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THE ART OF KABUKI SPEECH: RULES AND RHYTHMS
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAl’l IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
THEATRE
DECEMBER 2 0 00
By
Julie A . le zzi
D issertation C om m ittee:
James R. Brandon, Chair
Robert Huey
W . Dennis Carroll
Elizabeth W ichm ann-W alczak
K irstin Pauka
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UMI Number 9990251
UMI*
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Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
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We c e rtify th a t we have read this dissertation and th a t,
in our opinion, it is s a tis fa c to ry in scope and q u ality as a
dissertation fo r the degree o f Doctor o f Philosophy in
Theatre.
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
Cv
. j
(Chairperson)
----------------------------
ii
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A dissertation is the resuit of a phenomenal effort made by many people. I
am fortunate to have had the support of more than my share, without which this
would never have come to fruition. In Japan, I wish to thank all the kabuki actors,
especially Nakamura Ganjirfi III, Sawamura Tanosuke VI, and Kataoka Hidetard II, as
well as the gidayO and takemoto narrators, who made time to meet with me for
interviews in the midst of their busy schedules. I am indebted to Mizuguchi Kazuo
at the ShOchiku-za, and to the National Theatre of Japan, for allowing me to
observe kabuki actor training sessions. At Waseda University, I wish to thank
Professor Furuido Hideo for guidance during my 1998-1999 year of field research,
and especially Terada Shima for patiently helping me to decipher difficult texts.
Finally, I gratefully acknowledge the Japan Foundation, for financial support during
field research.
In Hawaii, I wish to thank all my committee members for their assistance
and understanding along the way. In particular, I wish to acknowledge James
Brandon, for a decade of unremitting encouragement, guidance, and academic
inspiration. Lastly, I wish to thank my husband, Josh, for keeping me sane during
the final phases of writing, and my parents, for always being there.
iii
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ABSTRACT
THE ART OF KABUKI SPEECH: RULES AND RHYTHMS
Kabuki, like other stylized theatre forms, has developed particular rules and
distinctive rhythmical patterns which create its unique manner of aural expression.
In this dissertation I examine essential rules and rhythms that are basic to kabuki’s
highly musical art of speech. I begin with a discussion of gidayO, the narrative
musical genre from which a kabuki actor learns how to breathe, use his breath
dynamically, and modulate pitch.
In chapters two through four I examine eight rules. They are 1) Send the
breath from the hara (abdomen), 2) Divide speech between the two modes of
jidai (distant or historical) and sewa (familiar or daily), 3) Attack the second
syllable and drop the end of the phrase, 4) Actors take their pitch from the
shamisen, 5) Sing the lines, 6) Onnagata use an “affected accent* to sound
seductive, 7) If speaking high, then speak low; if low, then high. If speaking fast,
then speak slow; if slow, then fast; and 8) Pass the tail end of the word to your
partner, which is subdivided into passing the tempo from actor to actor, and
passing from actor to musicians.
In chapters five and six I examine two extremely important rhythms which
are basic to, and representative of kabuki. The first important rhythm is a
syncopated vocal delivery called non (literally “riding*). Non was originally a
iv
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technique in gidayQ, where passages are short and serve as a rhythmic change in
music. In kabuki, non expanded in form and function in the hands of the actor.
The second rhythm, shichi-go chd (twelve-syllable lines of verse composed of
seven- and five- syllable hemistiches), is the oldest poetic verse form in Japan. It
is found in the texts of many theatrical forms, including noh, bunraku and kabuki,
where it manifests itself in remarkably distinct ways. In kabuki, regularly
patterned melodic lines are imposed on the rhythm of shichi-go chd to create very
distinct melodies that distinguish important aural highlights of a kabuki
performance.
These rules and rhythms operate in the production of a broad range of
character types, and in various types of plays—from the formalized jidaimono
(period plays), to the seemingly daily “natural" sewamono (domestic plays). They
illustrate the musical approach underlying the kabuki actor's art of speech.
In the summary chapter seven, I discuss the importance of gidayQ to
kabuki's art of speech, indicate areas for further research, and suggest the musical
approach a kabuki actor brings to speech would be useful in developing a stylized
speech in English.
v
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements.-----------------------------------------------------------
iii
Abstract______________________________________________________________ iv
List of Graphs.........................
ix
Chapter I: Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
Statement of Intent.................................
1
ChapterOutline.--------------------------------------------------
3
Previous Research and Justification-------------------------------------------------------------------5
Methodology.______________________________________________________ 12
Notes on the Text.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14
Notes on Graphs----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15
Chapter II: Gidayu and the Kabuki Actor’s Vocal Training
--------------------------------------17
Hara and the Breathing.---------------------------------------------------------------------- -------- 18
Onzukai._________________________________________________________ 24
Pronunciation_____________________________________________________ _ 27
Hikijiand Umiji.____________________________________________________ 30
Gidayu Study Today.________________________________________________ 35
Chapter III: Jidai and Sewa.------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40
Hays, Characters, and Speech__________________________________________.40
vi
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Jidaiand Sewa 'Coupling'--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 45
Vocal Examples.----------------------------------------------------------------------------
46
Daily Speech_____________________________________________________ 46
Sewa Speech---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 53
Jtdat Speech, i^3/na^fata.............................................................»............»......*.....»».*....*.»58
Attack the Second Syllable and Drop the End of the Phrase.................................... 65
Sewa and Jidai“Coupling"----------------------------------------------------------------------- 72
Chapter IV: Merihari—Modulating Pitch, Tempo, and Intonation
Actors Take Their Pitch Off the Shamisen?
.................................79
.......................................................80
Onnagata Use an Affected Accent to Sound Seductive_______________________ 86
Sing the Lines._______________________________________ _____________105
If Speaking High, Then Speak Low; If Low, Then High. If Speaking Quickly,
Then Speak Slowly; If Slowly Then Quickly.______________________________109
Pass the Tail End of the Word to Your Partner._____________________________ 123
From Actor to Actor.______________________________________________ 123
From Actor to Musician________________________ ____________________ 126
Chapter V: The Riding Rhythm of Non._____________________________________ 134
Non Before Kabuki.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------134
Mon in Kabuki
___________________________________________________135
Chapter VI: The Rhythm and Melodies of Shichi-go chd.________________________ 155
The Use of Shichi-go chd in Kabuki_____________________________________ 157
vii
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Tsurane:Monologues.---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 157
Waiizerifu: “Split* Dialogue--------------------------------------------------------------------- 160
Watarizerifu: Passed-AIong Dialogue.................................................................... 167
Chd-ushibai and Shichi-go chd.--------------------------------------------------------------- 172
The Delivery Technique.
....------------------------- ------------------------------------------- 176
Rhythm.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 177
Tempo________________________________________________________ 180
Pitch Contours.__________________________________________________ 180
Jidai shichi-go chd._______________________________________________ 185
ChapterVII: Summary.__________________________________________________ 199
Kabuki’s Debt to Gidayu__________________________________________ 200
FurtherStudy.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 202
Applications Outside of Kabuki.______________________________________ 203
Appendix: Hertz/Tone Correspondence Chart.________________________________ 206
Bibliography._________________________________________________________ 207
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LIST OF GRAPHS’
1. Example of Onzukai (Yazaemon [Kawarazaki Gonjurd III] in the "Sushiya"
scene of Yoshitsune senbonzakura). <Tokyo, Kabuki-za. Date unknown.
Videotape..........................
28
2. Example of Umiji (Sukeroku [Ichikawa DanjQrO XI] in Sukeroku yukari no edo
zakura) cTokyo, Kabuki-za, April 1962. Videotape>..............................
33
3. Example of Umifl (Sukeroku [Ichikawa DanJQrd XII] in Sukeroku yukari no edo
zakura) <Tokyo, Kabuki-za, April 1985. Videotape>........................................34
4. Example of Natural Speaking Voice (Nakamura Shikan VII) <from Kabuki no
sekai: Onnagata. NHK, 1983. Videotapes.......................................................49
5. Example of Natural Speaking Voice (Onoe Baikfl VII) <from Kabuki no sekai:
Onnagata. NHK, 1983. Videotape>
....................................................... 50
6. Example of Natural Speaking Voice (Nakamura Utaemon VI) <from Kabuki no
sekai: Onnagata. NHK, 1983.Videotape>___________________________ 51
7. Example of Natural Speaking Voice (Onoe Sh6roku II) <from Kabuki no sekai:
Tachiyaku. NHK, 1983. Videotape>________________________________ 52
8. Example of Sewa Voice. (Yasuke [Nakamura Shikan VII] in "Sushiya") cTokyo,
Kabuki-za, 1995. Videotape>_______ ...........________ ...................______ 55
9. Example of Sewa Voice. (Yasuke [Nakamura Shikan VII] in "Sushiya") cTokyo,
Kabuki-za, 1995. Videotape>____________________________________ 56
10. Example of Sewa Voice. (Yasuke [Onoe BaikO VII] in "Sushiya") cTokyo,
Kabuki-za. Date unknowns______________________________________ 57
' Note: Date and source of sound bite given in triangular brackets following each entry.
