Kabuki Plus
Tales of interspecies marriage
There are many stories in Japanese folklore from ancient times of humans marrying non-humans, such as foxes and cranes. These are known broadly as “Irui Kon’in Tan” or “Tales of Interspecies Marriage”. Many of these stories have been incorporated into Bunraku and Kabuki as with Kuzunoha: for example, the spirit of the willow tree becomes a wife and mother in Sanjusangendo Munagi Yurai, a cherry tree spirit becomes a lover in Seki no To, and the soul of a dead fiancée returns as a powerful hawk and has a child in Yuriwaka Daijin. During the feudal system, the class structure was rigid, so the tragic love of different classes was depicted in folk tales as interspecies marriage. Many of these stories feature the tragic separation of a parent and child as a highlight.
Legend of Shinoda’s wife
notable!Kuzunoha is based on the legend of Shinoda’s wife, which also featured in 17th-century sermons and older puppet dramas. Meanwhile, there was a real-life court diviner Abe Seimei, whose supernatural powers were referred to in medieval folklore compilations like Tales of Konjaku and Tales of Uji Jui. The Kuzunoha legend reveals that Abe Seimei’s superpowers stem from his secret origins as a child of a human and a fox. Some works depict Ashiya Doman as Seimei’s rival. This Kabuki piece compares the skills of the two seers in its own unique style.
Stage effects and fox speech
notable!The wife Kuzunoha and Princess Kuzunoha are supposed to look identical, so in Kabuki, the same actor performs both roles with a quick change of costume. In the scene inside the house where the mother reveals her identity, a special chime called a “raijo” is used to indicate that this is a fox. The actor uses the hand gestures of a fox to open doors, fold screens and turn them upside down, and speaks in a high-pitched tone to allude to the character’s fox identity.
Skill of magical writing
The writing scene has been presented in a number of ways. The actor may write in mirror image and reversed order to represent the magical skills of the fox, or leave the character of “love” unfinished and throw the brush onto the screen to complete it. At other times, heat is used to reveal the hidden characters. Various other stage effects are used as well.
Yasuna in kiyomoto dance
The kiyomoto work Yasuna is a dance piece based on Kosode Madness, the second act of the source drama. It was incorporated in a seven-act dance piece first performed in 1818. Yasuna goes mad after the death of his lover Sakaki. The dance shows him wandering in the wild flower fields.
Takeda Izumo I
Takeda Izumo I (? – 1747) was the leader of the Takemoto Theatre, a pioneering producer of puppet dramas. He was a skillful manager and stage director, and wrote many scripts as well. He handled the staging of Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s colossally successful The Battles of Coxinga, and was the first to come up with the now-standard idea of three-men manipulation of puppets in the “Ninin Yakko” scene of Ashiya Doman Ouchi Kagami. He helped create the Golden Age of puppet theater with his innovative ideas. His many plays include Hiragana Seisuiki, Oguri Hangan Kuruma Kaido and Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy.
