ISSN:
0026-749X
Source:
Cambridge Journals Digital Archives
Topics:
Ethnic Sciences
,
History
,
Political Science
,
Economics
Notes:
The more spectacular incidents in the career of Utaemon III (1778–1838) took place in Osaka. They include a fierce rivalry with the Arashi family, especially Rikan I (1769–1821), and a later career characterized by a marked reluctance to retire. In this account of his life, much use will be made of the documentary evidence of Osaka actor prints, and also of banzuke, which are the programmes of performances at a particular theatre. Banzuke come in various forms, including the illustrated ones called e-banzuke, more or less abbreviated ones such as those used apparently rather like fly-posters for circuses in England (tsuji-banzuke, put up at street-corners), and the standard form which lists the roles and those who performed them, names of musicians, name of zamoto or manager, theatre, date, and so on. Many libraries have collections of these available for inspection, but I should like to mention here another source. In the Waseda University Theatre Museum there survives a sort of theatrical scrap-book, consisting of boxes of made-up books with materials from the 1620s to 1827, but in fuller detail for the period of the life of Utaemon III, which was of great interest to the compiler, who is thought to have been a wealthy Osaka ginseng merchant and kabuki fan called Yoshida Goun, who employed Hamamatsu Utakuni, a well-known theatrical critic, to collect the material, order illustrations from artists, write explanatory pieces, arrange and catalogue it.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X00016401
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