UC
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11. Example of Yamagata JidaiVoice (Koremori [Nakamura Shikan VII] in
"Sushiya") <Tokyo, Kabuki-za, 1995. Videotapes-....................................... 60-1
12. Example of Yamagata Jidai Voice (Koremori [Onoe Baikd VII] h "Sushiya")
cTokyo, Kabuki-za. Date unknowns-.______________________________ 62-3
13. Example of "Attack the Second Syllable and Drop the End of the Phrase” Jidai
Voice (JOjibei [Kataoka Nizaemon XV] in "Hikimado”) cKyoto Minami-za,
December 1995. Videotapes-_____________________________________ 66
14. Example of "Attack the Second Syllable and Drop the End of the Phrase" Jidai
Voice (Jujibei [Nakamura Ganjirfi III] in "Hikimado") cTokyo, Kabuki-za,
December 1988s-____________________________________
67
15. Example of Yamagata (Tdnai in Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami)_________70-1
16. Exampfe of (onnagata) Yamagata (Suke no Tsubone [Onoe Baikd VII] in
Yoshitsune senbonzakura) cTokyo, Kabuki-za. Date unknown. Videotape>...73
17. Example of Use of Psychological Switching from Sewa to Jidai Voice (JGjibei
[Kataoka Nizaemon XV] in "Hikimado") cKyoto Minami-za, December 1995.
Videotapes-__________________________________________________ .76
18. Exampfe of Use of Psychological Switching from Sewa to Jidai Voice (Jujibei
[Nakamura Ganjird III] in "Hikimado") cTokyo, Kabuki-za, December 1988.
Videotapes-__________________________________________________ .77
19. Example of “Affected Accent" (Namari) of Female Characters (Agemaki
[Nakamura Utaemon VI] in Sukeroku) cTokyo, Kabuki-za, April 1985.
Videotapes.________________________________________________ 93-4
20. Example of "Affected Accent" (Namari) of Female Characters (Courtesans in
Sukeroku) cTokyo, Kabuki-za, April 1985. Videotapes-._______________ 97
x
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21. Example of "Affected Accent" (Naman) of Female Characters (Miyagino [Na­
kamura GanjirO III] in the "Ageya” scene of Gotaiheiki Shiraishi Banashi)
cTokyo, Nationaf Theatre of Japan. March 1994. Videotape>....................... 102
22. Exampfe of "Affected Accent" (Namari) of Femafe Characters (Okaji
[Ichikawa Monnosuke] in Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami) cTokyo, Kabuki-za,
July 1997. Videotape>_________________________________________ 104
23. Example of Modulating Beginning Pitch of Phrases (0k6 [Nakamura Matagord
II] in the "Hikimado" scene of Futatsu ChOchO Kuruwa Nikki) cKyoto Minamiza, December 1995. Videotape>-------------------------------------------------------- 111
24. Example of Modulation of Phrasal Intonation and Slowing of Tempo (Otatsu
[Nakamura KankurO V] in Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami) cTokyo, Kabuki-za,
Date unknown. Videotape>------------------------------------------------------------115-21
25. Example of Set Up Line (IsonoJO [dtani Tomoemon VIII] and Sabu [Ichimura
Uzaemon XVII] in Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami) cTokyo, Kabuki-za, Date
unknown. Videotape>__________________________________________ 128
26. Example of Set Up Line (Danshichi [Nakamura Kichiemon II] in Natsu matsuri
naniwa kagami) cTokyo, Kabuki-za, September 1993. Videotape>_______131
27. Example of Set Up Line (Danshichi [Nakamura Kanzaburd XVII] Natsu matsuri
naniwa kagami) cShikoku, Kanamaru-za, Date unknown. Videotape>_____ 132
28. Example of Setup Line (Danshichi [Nakamura KankurO V] in Natsu matsuri
naniwa kagami) cTokyo, Kabuki-za, Date unknown. Videotape>..________ 133
2 9 .0]6 Kichisa’s tsurane (Ichimura Uzaemon XV) from Sannin kichisa cffom
Kabuki meisaku sen: Sewamono shO. NHK, 1978. LP>____________ 189-92
xi
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3 0 .0J6 Kichisa’s tsurane (Sawamura Gennosuke) from Sannin Kichisa <from Victor
Record JL108. Date unknown>------------------------------------------------------193-96
31. 0j6 Kichisa*s tsurane (Onoe Baik6 VII) <from Sannfn Kichisa Kabuki mei serifu
shu. Shinchdsha, 1988. CD>--------------------------------------------------------------197
32. Daimyfl in KotobukiSoga no Taimen <Tokyo, Meiji-za, March 1993.
Videotape>---------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------198
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CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
Statement of Intent
Kabuki actors, like those in other stylized theatre forms, have developed
particular rules and distinctive rhythmical patterns which create their unique
manner of aural expression. This dissertation examines the fundamental rules and
rhythms of kabuki’s highfy musical art of speech, demonstrating how the actor
learns to breathe, how he uses his breath, and how he modulates pitch, tempo and
rhythm. These rules and rhythms operate in the production of a broad range of
character types, and in various types of plays—from the formalized jidaimono
ft# !, period plays), to the seemingly daily ‘natural’' sewamono
domestic
plays).
In my research I have identified eight essential rules which govern
breathing, pitch, tempo, and melody of the voice. Origins for the rules are the
actors themselves. Four of the rules, ‘send the breath from the hara (IS, stomach
or abdomen),* ‘sing the lines,* ‘attack the second syllable and drop the end of the
phrase,* and ‘ onnagata use an 'affected' accent to sound seductive,* come
straight from the mouths of actors, either in interviews with the writer, while the
actors were teaching, or both.
Three others, ‘If speaking high, then speak low; if fow, then high," ‘Actors
1
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take theirpitch from the shamisen,’ and “Pass the tail end of the word to your
partner,* come from published written or recorded interviews with actors. I have
subdivided this third rule into two parts: passing from actor to actor, and passing
from actor to musician. This subdivision is based on observations of kabuki
actors and musicians in performance, through which I discovered that the tempo
of the actors words determines that of the music. Furthermore, the musicians can
be considered an actor's offstage partner, in contrast to other actors who are onstage partners.
The most important “rule,* is the division between jidai and sewa voice.
There is a basic concept of 'jid a istyle* and “sewa style* alluded to by scholars
and actors alike. I explore what this means in terms of voice. All of these rules
are basic in form, but have complicated applications that will be examined.
Second I will examine two extremely important rhythms which I consider
basic to, and representative of kabuki voice. The first important rhythm is a
syncopated vocat delivery called non (jfe U, literally “riding"). Originally norrwas a
technique in gidayQ (& £ £ ), the narrative music that accompanies bunraku
puppet theatre, where passages are short and serve as a rhythmic change in
music. In kabuki, noriexpanded in form and function in the hands of the actor.
The second rhythm, shichi-go ch6 CfcSS, twelve-syllable lines o f verse
composed of seven- and five-syllable hemistiches) is the oldest poetic verse form
2
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in Japan, dating back to at feast the eighth century. It fs found in the texts of
many theatncaf forms, including noh, bunraku and kabuki, where it manifests itself
in remarkably distinct ways. In kabuki, shichi-go chd is central in a number of
speech types, such as warizerifu (Si y i f y
My
divided dialogue), watarizerifu (21 y
passed along dialogue), and tsurane
lit. 'lined up'). Regularly
patterned melodic lines are imposed on the rhythm of shichi-go chd to create very
distinct melodies that distinguish those passages as important aural highlights of
a kabuki performance.
The rules and the rhythms of voice addressed herein are used in creating a
wide range of character types. They help to explain how actors work individually,
as well as emphasize the bond between the pitch, tempo and rhythms used by
one actor and those of another. Actors continually orchestrate each other and the
musicians in creating the complex vocal soundscape of kabuki.
Chapter Outline
Chapter two begins with a discussion of gidayQ, to which kabuki is
indebted for more than half the present repertory of plays. Gidayu vocal training
is significant to the kabuki actor's art, providing a model for breathing and vocal
support, placement, and other specific vocal techniques. These techniques are
especially crucial to the actor when performing in gidayQ kydgen (fi& £ § £ S ', lit.
3
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“gidayQ plays," or plays adapted from faunraku), but are also unquestionably
useful in all types o f plays.
The concepts ofjidai (period) and sewa (domestic), which underlay the
most basic division o f vocal (and physical) stylization, are discussed in chapter
three. I explore how the seemingly polar modes of jidai and sewa speech co-exist
and intertwine with each other. Jidai is often characterized as ‘historical* or
“period.* More aptly, jidai can be viewed as ‘distant,’ as in far in time and place
from the daily domestic, or sewa, reality. This ‘distance’ of jidai manifests itself
aurally in a formal, heavily stylized language, while sewa speech is closer to daily
speech. Yet, the sewa and jidai have points of intersection and exchange which
will be examined, that are used for both dramatic and metadramatic purposes.
Chapter four outlines the remaining rules which underlie the pitch, tempo,
and melodic pattemization of the kabuki actor’s speech. For ease of explanation,
each rule is addressed separately, but in practice the rules are often employed
simultaneously. All of them operate, to varying degrees, in both jidai and sewa
worlds.
Chapters five and six address the history, uses, rhythms and melodies of
non and shichi-go chd respectively. Examples show how these “fixed* rhythms,
while following specific patterns, also allow for subtle interpretive variations by
the individual actor.
