The dramatic power of composition

“Kanadehon Chushingura”
Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni III
National Theatre collection (NA040160)

Ningyo-joruri (Japanese puppet theatre) developed alongside Kabuki, and the two influenced each other. Ningyo-joruri tells stories by manipulating puppets in time to music called joruri, traditional narrative music accompanied by the shamisen. In the mid-18th century, the highly literary and narrative works from this performing art were often adapted and performed as Kabuki. This established diverse plays, including sewa-mono, contemporary dramas for the ordinary people of the time, and jidai-mono, which portrayed conflicts among samurai or nobles that took place before the Edo period.

“Kanadehon Chushingura”
Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni III
National Theatre collection (NA040160)

Broadening the scope of plays and productions

Dance drama “Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Sekinoto”
Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni III
National Theatre collection (NA040310)

When new music came into fashion, it was incorporated into Kabuki, and a dance play known as a shosagoto also developed. In addition, a variety of devices were used as stage mechanisms. The hanamichi, the elevated walkway that extends from the stage into the audience, and mechanisms for raising, lowering, and rotating the stage were created one after another, and the scope of productions became much broader.

Dance drama “Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Sekinoto”
Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni III
National Theatre collection (NA040310)