Kabuki Plus
Three Princesses
Princess Toki is one the three great princess roles in Kabuki alongside Princess Yaegaki in Honcho Nijushiko and Princess Yuki in Gion Sairei Shinkoki, known collectively as the Three Princesses. Dubbed the Red Princess, she wears a red version of the traditional long-sleeved kimono with a flower-shaped tiara. Despite her graceful appearance, she shows fierce resolve in her big line, “I will kill my father”, as she grasps the sword in hand in one of the play’s highlights. The red color represents her burning passion.
Complex allure of Princess Toki
notable!In the rarely performed opening scene, Princess Toki comes back from in a head covering and rolled-up sleeves after buying tofu and prepares rice, a true-to-life routine. Her character has a complex appeal with a mixture of bravery, passion and a willingness to serve. The scene with her mother-in-law thrusting the spear into herself is not often performed in Kabuki in recent days in order to keep the focus on the princess’ resolve as well as Takatsuna’s revelation. In the original puppet drama, Princess Toki returns to her father but, unable to bring herself to kill him, commits suicide. Miuranosuke also dies in battle.
Historic background (“world”)
During the Edo Era, the ruling Tokugawa shoguns were not allowed to be featured in drama. Current events were instead disguised by placing them in the past. In Kabuki, the historic background is called the “world” of the play. In this piece, the world is the 13th-century Kamakura Era. The public would understand that the characters stood in for well-known figures in the Siege of Osaka by the Tokugawa regime. The love affair between Miuranosuke and Princess Toki is fiction.
Sequel to Moritsuna Jinya
The historic warrior Sanada Yukimura, the model for Sasaki Takatsuna, is believed to have had seven secret doubles. In the scene from the drama Moritsuna Jinya, Takatsuna’s brother Moritsuna examines the false head of Takatsuna. Kamakura Sandaiki is a sequel to this play. Takatsuna, who sent a false head to the enemy war camp, is pretending to be the peasant Tozaburo. That character is modeled in turn after the historic Sakazaki Dewanokami, who rescued Princess Sen on the order of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The original play had nine acts, with this play corresponding to Act VII.
Giving medicine by mouth
Princess Toki gives medicine to Miuranosuke, who has lost consciousness upon his return from the battlefield. There are two versions of this scene. In one, she gives him medicine directly from her mouth, covering their faces from the audience with her sleeve. In the other, she feeds him the medicine with her fan. This is a desperate scene highlighting the princess’ ardent love.
Actor and incense
notable!Onoe Baiko VI said in his book about onnagata (female-role specialists) that when Princess Toki takes the helmet from Miuranosuke, the beautiful fragrance emanating from it, suggesting that it has been purified by incense, signals to her that he is resolved to die. She must show this in her acting.
Mie of hell
notable!One of Kabuki’s unique stage techniques is the mie pose in the midst of the performance, intended to heighten the impact of certain emotions or scenes. When Takatsuna emerges from the well and explains how he substituted himself for the peasant, he punctuates his description of a hellish state by bending his arms like a ghost and sticking out his tongue, known as a “hell mie”.