4
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In the concluding chapter seven, 1summarize the major results of this
study, address the debt which kabuid has to gidayQ, discuss possibilities for
adapting kabuki rules in stylizing English speech, and suggest important areas for
further research.
Previous Research and Justification
Countless volumes on kabuki, ranging from introductory pocket volumes to
in-depth scholarly tomes on its history, literature, visual aspects (e.g. costume,
wigs, set design, movement), or the lives of individual artists, have been
published in Japanese. This material is marginally useful to this study as
background information. More significant are the recordings of kabuki actor's
voices. Beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1970s, record companies
recorded and released sets of LP recordings of kabuki actors performing famous
speeches or scenes.’ In the late T970s, a surge of interest in geza (T M ), or
backstage, music resulted in the release of LP recordings as well as written scores
and explanations of geza music.2This was a step toward scholarly identification
’ There are older recordings, but they are rare and difficult to obtain.
1Kineya Eizaemon, a leading nagauta shamisen player compiled Kabukiongaku shusei: Edo hen
[3JC€HBiyRJ&: i I F * ] and KabukiongakushOsei: Kamfgata hen
(Tokyo: Kabuid Ongaku ShOsei Kankdfcai. 1976 and 1980), the most complete work to date of the
nagauta songs and instrumental pieces used by the geza musicians. For offstage percussion
IhayashQ, see MochizuldTainosuke's Kabukigeza ongaku IKabuki Geza MusicI. Tokyo: Engeki
Shuppansha, 1975; and KabukiongakuIKabuki Music], ed. by Tdyd ongaku gakkai. Tokyo: Ongaku
notomosha, 1980.
5
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and documentation of the sound of kabuki.
In a fascinating study of yakusha hydbanki(actor critiques)rthe kabuki
scholar Imao Tetsuya proposes that serifii—the actor's speech—creates the
‘sound space” CScDSIB, oto no kQkan) on the kabuki stage.3 He argues that until
recently (post WWII), kabuki emphasized the aural over the visual. In ‘ Oto no
kQkan,'* Imao examines references to the actors'voice included in the published
actor critiques area the Genroku era (1688 to 1703). Through these he
demonstrates the importance placed on the actor’s voice. We can see that many
of the vocal concerns today are present in the sentiments expressed in the
hydbankiover 300 years ago
First of all, actors were expected to have proper breath support and
sufficient volume to be heard, as demonstrated by this 1707 entry regarding the
Kamigata (Kyoto/Osaka area) actor Otowa Jirfeaburd I (d. 1732):‘It sounds as if
he is choking in long speeches; the veins in his throat stand out, and he looks as rf
he is suffering.”5 Even the famous Ichikawa Danjurd I (1660-1704), founder of the
bombastic aragoto style of acting, was not beyond vocal criticism, as evident
* Yakusha hydbanki(Sbtfff# E ) is a collective term given to actor critiques. These were
modeled on courtesan critiques (yQJo hydbanki, X ftfFH IE ), and first published in the 1650s.
Early volumes, concerned with appearance and disposition, contain some reference to vocal
quality, particularly as it relates to a boy's attractiveness. By the Genroku era (1688-1703),
emphasis of the critiques shifted to performance, including voice in the context of performance.
* In Kabukino ktikan non
Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, T996.
* From Yakusha tomo ima b a n a s h i Vol. 4, p. 206; as quoted in Imao Tetsuya, “Oto no
ktikan,* p. T02. All English translations of hydbankientries quoted herein are by the author
unless otherwise indicated.
6
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from this 1699 critique: “He gasps for breath when he speaks. He seems terribly
lacking in (vocal) skill."6
In addition to volume and breath support, the quality of an actor’s voice
had to be pleasant to the ear, as was that of Takeshima Kdzaemon I’s (d. 1712)
according to this 1687 critique: “His vocal delivery was eloquent and the sound
could even be heard as far as the small doorway at the front of the theatre (kido
guchi, f c p Q ) : TCriticism in the hydbankialso indicates that, like today in kabuki,
vocal variety—of pitch, rhythm, and tempo—were fundamental to the actor's art
of speech. In 1687, the onnagata actor Takenaka Kichisaburo I (dates unknown)
was criticized for being “difficult to understand, as he speaks through his nose,
and has no variation in rhythm and intonation in his speech.’* Conversely, the
onnagata actor Hanai Kosanzo I (dates unknown) was praised for his vocal
variation: “In a big drinking scene, the actor Takizd, playing the wet nurse, came in
to give a piece of her mind. (Kosanzd) responded he was not interested in what
she had to say. He did well a t varying his rhythm and intonation.*9
Hydbankialso present evidence that certain tempos and vocal qualities
were already associated with character types. Samurai and jitsugoto (H4E,
honest, upright, leading male) roles were vocally at odds with softer yatsushi
* From Yakusha kuchijamfsen (& # □ = !(& ), Edo volume 2, p. 219; as quoted in Imao, p. 104.
r From Yardyakusha butaidkagami
Vol. T, p. 243; as quoted in Imao, p. 103.
* Ibid. p. 240, as quoted in Imao, p. 102.
* From Yakusha dfukuchd (S £^lK tK ), Kyoto Volume 4, p. 520, Third month, 1711; as quoted
in Imao, p. 106.
7
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roles OcO U, former wealthy merchants or dispossessed samurai transformed
into poor, yet desirable lovers). Suzuki Heizaemon II (d. 1701), a tachiyaku
(leading male) role actor was criticized in this 1687 critique for the way his
yatsushi character spoke: “Unlike samurai and jitsugata (jitsugoto) roles, if the
words in a yatsushi speech are not spoken quickly, the speech will drag and
(sound) terrible."'0 Conversely, Nakamura Shirfigorfi I (1651 -1712) was not
considered suitable for playing samurai and jitsugoto roles, as evidenced by this
1702 critique: “He does not settle into the jrtsugoto’s slow, deliberate manner of
speech. His quick speech is too light and not appropriate for the art of portraying
senior samurai retainers and the like.'11
In addition to the hydbanki, written by critics, actors themselves provide
information about their own art of speech. The Actor's Analects (S titts ,
Yakusha Rongo), a collection of advice left by great kabuki actors of the late
seventeenth century, contains a few titillating, though vague, references to voice.
One quotes the famous katakiyaku (villain role) actor Kataoka Nizaemon I (16561715) as saying that he says the final lines of a play “with full voice’ and tries “not
to think that it is the end.’,z Another entry recounts an anecdote related to Sakata
TfijOrd l's (1647-1709) habit of repeating short phrases such as “How charming,
* Ibid. p. 239, as quoted in imao, p. 10S.
" From Yakusha nichd shamisen
Kyoto Volume 3,1702, as quoted in (mao, p.
106.
* Dunn, Charles J. and Torigoe Bunzft, ed., trans. The Actor's Analects. Tokyo: University of
Tokyo Press, 1969. p. 95.
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how charming," and “It is I, it is I."1*
The same habits noted by actors of long ago can be seen in the kabuki of
today. On stage today, in the manner of Nizaemon I, pfays often conclude with
the actor or actors on stage delivering the final lines ‘with full voice," leaving the
feeling that all is not over. Similarly, repetition of short phrases such as those of
T6jur61, a popular actor of yatsushi roles, are common today with many character
types, but especially soft lovers roles, which are descendants of those acted by
T6jur6. Furthermore, a phrase should never be repeated in the same way; the actor
should vary pitch and tempo, consequently employing the rule “if speaking high,
then speak low; if low, then high. If speaking quickly, then speak slowly; if slowly
then quickly."
While connections to the past are hinted at in written sources, the absence
of sound recordings or vocal scores from the past makes direct knowledge of the
sound of that speech impossible. Over the centuries, other kabuki actors have of
course made references to serifii (■&y
diafogue or speech) in their writings.
These are similar to the short examples from the Anatects above, i.e. they usually
consist of a quoted passage of dialogue from a noteworthy role, or a vague
allusion to a ruling concept. Alone, these written texts do not tell enough about
how the word is spoken. Examined in light of present-day kabuki vocal
performance practices, the historical textual references take on meaning.
“Ibi'd.p. 1T0-
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From October 1990 to March 1 9 91 ,a six-part series entitled “Serifu get
nyumorf ( it y -SvSAft, An introduction to the Art of Speech) featuring veteran
onnagata actor Onoe Kikuzd VI (b. 1923) was published in the magazine Hogaku
to Buyd
Japanese Music and Dance). This series is the only published
work to date, by an actor or scholar, which outlines any ■rules* of kabuki
elocution. The article discusses 'passing the end of the line to one's partner” and
“singing* the lines.* The writing does not make clear whether the stated rules are
the word of Onoe Kikuzd, or the projection of the interviewer for the article. A
very general outline, the series gave me direction for further exploration. It would
have been more useful had the publishers completed the promised cassette tape
of examples to accompany the text, but other published recordings can be used
to verify and illuminate the points made.
There is no single volume of research in the Japanese language on kabuki
serifu, or speech, though several scholars discuss terms which identify types of
speeches. In Kabukikotoba chd (3fc£{£C £
Iwanami Shinsho, 1999), Hattori
Yukio has a short chapter which explores the origin of the term serifu; another on
textual references to and use of sutezerifu, or throw away lines,* and a third brief
chapter on /to ninoru, or riding the (rhythm of the) strings. His focus is historical
and his concern with pointing the reader to examples. He does not discuss the
technique or sound of nori.
