A scene of pulling an elephant against each other, taken up as the title “Zohiki”. Onoe Shoroku 2nd as Mita no Genjitakeru and Ichimura Uzaemon 17th as Otomo no Kachimaro. January, 1982 at the National Theatre. (Y_E0100114000038)
One of the Kabuki-Juhachiban plays.
To express the forcefulness of the Aragoto style, there is an act of measuring a character’s strength against another by two persons pulling something from both ends. “Zohiki” is one of this kind in which the leading role of Aragoto pulls an elephant against a villain character. In the right side of the picture is the villain role with blue Kumadori makeup.
It is said that Danjuro 1st premiered it, but there is no detailed information. The play was long abandoned during the Edo period and there is no fixed script. Therefore, various actors after the Taisho period revived it. Most recently, Onoe Shoroku 2nd revived it at the National Theatre in 1982.