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Kamigata
Kamigata (上方) was the colloquial term for a region today called Kansai (''kan'', barrier; ''sai'', west) in Japan. This large area encompasses the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. The term is used particularly when discussing elements of Edo period urban culture such as ukiyo-e and kabuki, and when making a comparison to the urban culture of the Edo/ Tokyo region. The term was no longer used as name for the Kansai provinces when Emperor Meiji moved to Edo in 1868. An account described Kamigata suji as one of the two regions that emerged from the division of Japan for the purpose of taxation with the other being Kwanto-suji. Kabuki, ukiyo-e, and many of the other related fields of popular and urban culture of the Edo period in fact originated in Kamigata before being transmitted to Edo. The vast majority of scholarship on the urban culture of the Edo period (1603–1867), even today, focuses on culture in Edo; Kamigata culture, though it is beginning to be studied more and mo ...
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Sakata Tōjūrō IV
was a Japanese kabuki actor in the Kamigata style and was officially designated a Living National Treasure. Unlike most kabuki actors, he performed both male and female roles, and was renowned as both a skilled '' wagotoshi'' (actor of male roles in the ''wagoto'' tradition) and '' onnagata'' (actor of female roles). He was the fourth in the line of Sakata Tōjūrō, having revived the name after a lapse of over 230 years. Lineage Though he bears no direct hereditary connection to the previous lineage of Sakata Tōjūrō which he has revived, Tōjūrō traced his line back several generations within the kabuki world. He is the eldest son of Nakamura Ganjirō II, grandson of Nakamura Ganjirō I, and great-grandson of Nakamura Kanjaku III who was adopted into the kabuki families by Nakamura Utaemon IV. Tōjūrō's sons Nakamura Ganjirō IV and Nakamura Senjaku III perform as kabuki actors, as do his grandsons Nakamura Kazutarō and Nakamura Toranosuke. Life and career He ...
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Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica. The term translates as "picture of the floating world". In 1603, the city of Edo (Tokyo) became the seat of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate. The ''chōnin'' class (merchants, craftsmen and workers), positioned at the bottom of the social order, benefited the most from the city's rapid economic growth, and began to indulge in and patronise the entertainment of kabuki theatre, geisha, and courtesans of the pleasure districts; the term ("floating world") came to describe this hedonistic lifestyle. Printed or painted ukiyo-e works were popular with the ''chōnin'' class, who had become wealthy enough to afford to decorate their homes with them. The earliest ukiyo-e works eme ...
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Naka No Shibai
Naka no Shibai (中の芝居, Central Theatre), also known as Naka-za (中座), was one of the major kabuki theatres in Osaka, Japan. History It was first built in 1652, in Osaka's Dōtonbori entertainment district, and saw the premieres of many famous plays; closely related to the nearby '' jōruri'' theatres, Naka would often be the first to adapt puppet plays to the kabuki stage, and often also arranged the Kamigata (Kansai) premieres of plays earlier performed in Edo. Also tied closely to other theatres in the area, and the general theatre culture and community of Kamigata, Naka hosted a number of competitions between actors and troupes, as well as reconciliation ceremonies between actors who had been feuding, and a variety of other theatrical community events. Some of the plays premiered at the Naka no Shibai include '' Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami'' (1745), '' Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura'' (Aug. 1748), and ''Kanadehon Chūshingura'' (Dec. 1748) which was first performed as a p ...
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Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 million in the 2020 census, it is also the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan and the 10th largest urban area in the world with more than 19 million inhabitants. Osaka was traditionally considered Japan's economic hub. By the Kofun period (300–538) it had developed into an important regional port, and in the 7th and 8th centuries, it served briefly as the imperial capital. Osaka continued to flourish during the Edo period (1603–1867) and became known as a center of Japanese culture. Following the Meiji Restoration, Osaka greatly expanded in size and underwent rapid industrialization. In 1889, Osaka was officially established as a municipality. The cons ...
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Sakata Tōjūrō
refers to a family of kabuki actors in Kyoto and OsakaNussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sakata Tōjūrō''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File. and it is the stage name of a series of Kabuki actors over the course of the history of the form. The first Sakata Tōjūrō (1646–1709) was the most popular kabuki actor in Kyoto-Osaka during the Genroku era.Brandon, James R. (2000). "Sakata Tojuro (1647 - 1709)," in He played ''tachiyaku'' roles. He pioneered the '' wagoto'' form of the Kamigata (Kansai) theatre as his counterpart in Edo, Ichikawa Danjūrō I, did the same for the '' aragoto'' form. Sakata Tōjūrō was actor-manager (''zagashira'') of the Mandayū Theatre in Kyoto; and during this period, the house playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Chikamatsu praised the actor's craft, including careful attention to the dramatic requirements of the script and encouraging other actors to stu ...
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Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to have originated in the very early Edo period, when founder Izumo no Okuni formed a female dance troupe who performed dances and light sketches in Kyoto. The art form later developed into its present all-male theatrical form after women were banned from performing in kabuki theatre in 1629. Kabuki developed throughout the late 17th century and reached its zenith in the mid-18th century. In 2005, kabuki theatre was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value. In 2008, it was inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Etymology The individual kanji that make up the word ''kabuki'' can be read as , , and . ''Kabuki'' is therefore sometimes t ...