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General descriptions of speech types appear in reference materials such as
the Kabukijiten
Heibonsha, 1990). In Kabuki: Ydshiki to Denshd (& M
Neiraku Shdbd, 1954), Gunji Masakatsu devotes part of a chapter to
the discussion of the art of narration (wajutsu), making a very important
observation about the distinction between katari, or solo storytelling, and serifii,
or dialogue, which involves the exchange of words between characters. Gunji
does not address the performative aspects of voice.
in English, most research on performative aspects of kabuki have focused
on the visual, as in the acting techniques section of Earle Ernst’s The Kabuki
Theatre (UH Press, 1974). James R. Brandon, in Kabuki: Five Classic Plays
(Harvard UP, 1975; UH Press, 1992) is the first to call attention to speech types,
which he identifies in the margins throughout the transfated text. Being a volume
of translations, the work does not address vocal technique or practice. However,
in Brandon's "Form in Kabuki Acting' in Studies in Kabuki (Brandon, Malm and
Shively. UH Press, 1978) he includes a section on vocal kata (form), and briefly
discusses the speech types of watarizerifu (passed-along dialogue) and warizerifu
(divided dialogue), all of which are written using the shichi-go chd verse form.
Samuel L Letter's New Kabuki Encyclopedia (Greenwood Press, 1997) also
identifies and defines many speech types, but he also does not address the sound
of the speech in performance.
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Talking about music is like dancing about architecture,” the fringe pop
composer Frank Zappa is reputed to have said. Writing about elocution in kabuki
might be considered akin to talking about music. Perhaps that is why so little has
been written. If you cannot hear the words, or are not familiar enough with the
passages quoted in a text to be able to hear them inside your head, then verbal
descriptions of those texts, whether by actor or scholar, are difficult to
comprehend at best.
Fortunately, developments of speech analysis software by linguists in
recent years now make the accurate graphing of kabuki speech possible. The
fleeting sounds can now be measured, quantified, compared, and made into
graphs which visually illustrate important elements of the sound of an actor's
speech.
Methodology
Actors do not always do what they say they do, nor are they always
necessarily able to articulate in words what they do artistically. Thus it is
necessary to correlate the two sides—the word and the practice—with each
other. To ascertain what actors say or have said about their art of speech I have
examined memoirs, journal articles, and written and recorded interviews;
conducted live personal interviews (between November 1998 and August 1999);
and observed kabuki masters teaching young trainees at the two kabuki actor
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training programs in Japan. Observations at Tokyo's National Theatre of Japan
were conducted in October and November of 1998, and Osaka’s Shdchiku-za
Theatre in July of T999.
To determine how actors really perform their art, I observed over thirty of
the monthly live performances at the Kabuki-za and National Theatre of Japan
between September 1998 and August 1999, and hundreds during the four years
(1992-1996) I wrote monthly English-language kabuki commentaries for Asahi
Kaisetsu, which offers a simultaneous earphone guide service for kabuki and
bunraku performances. In addition, I reviewed multiple video- and audiotape
performances of all examples discussed in the body of this dissertation.
Recordings were from the audio-visual collection of the National Theatre of Japan,
the private collection of Professor Furuido Hideo of Waseda University, the audio­
visual collection at the University of Hawaii Department of Theatre and Dance, as
welt as my personal collection.
My personal study of several genres of singing and shamisen music that are
integral to kabuki, and studied by actors as part of their vocal training, has been
invaluable to this research. I have studied nagauta (ftffQ lyrical shamisen and
singing for eleven years (1988-99), tokiwazu (KSflljfr) narrative singing for five
years (1988,1992-96,1998-99), and gfdayu narrative singing and shamisen for a
year and a half 0 995-96,1999). The knowledge of voice gained through this has
13
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helped me know what to look—or rather listen—for. It has aided my
understanding of what was happening vocally when I heard it. Moreover, it
informed the questions I asked, and made it possible to recognize what aspect of
voice an actor might be alluding to when quoting a particular passage of text.
This four-pronged approach of observation, in-depth reading, interview,
and personal study, was further supported by a thorough investigation of
Japanese and English scholarly works on kabuki voice and speech, kata, gidayti
and gidayQ kydgen. In addition, I have borrowed both technology and
terminology from the fields of acoustics, acoustic phonetics, and linguistics to
aid my analysis, descriptions, and illustrations of the vocal sounds of kabuki.
Notes On the Text
The first time a Japanese term is used, it appears in italics, followed in
parentheses by the Japanese characters for the term and an English translation.
Subsequently, the term will appear in italics in Japanese only. All Japanese names
are given in the Japanese order, i.e. family name first. Dates of an actor's birth and
death, when known, are given in parentheses the first time the name is mentioned.
All actors are referred to by the name they held as of July 2000. If a quote,
performance, publication, etc. by an actor occurred when he held a previous name,
his name at that time is given in parentheses. For example, if reference is made to
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a role performed in 1984 by actor Kataoka Nizaemon XV, who held the name
Kataoka Takao at the time, he would be listed as Kataoka Nizaemon XV (Takao).
Kabuki plays are often known by several titles. I have chosen to use the popular
titles for plays, rather than longer titles under which they may have premiered.
All English translations, musical scores, and graphs in the text are the work
of the author unless otherwise indicated.
Notes on Graphs
Throughout the text I use graphs produced from digitalized sound bits.
The samples herein are chosen because they are illustrative as well as
representative. Sound bits were made from audio recordings originating on
cassette, video, CD, or LP rerecorded onto MD. The graphs were produced using
Speech Analyzer, a Windows (3 .1 ,9 5 /9 8 , NT) freeware software program
developed by SIL International (formerly Summer Institute of Linguistics), chosen
for it's ability to accurately graph relatively long segments of speech, and for its
user friendliness. However, the Speech Analyzer does have a few limitations. On a
few occasions, the program produced an ‘octave error,” resulting in a sound being
graphed an octave lower than the actual tone. Such instances have been noted on
the graphs where they occur. In addition, the upper limit of the Speech Analyzer's
capability to calculate the fundamental frequency (i.e. the actor's vocal pitch) is
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500hz. To check octave errors and obtain information on vocaf pitches exceeding
500 hz, ( used Praat 3.8.41 r a free shareware speech analysis program for
Macintosh developed by Paul Boersma of the institute of Phonetic Sciences at the
University of Amsterdam. While Praat is a more sophisticated (and accordingly
complicated) program, it is more suited for analysis of short sound bits.
Quality and conditions of the original recordings vary widely.
Consequently, comparison between graphs of the magnitude of a speech is not
possible; however, reliable pitch comparisons can be made. Both pitch and
magnitude are indicated on all graphs. In most cases, discussion refers only to
the pitch graph. However, magnitude graphs provided additional information
helpful in estimating time and rates of speech.
Graphs display the fundamental frequency of the voice in hertz. Throughout
the text, hertz values are given, followed by the nearest tone value (on the equally
tempered music scale) in parentheses. First the note, and then the keyboard
octave of that pitch is given. For example, the “C in the first octave of the piano
keyboard would be indicated as 32.7hz (C l); middle ‘C as 261.6 hz (C4), etc.
When the pitch as indicated in hertz falls equally between two pitches, they are
both given, as in 422hz (G# 4/A 4).’4A chart showing the corresponding values of
hertz to tone is given in the appendix for easy reference.
“This method is adopted from the fields of voice science and acoustics, where it is commoniy
used.
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CHAPTER U: GIDAYO AND THE KABUKI ACTOR'S VOCAL TRAINING
Vocal training for kabuki actors involves the study of many disciplines.
Actors receive no separate speech lessons, as they do dance lessons.
Consequently they leam vocal discipline by studying any of several of the musical
genres used in kabuki—gidayQ, tokiwazu, kiyomoto (M it, a lyrical narrative
music) and nagauta. From this training actors leam breath support and many of
the basics of kabuki stage speech. Training also helps actors build a repertory of
plays in which they may act. They also leam narratives and songs to which they
may dance on stage at some future point in their careers. Actors are not limited,
however, to the study of kabuki-refated musical arts for fundamental vocal
training. For instance, onnagata Nakamura Matsue V (b. 1958) studied kydgen
when his adoptive father, veteran onnagata actor Nakamura Utaemon VI (b.1917),
urged him to do something to strengthen his voice.1
Actors may study several genres of singing and chanting, yet most actors
agree that the most important one is gidayti. The majority of older principal
actors studied gfdayti for a number of years when younger.2 Today, the two-year
1September T998 talk given to the Dent6 Geijutsu no Kai (ffiR S iS © # , Traditional Performing
Arts Association), Tokyo. Interestingly enough Utaemon himself has a very weak voice, which
he compensates for by inhaling frequently and taking long pauses. Audiences have come to
praise his unique style.
* This is corroborated in interviews with actors discussing themselves and their peers, as well
as by allusions made by actors to their training which appear in print.
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basic kabuki acting programs for young men from non-kabuki families, at the
National Theatre of Japan in Tokyo and the Shdchiku-za in Osaka, both include
gidayti as a major part of the core curriculum.1 These classes are taught by
veteran hon-gidayti
lit. original gidayti, i.e. bunraku) professional
narrators, rather than takemoto gidayti professionals from kabuki. The centrality
of gidayti in the vocal training of the kabuki courses acknowledges the importance
of the art of gidayti to kabuki. It also demonstrates kabuki’s continued
indebtedness to an art form from which it began adopting scripts and techniques
over 270 years ago.
