIrous commoner) of Edo. As a rule, today's Sōjūrō zukin is black, although Sōjūrō introduced it in purple. The same style of zukin is worn in other plays—for example, the Sōjūrō zukin is worn by Nippon Daemon in the "Hamamatsuya" scene of Benten Kozō or Shiranami Gonin Otoko (The Story of the Five Notorious Thieves).
Modern Kabuki owes much to one of the outstanding onnagata of Edo, Segawa Kikunojō I (1691-1749), who wrote many detailed notes on the techniques of make-up, wardrobe, and histrionics for the female impersonator. Among them one finds the suggestion that an onnagata representing a ghost, a demoness, or a wicked woman should not try to create the part by make-up but by acting and should accentuate the unearthly or ugly natures of these characters by such devices as long, flowing hair and somber-colored clothes or by wearing the kimono in a special manner. Kikunojō felt strongly that actors taking men's roles might change their make-up, but not the onnagata, for he believed that the female impersonator must, superficially at least, appear to be a graceful, charming woman at all times, and any change of make-up even for wicked roles would break the illusion of femininity and reveal the onnagata as a man.
It can be assumed that the onnagata did not shave their eyebrows, for Kikunojō wrote, "If you have heavy eyebrows do not paint over them because it would be very unnatural-looking."In order to look like a woman, he suggested that the actor pad his hips, since women were broader than men. He also recommended that beni (red coloring) be heated over a direct flame, then applied to face and lips to prevent wrinkles and assure the maintenance of a beautiful complexion.
"An onnagata," Kikunojō said, "should not be 'liked' by women in the audience. Let it not be said, 'I wish I were