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Amayo No Sanbai Kigen
''Amayo no Sanbai Kigen'' (雨夜三盃機嫌) is an illustrated book depicting forty-four Kamigata kabuki actors of the time. It was originally published in 1693 as a woodblock printed book by Bokutekian and Sōgyū. Some of the actors included are: * Ogino Samanojō I * Yamashita Saizaburō * Mizuki Tatsunosuke I * Sodeoka Masanosuke * Tamamura Tsuyanosuke *Yoshizawa Ayame I Yoshizawa Ayame I (初代 吉沢 菖蒲) (1673-15 July 1729) was an early Kabuki actor, and the most celebrated ''onnagata'' (specialist in female roles) of his time. His thoughts on acting, and on ''onnagata'' acting in particular, were recorded ... * Onogawa Ugenji * Saruwaka Kosanza * Sodesaki Karyū I * Sakata Tōkurō * Iwai Heijirō * Sodesaki Iroha ReferencesAmayo no Sanbai Kigen at Kabuki21.com(with images) Kabuki Japanese books Ukiyo-e {{Japan-lit-stub ...
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Kansai Region
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolitan region of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto (Keihanshin region) is the second-most populated in Japan after the Greater Tokyo Area. Name The terms , , and have their roots during the Asuka period. When the old provinces of Japan were established, several provinces in the area around the then-capital Kyoto were collectively named Kinai and Kinki, both roughly meaning "the neighbourhood of the capital". Kansai (literally ''west of the tollgate'') in its original usage refers to the land west of the Osaka Tollgate (), the border between Yamashiro Province and Ōmi Province (present-day Kyoto and Shiga prefectures).Entry for . Kōjien, fifth edition, 1998, During the Kamakura period, this border was redefined to include Ōmi and Iga Provinces. ...
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Wagoto
, or ''soft style'', is a style of kabuki acting that emphasizes realistic speech and gestures. Wagoto actors typically do not employ the exaggerated makeup and costuming common to the more exaggerated '' aragoto'' (''rough'') style. Wagoto was pioneered by Sakata Tōjūrō I, an actor in the Kamigata (Osaka-Kyoto) region. Plays that emphasize wagoto roles are typically tragic romances. Famous plays that emphasize wagoto roles include '' Sonezaki Shinjū'' (''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'') and '' Kuruwa Bunshō'' (''Tales of the Licensed Quarter''). Wagotoshi refers to Kabuki actors who specialize in wagoto roles. Notable wagotoshi include Bandō Kakitsu I and Matsumoto Kōshirō VII was a Japanese actor. He was one of the leading ''tachiyaku'' Kabuki actors of Japan's Meiji period (1868–1912) through the late 1940s. Names Like most Kabuki actors, Kōshirō took various stage names ('' gō'') over the course of his caree .... See also * Aragoto References * Kabuk ...
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Urakusai Nagahide
Urakusai Nagahide (Japanese: 有楽斎 長秀), was a designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints who was active from about 1804 to about 1848. He is also known as Yūrakusai Nagahide (有楽斎 長秀), Nakamura Nagahide (中邑 長秀 or 中村 長秀), Chōshū (長秀), and as Chōshūsai (長秀斎). “Nagahide” and “Chōshū” are written with the same kanji. The ending “sai” means studio or hall, and is added or omitted at will by many Japanese artists. Nagahide worked in both Kyoto and Osaka. His early prints resemble those of his teacher Ryūkōsai Jokei, but were also influenced by Shōkōsai Hanbei.Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). ''Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints,'' p. 482. Such a radical change occurred in Nagahide’s style that some scholars believe that the body of works signed “Nagahide” may actually have been created by two different artists.Roberts, p. 115 From the 1810s to the 1830s, Nagahide was the most proli ...
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Shijō School
The , also known as the ''Maruyama–Shijō'' school, was a Japanese school of painting. History It was an offshoot school of the Maruyama school of Japanese painting founded by Maruyama Ōkyo, and his former student Matsumura Goshun in the late 18th century. This school was one of several that made up the larger Kyoto school. The school is named after the Shijō Street ("Fourth Avenue") in Kyoto where many major artists were based. Its primary patrons were rich merchants in and around Kyoto/Osaka and also appealed to the '' kamigata'' who were of the established aristocrat and artisan families of the Imperial capital during the late 18th/19th centuries. Style Stylistically, the Shijō style can best be described as a synthesis of two rival styles of the time. Maruyama Ōkyo was an experienced and expert painter of '' sumi-e'' ink paintings, and accomplished a great degree of realism in his creations, emphasizing direct observation of depicted subjects which was a direct ...
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Hosoban
Woodblock printing in Japan (, ''mokuhanga'') is a technique best known for its use in the ''ukiyo-e'' artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868) and similar to woodcut in Western printmaking in some regards, the mokuhanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks—as opposed to western woodcut, which typically uses oil-based inks. The Japanese water-based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency. History Early, to 13th century In 764 the Empress Kōken commissioned one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a small woodblock scroll printed with a Buddhist text (''Hyakumantō Darani''). These were distributed to temples around the country as thanks for the suppression of the Emi Rebellion of 764. These are the earliest examples of woodblock printing known, or documented, from Japan.
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