On the surface, actors leam the original puppet plays from which the kabuki
versions are adapted. But that is not alt they leam. To begin with, through the
study of gidayti, actors leam a breath management system which employs low,
diaphragmatic breathing. This puts ‘strength in the belly” and gives *a command
of vocal placement,* both of which are considered ‘primary qualifications for
stage speech”4in kabuki.
Hara and Breathing
In Japanese, the hara (abdomen) can be viewed as the source of life—the
* Gidayti ranks second in terms of hours of study a t both training programs, next to 'kabuki
jitsu gi,' the kabuld practfcum lessons that consist of what are essentially rehearsals of the
designated core plays in the curriculum.
* Nakamura Tomijurd and Tomita Tetsunojd. ‘Kabuki engi to gidayti*
Kabuki, October, 1974. p. 75.
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mother's belly from which new life emerges. Hara can also refer to one’s true
feelings or intent. When one “speaks from the hara,“ one is speaking frankly. One
“reads the harsT in order to know another's thoughts. When a person gets angry, it
is said that the 'hara rises.' The voice which originates in the hara expresses
those emotions and intentions.
By far the most lauded rule in kabuki is to ‘send the voice from the hara.'
The hara is considered the source of breath, and the source of the voice. Every
breath control technique develops its own imagery and unique vocabulary to aid
the performer in focusing on the use of breath. Sending the voice from the hara
places the focus of respiration on the development and use of the abdominal
muscles.
The two major groups of muscles controlling respiration are the abdominal
wall and the diaphragm. Contracting the diaphragm presses down on the
abdomen, forcing the abdominal wall outward. In some voice training techniques,
attention is focused on the diaphragm during inspiration, with the expansion of
the abdominal wall seen as a consequence, or evidence of the active diaphragm
muscle. In contrast, gidayti focuses on developing the abdominal muscles to
control breathing, while not denying the importance of the diaphragm.s Maximum
expansion of the abdominal muscles allows maximum lung expansion.
‘ The same is true for the use of voice in alt the musical genres used in kabuki.
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In exhalation, one contracts the intercostal (chest muscles) as well as the
abdominal musdes to control the expenditure of air from the lungs. The
diaphragm is passively pushed back up into the rib cage where it presses against
the lungs. Technically, the diaphragm is active only during inhalation, while the
abdominal muscles are active during both inhalation and exhalation. The point
here is not to summarize the breathing apparatus, but to demonstrate that the
adage “send the voice from the harsT is a direct reflection of a training technique
that focuses control of the breath on the action of the abdominal muscles.
Two other key techniques relate to effectively sending the voice from the
hara. One is learning to inhale quickly and deeply through the nose. The other is
learning to “hold the breath’ (/fc/ o tsumeru, &£S£a&-5), meaning to hold the air
momentarily after inhalation before beginning to releasing it in speech. Doing so
helps the actor gain control of the breath. Onoe Baikd VII (1915-1995) says he
studied gidayti as a young man in order to leam elocution, breath control, and
vocal placement. As a result he learned that:
.. .first, you should quickly take in a breath through the nose and
hold it in the abdomen, before releasing it while speaking the lines.
You mustnt forget to first let the breath settle in before beginning
to vocalize. If you dont hold the breath in the abdomen, but instead
inhale through the mouth and tense up the chest, there wont be
enough breath to deliver the line and youll end up gasping for
breath."*
•fmao Tetsuya. "Oto no kilkaif Cff©$S5) in Kabuki no kOkan ron (DtHflW JSBIli)- Tokyo:
twanaml Shoten, 1998. p. TIO.
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In kabuki, and in particular in gidayu kydgen, actors are often required to
deliver extended lines of dialogue without pausing for a breath. One trick the
actor learns from gidayO to help him maintain breath for those long lines is to
"steal" short breaths through the nose at undetectable points within words.
These points occur in words which have a doubled consonant that is a voiceless
plosive (i.e. [p], [t], and [k]). In Japanese,a doubled consonant is indicated by a
small phonetic symbol for mts if (O ) before the tetter that is to be doubled. For
example, the word "hattato," (glare or browbeat), would be written phonetically,
ha
(t)
ta
to
fi
o(tsu)
ft
it
In voicing words with doubled consonants, a glottal stop occurs on the initial one,
and more is air forced out on the second, accentuating the plosive. Gidayu
practitioners leam to breathe in unnoticeably through the nose on the ‘ ts if in the
brief instant exhalation ceases. Doing this gives the performer more breath to
accentuate a particular word, or supplement a dwindling air supply and thus
enable him to complete the line without a pause for breath.
Nakamura Ganjird III (b. 1931) maintains that actors leam how to take
successive breaths (ikitsugi,
how to "hold the breath," how to release the
breath, and the timing (ma, IBJ) of line delivery through the study of gidayQ. He
adds that these skills are applicable to all types of plays: "if an actor studies
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gidayti, then line delivery is easy because he has a command of his breathing.*7
‘Holding the breath* is an extremely important concept. Onoe Kikuzd VI
says the actor should breathe in the emotion with the breath and hold it
momentarily before speaking.* Takechi Tetsuji, noted director of kabuki in
Kamigata (Osaka/Kyoto) in the 1950s and 60s, described the breath as *a
pathway to the mind and soul of the character.** As a director he was very strict
about when and how actors should breathe in the portrayal of their characters.
Praising Nakamura Ganjird1 (1859-1935), Takechi describes the extreme manner in
which the actor “held his breath* before finally letting the words explode from his
mouth, delighting audiences.10 Takechi believed Ganjird III to be one of the few
actors today who truly understands the concept of “holding* the breath. To this
praise, Ganjird III responds that many actors understand the concept o f‘ holding*
fn their minds (emphasis mine), but perhaps dont have the physical discipline to
do so.11
Personal experience studying the narrative tradition of tokiwazu helped me
to understand the importance of “holding the breath.” My teacher, Tokiwazu
Tokizd (b. 194Z), continuously emphasized the important connection between
r Interview with Nakamura Ganjiro, July 6 ,1 9 9 9 . Shochiku-za Theatre, Osaka.
•"Serifu gel nyOmon, “ in Hdgaku to Buyd. Nov. 1990.
‘ Nakamura Senjaku (Ganjird III). Kamigata no onnagata to CNkamatsu(±Jl<Dtc1&£&Xli)*
Osaka: K6y6 Shdbd, 1984. p. 65.
-Ibid, p. 69.
" Ibid, p. 68-69.
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timing and breathing. He insisted that inhaiation be through the nose and begin
as soon as the previous breath ended, unless one was consciously holding the
breath at the end of a line for effect." This manner of breathing allows enough
time for one to breathe in and “hold’ momentarily in preparation for delivery. It
also eliminates time that the speaker is not actively inhaling, “holding” the breath,
or speaking. The same thing happens in kabuki, and I believe this technique is one
of the keys to building and sustaining what many refer to as the “energy" of the
kabuki voice. There is no “dead" space—no time that is not actively used for
breathing, act/ve/y used in holding the breath, or actively speaking.
Nakamura Tomijurd V (b. 1929) says the study of gidayti helps the actor
produce an “even voice,’ which is attained by “stressing the second syllable,’ thus
distributing the breath so that the “volume of the voice is spread evenly and
beautifully over the entire phrase, to the very last syllable/1* This “even’
distribution of breath requires continuous and controlled exhalation; focus on the
second syllable helps to prevent one from expending too much air at the
beginning of a phrase. Hitting the first syllable of a line or phrase with too much
force, called “atama atari? (BJCMIU), can make it more difficult to sustain a long
breath. When the first syllable is given a great thrust of air, it is usually a short
"Tokizdis a third generation tokiwazu professional. He is unusual in his willingness and ability
to explain technique, due to his belief that people today need more than just imitation in order
to mature as performers quickly enough to meet demands (due to dwindling numbers of
professionals).
* Nakamura and Tomita. ‘Kabuki engi to gidayti, * p. 76.
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utterance and often one of surprise. This stress on the second syllable is also
very important in jid aispeech, which will be discussed in detail in Chapter III.
Today at 70 years old, Tomijurd has a strong voice and stage presence, but
as a teenage actor his voice came from the throat, and the strain made the veins
in his neck pop out when he spoke. His breathing was high, in the chest, and every
time he took a breath the audience "would see the wing-tipped shoulder pieces of
his vest-like kami-shimo move,” gradually loosening, as his swords swayed up and
down. Such a display is not only visually unpleasant, but shows improper
deportment for a samurai.'4 All of this was a result of his inappropriate breathing,
and all was corrected, Tomijurd claims, through effective gidayti training.'5
Onzukai
Another important technique actors leam from gidayti is onzukai CS& U),
which literally means "the use of sound.” Onzukairefers to the placement of sound
in the mouth, the use of the articulators (lip, tongue, and jaw,s), and the use of
resonators (pharynx, mouth and nasal cavities) in producing sounds. With proper
onzukai the actor is able to sound "like” (rash//, b U l') the character he is
“Ibid, p. 77.
