Acting, repertoire items, and roles inherited from generation to generation of each actor's family, or the specialties of individual actors, are called "Ie no gei" (family arts).
A typical example is the "Kabuki-juhachiban" in which Ichikawa Danjuro 7th [Ichikawa Ebizo 5th at that time] made a collection of the Aragoto roles which were the specialties of Danjuro of each generation, at the end of Tokugawa Shogunate.
A typical example is the "Kabuki-juhachiban" in which Ichikawa Danjuro 7th [Ichikawa Ebizo 5th at that time] made a collection of the Aragoto roles which were the specialties of Danjuro of each generation, at the end of Tokugawa Shogunate.
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![Ichikawa Danjuro 7th [Ichikawa Ebizo 5th at that time] performing Benkei in "Kanjincho," one of the Kabuki-juhachiban](images/img_4_03_03-01.jpg) |
In and after the Meiji period, influenced by the Kabuki-juhachiban, various actors started to make their own "Ie no gei" (family arts) collections. The "Shin Kabuki-juhachiban" selected by Ichikawa Danjuro 9th, and the "Shinko engeki jisshu" selected by Onoe Kikugoro 5th [Onoe Kikugoro 6th later added one item to this list] are famous "Ie no gei." Some of the roles included in these collections are performed today by Ichikawa Danjuro 12th and Onoe Kikugoro 7th.
Other than family arts involving selected and completed repertoire collections like the Kabuki-juhachiban, there are "Ie no gei" such as the geifu (acting techniques) which are the specialties of each actor's family. For instance the Onoe Kikugoro family's Sewamono and ghost story plays, the Nakamura Utaemon family's important Onnagata roles after the Meiji period, and the Sawamura Sojuro family's Wagoto roles.
Other than family arts involving selected and completed repertoire collections like the Kabuki-juhachiban, there are "Ie no gei" such as the geifu (acting techniques) which are the specialties of each actor's family. For instance the Onoe Kikugoro family's Sewamono and ghost story plays, the Nakamura Utaemon family's important Onnagata roles after the Meiji period, and the Sawamura Sojuro family's Wagoto roles.
