Kabuki Plus
“Zen” in Shuzenji
notable!The title of this show includes a pun. The temple where the main character Yoriie was imprisoned after a failed attempt to assassinate Hojo Tokimasa is still standing. The title of the play is taken from the temple. The character for “zen” in the town’s name means good, as opposed to the character in the title meaning “zen” philosophy. The town remains a popular tourist destination, known for an historic hot spring opened by the famed monk Kukai during the 9th century and the Katsura River that runs through the town.
Yoriie’s mask
An actual mask of Yoriie is kept today at Shuzenji Temple. It was originally thought to have been designed for a dance play. The mask and an explanation are offered at http://shuzenji-temple.com/jihou.html. Kido wrote of his own impressions in detail in an essay called “Memories of Creation: Shuzenji Monogatari” in 1956. When Kido was writing the play in September 1908, he also visited Yoriie’s grave. The grave is located at Shigetsu Temple on the opposite side of the river from Shuzenji Temple.
Depiction of Yashao
Kido used two legends as reference materials for the show. One is the use by the 16th-century Noh actor Kongo Ukyo Hisatsugu of his dying wife as the model for the mask of the character Magojiro in the play Yokihi. The other is the early Edo Era actor Kita Koshichi-tayu, whose direction of the play Fujito was inspired by observing a young mother who goes mad after accidentally killing her child. The name Yashao came from a mask carver of the early 12th century. Also, the conclusion that Yashao’s excellent skill predicted the future reminds us of Oscar Wilde’s comment that “life imitates art”. This work is influenced by the art-for-art’s-sake movement in Europe in the late 19th century, including the occult touch of the mask predicting the future. Kido was a fluent English speaker and read extensively from his youth. The harmonious blend of Japanese Noh actors and Western ideas in the portrait of Yashao is the result of Kido’s wide-ranging knowledge.
Art of dialogue
notable!This play has a number of extended speeches as is common in works written for Ichikawa Sadanji II, who had a masculine appeal and championed the New Kabuki movement. The best known are the speech in Act I when Yashao declines Yoriie’s request to hand over the mask (“I cannot say when I can deliver it. I carry a chisel in my left hand…”), and one in Act II when Yoriie speaks to Katsura (“The hot spring water makes our passions swell. I once lost a love but have found a new one, and my heartache is finally healed”). Yoriie in this work was a signature role of Ichimura Uzaemon XV, a handsome actor with an impressive tenor voice. While the speeches retain the classic rhythms of Edo Era Kabuki, the depiction of sensitive emotions such as the healing of heartache delivered by handsome actors reflects the work’s modern sensibility.