* Tomijurd and other actors of his generation (Ganjird III, Tanosuke V I) were young teens during
WWIt so did not begin studying gidayu until their late teens, which they consider to be late.
* Literature on gidayu discusses the chin, rather than the jaw, but the difference is essentially
one of imagery and not of substance.
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portraying. Actors team the “vocal coloring" (kowairo,
appropriate to
different types of characters—'‘old, young, mate and female"
rOjakudanjd) from all strata of society, occupations, and situations.” How sounds
are placed and articulated is central in creating a color of voice appropriate for a
given character.
Onzukaialso refers to how the voice is pitched, particularly when making a
sharp transition from one pitch to another. Extreme changes in pitch, which
typically involve a change in placement (and/or main resonator), are often used at
moments of high emotion or to signal an important change.
An example from the ‘Sushiya’ scene (U S , The Sushi Shop) of Yoshitsune
senbonzakura
Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees) shows how
onzukai is used to signal a major shift. The scene centers around the shop cleric,
Yasuke, who is actually the Heike general Koremori in disguise. Yazaemon, the
shop owner and the only one who knows Yasuke’s true identity, returns to his
shop with a heavy heart (and a rice cask holding a severed head which he hopes to
substitute for Koremori’s, which has been demanded by the enemy leader).
Standing at the door, Yazaemon asks the “clerk" Yasuke where his wife and
daughter are. Yasuke replies that they are in the next room and offers to call
them. Yazaemon, realizing they are alone, responds with the words, 'mazu. . .
17Interview with Mizuguchi Kazuo, July 6 ,1999. Osaka. The term kowairo is also used to mean
mimicking the voice of an actor, but here refers to how the actor "mimics* characters.
"NakamuraandTomita. ‘KabukiengitogidayQ,m p .79.
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mazu' meaning “but first.. .but first." With these two words, ‘Yasuke's’
deportment suddenly changes to that of Koremori. Standing tail and dignified, he
moves to the superior position in the upper level of the shop on the left, and sits
to listen to what Yazaemon has to report.
It is not what Yazaemon says, i.e. 'mazu. . .mazu,' that signals his intended
meaning, but how he says the words. When Yazaemon first enters his shop and
addresses "Yasuke,” he speaks rather quickly and uses a level of language
appropriate for a merchant addressing an inferior clerk. When Yazaemon becomes
deferent servant addressing his lord Koremori, the actor drastically slows the
tempo of his speech, elongating and enunciating each syllable deliberately. He
drops his chin, thus widening hisjaw. This enables the actor to pull his tongue
even lower and further back than usual in producing the “a” sound in 'm azu'
Lowering and pulling the tongue back creates a longer frontal resonance cavity in
the mouth and produces a deeper, resonant, more formal tone than that of
Yazaemon's merchant speech.
Yazaemoris sudden change in voice, accompanied by his bowed head and
raised hand, indicating that Koremori should take a seat, communicates the sub
text of “My lord, please let me address you first (before calling in my wife and
daughter).* Yazaemon is switching from fast talking commoner merchant, to
deferent servant of his master, Koremori. This transformation, from the daily
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worfd of the sushi shop to the removed historical reality of the 12th century Heike
general Koremori, is essentially a shift from sewa to jidai.'9
An analysis of Graph 1 (p. 28 ) shows that Yazaemon's entire line of “mazu
mazif—only four syllables—takes seven seconds and covers nearly three octaves
(AT to G4). The first 'm azif begins at around 390 hz (G4) and drops to 55 hz
(AT), while the second begins at a median pitch of 175 hz (F3) and rises slowly
again to 360 hz (F/F#4). The firstm
m azif is louder and quicker. As the pitch rises
in the second 'mazu" the “u* is nasalized as the actor moves into a falsetto. The
rising pitch and the nasalization of the vowel both soften the word. Combined
with the deliberate, slow pace of his speech, Yazaemon vocally transforms the
atmosphere of the sushi shop with only two words.
Pronunciation20
Many peculiarities of gidayti pronunciation have also been earned over into
kabuki speech, especially injidaimono and jidai characters. For example, the
syllables “ya,“ m
y if *yo,mnormally considered one syllable in modem colloquial
Japanese, are pronounced as two syllables “i + a,* “t + u,“ and “i + ©’ respectively.
The same is true for the particle “o,“ which is pronounced as “u +■o.“ In kabuki,
" Jidai and sewa speech are discussed in detail in Chapter III.
‘ Detailed information on pronunciation changes in this section from “GidayQ bushionchd (dhorf
unpublished course materials written by Takemoto YanotayQ for the GidayQ
KyQkai (GidayQ Association).
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Graph 1
Example of Onzukai (Yazaemon [Kawarazaki Gonjurd III]
in the "Sushiya" scene of Yoshitsune senbonzakura)
Ma
zu
n
ma
a
a
zu
u
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changes in pronunciation such as these give the language a formal, antiquated
flavor. They also slow the tempo fay doubling the syllable count; e.g. from the
one-syllable *ya* to the two-syllable “t +- a.* Furthermore, enunciating a double­
vowel provides greater melodic potential because it gives the actor two vowels
to manipulate.
There are also cases in gidayQ when sounds are completely changed. For
example when a "u* sound follows an V the “u* sound becomes “n," as in ‘shiroi
umsT (white horse) which is enunciated as 'shiroi nma.' Another common change
is the omission of the first syllable of conjunctive words, such as “sate sateT (well
now) or 'satemo satemcf (indeed) which become 'tesateT and 'temosatemcr
respectively.
There is no single reason for the variant pronunciations that developed in
gidayQ. Clearly one sees a resonance with classical literary Japanese of the Heian
period (794-1185). GdayQ texts also reflect the dialect of the Kamigata area,
though artists and scholars alike insist that the language of gidayQ is not simply
that of Kamigata, but a unique usage of language particular to gidayQ.
While this is true, the historical and regional influences are undeniable.
When gidayQ texts were adapted to kabuki, the kotoba (0 ), or speech
sections of the narrative, were given to the actors as dialogue. The difficult to
29
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understand literary language was made more colloquial.21 (n the case of
jidaimono, the pronunciation in kabuki maintained much of the original gidayu
flavor. On one hand, this makes the spoken text more difficult to understand. On
the other, however, the altered pronunciation creates a feeling of distance from
the speech of daily life, which is quite appropriate for the jidai (‘period’ )
characters who use it.
Hikiji and Umiji
Another important technique which comes to kabuki from gidayu is the
extended vowel. There are two types. The first, hikiji (31
lit. ‘pulled’ letter),“
refers to extending the vowel of a syllable, causing the syllable to last for two
rather than one beat—i.e. extending or’ pulling’ the vowel. The second, umiji ( £
or
lit. ‘birthed letter*),23refers to elongating the vowel in a syllable for
several beats. (In actuality, however, the term umiji is often used to mean both.)
In gidayu narration, the umiji is used in the sung lyrical sections (ji, ife) of the text,
where the extended vowef is used to create a melody. Umiji can also be used in
the spoken sections to emphasize a character's feelings, or simply as rhythmic
* Suwa Haruo. 'Tenmei kabukino saihydksf (!£9i8J|& <D j¥fFff) in Nishiyama Matsunosuke. Edo
no geind to bunka
Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kfibunkan, 1985. p. T07
32'J i"(^ ) literally means 'ideogram.* It is translated here as letter* to communicate the fact that
only the vowel portion of the syllable, or mora. is extended.
* Umiji also exists in noh utai, as well as nagauta, ftiyomoto, tokiwazu and other genres of
music, in which it refers to an extended sung vowel sound.
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sound accompaniment to a shamisen passage.24 The extended vowei in both hikiji
and umiji may be indicated in the text by a small katakana symbol following the
syllable to be elongated. For example, ki-i would be written
The longer the
“i" is to be held, the greater the number of katakana symbols for V that are used.
In kabuki, umiji are common in the sung takemoto gidayu passages
accompanying character's laments (□ & £ , kudoki), as in “Kumagaya Jinya" (#1$
W S, Kumagai’s Battle Camp), when Sagami discovers that the head of the young
enemy warrior Atsumori is actually that of her own son. Umiji are also used
extensively by actors in delivering their lines and are especially common in final
cadences and in highly emotional scenes, which is quite logical. Stretching out a
word or phrase (by lengthening the vowels) emphasizes those words. The actor
can modulate the pitch of the lengthened vowel or use it to change the tempo,
thus focusing attention on a particular word or phrase. One example of umiji used
at an emotional climax is in the play Koi bikyaku yamato orai(j£MW%Ml& fe, A
Messenger o f Love in Yamato). The ill-fated courier, Chubei, has just purchased the
contract of his courtesan lover, limegawa, and is in a terrible hurry to leave the
teahouse. Unbeknownst to Umegawa, Chtibei used money belonging to the courier
house where he is employed to make the purchase. Umegawa asks Chubei why he
is hurrying, to which he responds “we must hurry.. .for the road is long* (sekaneba
* Yoshikawa Eishi, ed. HSgaku hyakka daijiten
1984. p. 109.
