vagabonds, beggars, ne'er-do-wells, and hinin (social outcasts).
Genteel poor or common-class people appear in kizewa-mono but not in leading roles. Beauty was not the essence of this form; it was the presentation of the ultimate in a realistic style of complete production.
It was at this time that the wig known as onnagata katsura made its debut to help enhance the believability of the female impersonator. The copper frame already had been in use since early Genro, but now the hair, strand by strand, was properly secured to the frame by first attaching it to fine silk by the use of needles. Previously, several strands of hair at a time had been tied across a string which was sewn to the front of the copper base, then combed backward over the frame.
The new type of katsura devised by the wigmaker Tomokuro, was worn by Onoe Matsusuke I in the role of Iwafuji in Kagamiyama Kokyō no Nishikie (The Maidservant's Revenge) in 1803 at the Ichimura-za. All other actors in the drama wore the old-style mino wigs—in which the hair was tied across a string and then sewn to the copper base—with purple bōshi, in this instance a decorative piece of cloth placed over the forehead. The bōshi was created to envelop the entire head, but it gradually diminished in size, covering only the upper forehead—as now worn by onnagata—but it still retains the identical name.
Matsumoto Kōshirō V, celebrated particularly for villainous roles, presented his characters without the usual white make-up, trying the more natural approach. As Shihei in Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami he appeared almost void of make-up, wearing a more realistic costume than that worn in the play today.
Much to the consternation of the Kamigata inhabitants, Kōshirō V changed the make-up and costume of Gonta in Yoshitsune Sembon-Zakura to a typically Edokko style. Though the Kamigata people protested that Gonta was a real man of Yamato (the early name for the central provinces of Japan; Edo did not exist at that time)—in this instance a Kyoto man and not an Edokko—the Kōshirō adaptation of costume and the use of heavier make-up now remain in the kata for the play, whether it is given in Kansai or in Tokyo. Gonta's cotton costume is designed in the Benkei-gōshi pattern: an oblong checkerboard in black and white, to make the wearer look more slender.
In Banzuin Chōbei Shōjin Manaita, better known as Suzugamori (The Execution Grounds at Suzugamori)—a sewa-mono that tells the story of the gallant commoner Banzuin Chōbei and the young rōnin Gompachi—Banzuin Chōbei wears a cotton kimono with a pattern on a white background, an obi tied with a hako musubi (square bow) or a kai-no-kuchi (shell-mouth-shaped) bow, and a naga-wakizashi, the medium-sized sword permitted commoners. Kampei, in Act VI of Kanadehon Chūshingura, wears a crested blue kimono called asagi mompuku, first worn by Kikugorō III.
Danjūrō VII, after witnessing the poorer class of rōnin trying to make a living by putting paper on umbrellas, decided to express the role of a destitute rōnin in a real-life manner. His garb was a kata-ire (kata, shoulder; ire, covering) of black cloth, patched over the shoulders to hide the worn spots, over which was tied a cloth tasuki, a cord or sash used for tucking up kimono sleeves during manual labor.
In March 1837, when he appeared at the Ichimura-za with Ichikawa Danzō III of Osaka in Yūsoku Kamakura-Yama (Kamakura Mountain Man Versed in Ancient Court and Military Practices), Danjūrō VII played the role of Sano Genzaemon Tsuneyo wearing a replica of the true daimyō asagi (flax blue) naga-gamishimo, a kamishimo with long trailing hakama. It is interesting to note that the title of the play, while it refers to knowledge of ceremonial matters of the noble class, contains a reference to yūsoku-moyō, a textile pattern worn by the nobility. Since the actual theme of the play was political troubles in Edo, the scene was shifted to the Kamakura period to circumvent the ban on stage portrayals of politics. Eventually the naga-gamishimo was added to the proscribed list, but Danjūrō VII continued to appear in the costume in Osaka, where there was less chance of his being reported to the government authorities, since the powerful merchant class outweighed the samurai in influence.