Tokyo: Ongaku no Tomosha,
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naranu.. .michiga tdf). Here, the use of the umiji communicates a sense of
distance, by stretching the word tdf (far), it aiso communicates Chubei’s feeling
of despair at ever getting very far down that road with his new wife. With the
umijit a six-syllable phrase becomes something like:
mi
chi
ga £
to -o -o -o -o -o -o -o - i- i- i- i-
Usage of umiji is not limited to gidayQ kydgen, but can be heard in all types
of plays. One example in a junsui ($$&), or ‘pure* kabuki play, is the opening line
of Sukeroku's nanori (£J£U , name-saying) speech in the play Sukerokuyukari no
edo zakura (Sfr/tfiJisIFB O , Sukeroku: Flower o f Edo). The speech begins with
the line 'ikasama na-aT (indeed now, truly), shown on Graphs 2 and 3 (pp. 33-34).
The graphs illustrate how DanjurdXI and XII respectively, deliver this opening line.
Both hofd the final ‘a’ o f‘na,‘ pushing the ‘ a’ up more than an octave before
gradually lowering it. This creates a striking melodic cadence which seems to
draw the audience along the contours of the melody. It also creates a feeling of
suspense leading up to the actor's launch into his famous speech.
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Graph 2
Example of Umiji (Sukeroku [Ichikawa DanjQrfi XI] in
Sukerokuyukari no edo zakura)
I
i
lea
a
sa a
ma
a
na
a
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Graph 3
Example of Umiji (Sukeroku [Ichikawa DanjQrd XII] in
Sukeroku yukari no edo zakura)
/
A
vwynj
•w
,
■X*
I
t
ka
a
sa a
ma
aa
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Gidayti Study Today
In the Meiji Period (1868-1912) it was standard for all actors to study
gidayti, and even perform professional public recitals of solo gidayti pieces.25This
was true until the Pacific war years (WWII), which interrupted many actors’
training. Even so, according to kabuki scholar Imao Tetsuya, ‘in 1955 at least fifty
percent* of kabuki actors studied gidayti. However by the early 1970s that figure
had ‘dropped to twenty percent.**8
In my own personal interviews with actors Nakamura Ganjird III, Sawamura
Tanosuke VI (b. 1932), and former kabuki actor Mizoguchi Kazuo, who now
manages the kabuki actor training program at Shdchiku-za Theatre in Osaka, ail
acknowledged the importance of gidayu training, while lamented the dwindling
number of young actors studying it. When Tanosuke (an excellent gidayti
performer*7) was asked about gidayti study among the National Theatre kabuki
trainees, from which he now has three apprentices, he shook his head in not so
feigned disgust and said ‘they dont continue to study after they graduate. They
* Imao Tetsuya. *Oto no kOkan,* p. 108.
* Imao Tetsuya. ‘ Geijutsu to dentdteki gijutsu-kabukino engi nikanshite’
ft
8 & X & C H U T , “ Performing Arts and Traditional Skills: the Case o f Kabuki Acting” ) 1994
conference proceedings in Geijutsu to dentd gijutsu (Sttr& sSEttflf, Performing Arts and
Traditional Skilfs). Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, 1994. Imao's statistics are difficult to
verify. He provides no information on the source of the surveys nor how they were conducted.
'Tanosuke is particularly responsible for teaching line delivery a t the National Theatre of
Japan's Kabuki Actor Training Program. In an interview, lead takemoto gidaytlnarrator
Takemoto Ayatayu (June, T998) singled out Tanosuke for his gidayti skills.
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should, but they d o n t/*
Ganjird III also commented on the decreasing number of young actors
studying gidayO, noting that the performance times of gidayO kydgen are getting
longer and longer. He attributes this lengthening to the fact that actors who have
not studied gidayO do not understand the rhythm of gidayO kydgen. They cannot
maintain their breath long enough to produce the sustained lines of the gidayu
play. Actors “chop lines into short pieces, speaking at their own pace to make it
easy for themselves, rather than speaking in the longer phrases (of gidayO).
Without the breath control, actors cant give the proper sense of pacing to a
gidayO play; their “ma” (19, pauses between phrases) are too long, and audiences
get bored.29 This is a sad commentary indeed, considering the advice imparted to
Nakamura Tomijurd V at the age of fifteen, from his first gidayO teacher, actor
Sawamura Genjurd (1881 —1945):
“Above all, you have to leam the timing, breath, and rhythm of
gidayO in order to be a kabuki acto r/*
Today many younger actors choose to study other musical genres in lieu of
gidayO. My own survey of the October 1998 Kabuki haiyO meikan (% & (£€£& £IE,
* Interview on August 5 ,1998, Tokyo.
* Interview on July 6 ,1998, Tokyo.
* Nakamura and Tomita. 'Kabuki engi to gidayu, ’ p. 75.
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KabukiActor Registry),31showed that of the 281 actors listed, 101, or 36% are
listed as studying one or several forms of traditional Japanese music. Of those
101, only 25, or 8.8% of the 281 actors listed, study gidayu. This number is
misleading, however, for it excludes all the actors who studied gidayu for two
years as part of their education at one of the two kabuki training programs. To
date, the total number of graduates active in kabuki is 98, or approximately 33%
of the total number of kabuki actors.® Thus, at the very least, 33% of the acting
pool has studied gidayO; but, as Tanosuke says, most of those graduates dont
continue. In truth, there is little to encourage them to do so, for their chances of
ever having a significant speaking role in their kabuki careers is slim. Of the 98
graduate actors to date, only 15 are nadai ( £ 3 ) , or actors of a rank high enough
to warrant a significant speaking role.
The 8.8% figure also excludes older actors who studied gidayu when
younger, but no longer do so. There are currently 59 actors aged 60 and over.
They are the ones who would have been an appropriate age to study gidayO in
1955, when Imao estimates 50% of actors were studying it. That transfates to
* Published by Ehgeid Shuppansha (3MlifcJS9±), a new Kabuki haiyu meikan is released
approximately every 14 to T8 months. It lists various information about actors—from blood
type and hobbies, to training and lineage. The most recent edition was released in December
1999, but does not significantly differ in regards to the gidayO or other music training
information ascertained from the October 1998 edition used here.
•This figure is based on statistics in KabukihaiyO meikan and "Kokuritsu yoseika jigyd," (in
KabukikenkyO to hihyb
Vol.! 8. Dec. 1996, p. 70), combined with the number
of graduates from the both training programs since Dec. 1998.
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approximately 30 older actors who studied gidayu when younger. Combining
these 30 older actors with the 98 kabuki training graduates, plus the 15 actors
noted in the KabukibaiyO meikan as studying gidayO who are neither graduate
trainees nor actors over 60, gives a total of 143. That means that approximately
51 % of the total number of kabuki actors have studied or are studying gidayu.
More significant, however, is that only about 58 of those 143, or 20% of the total
number of actors, are ranked as nadaiand likely to deliver more than a few short
lines on stage.
Despite all the literature, the training programs, interviews and other
affirmations by actors that claim gidayO training is essential for a kabuki actor,
the reality is somewhat different. In lieu of gidayO, many actors are studying
nagautat a lyrical genre of music. This is certainly sufficient to help actors
develop vocal support and learn to breath from the belly, but nagauta training
focuses on pitch and melody. The goal is to sound pretty. It does not teach one
to attack and use the breath in a dynamically expressive manner. Nor does
nagauta help develop the control of vocal placement necessary to portray the
array of characters that appear in kabuki.
The effects of the dwindling command of gidayO skills are already
surfacing, as Ganjird III noted. Though beyond the scope of this research, it would
bo fascinating to follow this trend and see how breathing, timing and elocution
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change over the next twenty years, as the young actors of today move towards
their career peaks and begin performing leading roles in gidayO kydgen and other
vocally demanding plays.
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CHAPTER HI: JIDAI AND SEW A
This chapter will examine the concepts of jidai, “period* or “historical,* and
sewa, “domestic," and how they are manifest vocally. Jidai and sewa have a wide
range of applications in kabuki. To begin with, the terms describe the basic
division of play types, i.e jidaimono and sew am onoCharacters can also be
classified as jidai or sewa. Furthermore,jidai and sewa modes or vocal tendencies
can be identified. Broadly speaking, the difference injidai and sewa voice lies in
the language, intonation patterns, pitch range, tempo, and placement of sound. I
will use examples to demonstrate the tendencies of these two modes, and show
how, where and why they work together, or “couple.*
Plays, Characters, and Speech
Jidaimono, “period" or “historical* plays, refers to alt plays set in a time
prior to the beginning of the Edo Period (1603-1868). A subdivision, called ddaior dchdmono ( f ft# l or 3EUHJ5, "imperial period” plays), is used for plays dealing
with imperial society and set in the Nara or Heian periods (early eighth to twelfth
r The classification I am using is based on content and style of performance, it contains a third
category, shosagoto, dance or dance plays, which I exclude since shosagoto are largely
movement and music, involving little speech on the actor's part. Another classification system
of kabuki plays divides them by origin, yielding the categories *junsur kabuki
“pure*
plays originating in kabuki), gidayQ kydgen (plays adapted from bunraku), matsubamemono (&$c
9 Hi, plays adapted from noh and kydgen), and shfn kabuld
*new* kabuki plays written
in or after the 20th century by non-kabuki playwrights influenced by Western realism.
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centuries), prior to the Genji-Heiki (Gempei) wars of the 1180s. In a broad sense,
jidaimono can be described as presenting worlds that are “disconnected or
distant from the self,"* i.e. worlds which were distant from everyday Edo Period
reality.