Danjūrō's naga-gamishimo was made of ramie, replacing satin and other rich-textured cloth previously in popular favor. Today ramie is no longer used, for it is far more expensive than other fabrics and not so lovely as the ryūmon silk now available. Chemical dye is occasionally used with results more satisfactory on silk than on ramie.
Although restrictions had been placed on the naga-gamishimo, the ordinary kamishimo was not affected. In fact, it was worn in real life even by the chōnin class. On the stage, any material could be used for it.
Danjūrō, possessed of a curious mind, was an ardent student of history, always eager to adapt his discoveries about the past to the stage, wherever possible. Though some aspects of the Nō had been incorporated into Kabuki, it was Danjūrō VII who modified the pine-tree backdrop (used for Kabuki plays of Nō origin), the costumes, the dialogue, and the acting for the Kabuki theater. Make-up was not introduced from the Nō. Since social intercourse was lacking between Nō and Kabuki actors—Nō being performed exclusively in aristocratic circles, Kabuki in popular ones—it was extremely difficult for a Kabuki actor to gain admittance to any performance of Nō. He had no way to study the costumes carefully enough to imitate the shōzoku (costumes) of the older classical theater.
Danjūrō was determined to overcome this social barrier and to study Nō costumes. He called on the Nō costumer Sekioka, but Sekioka refused to see the kawara kojiki—the riverbed beggar, as the Kabuki actor was still commonly called. Undaunted, Danjūrō visited Sekioka time and time again until the costumer at last relented and showed him a plain shiroōguchi—that is, a man's white hakama with wide pleats and a stiffened back—a costume worn by the lowliest character on the Nō stage. As a result, even today the ōguchi worn by Benkei in Kanjinchō (The Subscription List) is white, although it has a pattern in the weave.
Upon seeing Kanjinchō, Yamanouchi Yōdō, feudal lord of Tosa and a patron of Danjūrō VII, was so shocked at the poverty of the costumes in comparison with those used on the Nō stage in performing the same story that he presented Danjūrō with his own Nō costume for the role of Benkei. Since then, the costumes for Kanjinchō have been made from excellent textiles. This has been especially true since the 1860's, since during Meiji and the following eras restrictive edicts on elaboration of theatrical costume were not enforced, and the field was left wide open for Kabuki in this respect.
Iwai Hanshirō V, an extremely "pretty" actor, was the representative onnagata of the Bunka-Bunsei era. The public called him by the pet name of me-senryō or thousand-rye eyes, for his eyes were remarkably beautiful and expressive. (Kawarasaki Gonjūrō I was also called me-senryō.) Hanshirō was a skillful actor, showing his amazing versatility in a wide range of roles, from musume-gata (young women) to tachi-yaku (leading male characters). He established the role of the akuba (bad woman), and his stylization remains the kata for roles of wicked women. He was famous for his portrayal of such akuba parts as Mikazuki Osen (Osen of the Crescent Moon), Dote no Oroku (Oroku of the Riverbank), and Kaminari Otsuru (Thunder Otsuru). His stellar tachi-yaku parts were Hanaregoma Chokichi in Sekitori Seniyo Nobori, a story dealing with sumō wrestlers, and Shirai Gompachi in Suzugamori. The black costume worn by Gompachi originated with Hanshirō, but the hiwa kimono (so named because its chartreuse color resembles that of the small finch called hiwa in Japanese) worn by the present-day Baikō VII was introduced by Kikugorō III.
Hanshirō was prolific in contriving fresh ideas for patterns. His Hanshirō kanoko (small-spot shibori or tie-dyeing resembling the spots on a fawn's hide) in the asanoha (hemp-leaf) pattern in blue and red was first used for the costume of Yaoya Oshichi—Oshichi the greengrocer's daughter—in a play given in March 1809 at the Morita-za.
The Iwai-gushi, a crescent-shaped comb designed by Hanshirō for use in the role of Mikazuki Osen, was considered very chic and became the rage among style-conscious ladies. It was one of numerous things described as having iki, the commoners' word for aplomb, dash, and spruceness. In fact, toward the end of the Edo period, all sorts of things expressed