Characters injidaimono dress, act and speak in a manner befitting their
“distant" or “historical’ nature. This is not to say that their dress or movements
or the sound of their utterances is historically accurate; rather, their dress,
physical appearance and voice are exaggerated to such a degree as to clearly
place them apart from the daily reality of Edo Japan. Typical jidai characters are
princes and princesses, imperial and feudal fords and ladies-in-waiting, and
ministers and generals. Jidaimono also feature (anachronistic) samurai retainers,
who dress and speak in a more formal manner than their Edo-period counterparts.
Sewamono refers to plays set in the Edo period, such as Natsu matsuri
naniwa kagami (X&i&TEiE, Summer Festival: A Mirror o f Osaka), which portray
the daily life of commoners. In the nineteenth century, two subdivisions of
sewamono developed. The first, kizewamono (£1 £© & , “raw* sewamono), are socalled because of their “purity”3in portraying Edo life in all its raw reality. These
plays developed early in the nineteenth century. The other subdivision, called
1Definition proffered in a Kabuki Seminar by Professor Furuido Hideo of Waseda University.
May 7 , 1999, Tokyo.
1The description given by Miura Hiroko in Kabukijiten
Yamashita Hiro, ed. Tokyo:
Heibonsha, 1990, p. 1 3 7 .) suggests the character for*ki* (£ ) of kizewamono implies “kissuf
(£ & ), or ‘purity,* meaning kizewamono present domestic reality as ft truly was at the time.
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jidaisewamono,
or period domestic pfays), are sewamono in that
they are set in the Edo period and contain everyday sewa characters of the era,
but may afso contain occasionaljidai characters, or have sewa characters who act
and speak in the more exaggerated, stylized manner of theirjidai counterparts.4
Jidaisewamono developed in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Another way of viewing sewamono is as plays that present the “familiar
woricT—familiar to a person of the Edo era, that is. Sewa characters thus include
samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants. Urban commoners, including
playwrights and actors, had limited access to the world of the high-ranking
samurai and shogunate officials. Thus, for ail practical purposes, the “familiar”
worlds portrayed in the sewamono were the homes and shops of artisans,
merchants and laborers—and, of course, the licensed quarter.
Typical sewa characters include shop owners and their wives and
daughters, clerks and their courtesan or prostitute lovers, farmers and artisans,
and lower-ranking samurai. By definition commoner characters cannot be jid ai
(though they may appear in a jidaimono), as a commoner falls within the
parameters of the familiar, everyday world. Conversely, characters such as Heike
generals and princesses cannot be sewa characters—unless their true identities
are hidden and they are manifesting themselves as commoners. Samurai,
depending on the era to which they belong, can be either sewa orjidaL
4Kabukijiten, p. 209.
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The language used byjid ai and sewa characters also differs. Jidai
characters tend to speak in a more literary language, while sewa characters speak
as their real life counterparts might have spoken. The tempo of jidai characters is
very deliberate, generally one half to one third the speed of sewa characters.
Moreover, the elocution of jidai and sewa is distinctly different.
In jid ai speech, the lowerjaw is usually dropped, resulting in the larynx
being lowered which creates a larger, more resonant oral cavity than in daily
speech. Vowel sounds are generally placed further back in the mouth than in daily
or sewa speech. This is especially true for male roles. This rear placement of
vowels, called postenorization, makes jid ai vowels sound more ‘ round," resonant,
and heavier than sewa vowels. This also makes the sounds more difficult to
understand than when placed normally. A similar, more extreme postenorization
occurs in noh. Akira Tamba describes this postenorization of vowels as resulting
“in obtaining grave somber timbres, giving an impression of calm, of self-control,
of grandeur and unreality.”5 All of these qualities of postenorization are
appropriate for the upper class characters belonging to the “distant* realm of
jidai. I believe these qualities, combined with the literary language and the fact
that the sounds as voiced are difficult to understand, all help to create that sense
of “distance” of the jidai characters.
Two distinct intonation patterns are prevalent injid ai speech. In the first
Tamba Akira. The MusicalStructure o fNoh, Tokyo: Tokaf University Press, 1981. p. 48.
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pattern, the pitch of the voice rises sharply at the beginning of the phrase, usually
on the second syllable, falls very gradually through the middle of the phrase, then
drops a t the end. Former kabuki actor Mizuguchi Kazuo stated this pattern as a
rule of kabuki: “Attack the second syllable and drop the end of the three-part
phrase."* “Attack" in this sense means to attack with the breath, pushing the pitch
up sharply. Lines of speech are not always divided into three parts, and in fact the
rule is applicable for two or four part phrases as well. The rule, slightly modified
to read “Attack the second syllable and drop the end of the phrase," more
accurately describes this typical pattern of kabuki jidai speech/ Though difficult
to prove, this emphasis on the second syllable may have come to kabuki via
gidayO.
The second pattern often heard in jidai speech is called ‘yamagata,' (UiM )
or “mountain form,” so-called because the pitch rises gradually from the beginning
of the phrase, peaks in the middle, and falls gradually again to the end, creating a
sound pattern (and graph) shaped like a mountain.*
•Interview, July 6, T999, Osaka.
TMizuguchi did not connect the rule specifically to jid a i speech. However, subsequent
observations at the Shochiku-za training program made me realize that what he had stated as a
general rule was meant to apply to the play I observed students practicing in lessons at
Shfichiku-za. That play was the jidaimono, Kotobuku Soga no Tafmen, and indeed Mizuguchi's
rule was applied repeatedly throughout the speech of that play. Because Soga no Taimen is
largely written in the tweive-syllable verse form called shichi-go chd, I have reserved
discussion of it for Chapter Six.
•This term was repeatedly used by veteran actor Kataoka Hidetard II (b. 1941), one of the
main instructors at the Shfichiku-za kabuki actor training program, during my observations
there. However, I have never seen reference to it in print.
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Jidai and Sewa “Coupling*
Plays are generally categorized as jidaimono or sewamono, but they dont
necessarily adhere strictly to only one category. In fact, it is common for a fulllength play to begin and end in an historical world, but feature a more
contemporary scene or scenes in the middle. For example, all three of the
"masterpieces* adapted from bunraku—Yoshitsune senbonzakura, Kanadehon
chushingura
tenarai kagami
Treasury of the Loyal Retainers), and Sugawara denju
Sugawaraandthe Secrets o f Calligraphy)—are
structured like this. Alt three are classified as jidaimono, yet all three contain
central domestic scenes, called sewaba
As discussed in the previous chapter, Yoshitsune senbonzakura, ostensibly
set in the twelfth century, contains a scene called "Sushiya,* set in an Edo sushi
shop. The focus of the scene is the twelfth-century general, Taira no Koremori,
who is taking refuge in the sushi shop disguised as a clerk named “Yasuke." The
shop owner, his wife, daughter, and son are all contemporary Edo, i.e. sewa,
characters. In the scene, *Yasuke* is also represented as a sewa character—
socially, physically and vocally—as long as his true identity is kept secret.
Another example is the seventh act of Chushingura. The play is set in the
fourteenth century, but the seventh act takes place at a famous Edo-era teahouse
in Kyoto called the Ichirikiya. The scene features an array of contemporary sewa
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teahouse attendants and prostitutes. A third example is the Terakoya’ scene ( #
/J\g, The Village School) of Sugawara denjQ tenarai kagamL The play is set in the
ninth century, but the Terakoya” scene takes place in an Edo-period village
school. Sewa characters such as local commoner children and parents are
featured alongside jidai characters such as the attendants of an evil ninth-century
imperial Minister.
The three brief examples above demonstrate three ways in which jidai and
sewa do what I term “coupling." The simplest type of coupling is the
incorporation of a sewa scene into a jidaimono, as in the case of the ninth scene
(as well as others) of Chushingura. A slightly more complex type of coupling,
seen in Terakoya," is the mixture of both jidai and sewa characters within a sewa
scene. An even more complex type of coupling is the mixture of sewa and jidai in
the same character, as seen with Yasuke/Koremori in “Sushiya." Ensuing vocal
examples will illustrate how this “coupling" occurs vocally.
Vocal Examples
Daily Speech
Sewa speech is close to daily speech in vocal range and tempo. By way of
illustration, I will first examine graphs illustrating phrases of “normal" everyday
speech of four kabuki actors. Graphs 4 to 7 (p. 49-52) illustrate sample phrases
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of speech taken from videotapes of televised interviews with Nakamura Shikan VII
(b. 1928), Onoe Baik6 VII, Nakamura Utaemon VI (b. 1917), and Onoe Shfiroku II
(1913-1989) respectively. These samples reflect the actors’ normal "public"
speaking voices. They are not performing roles in kabuki, but describing aspects
of kabuki to an interviewer.
An examination of the graphs shows that the range of voice used by the
actors varies from approximately nine semitones, the narrowest range (Shdroku,
Graph 7), to an octave and four semitones, the widest (Baikd, Graph 5). The vocal
range of all the actors is reflective of a “normal" speaking range. The average
adult has a total pitch range of about one and two thirds octaves, while their
usual speaking range is about an octave/ The median pitches of the actors’
speaking voices are within +/-1 standard deviation of the median pitch for adult
males (C3),10 with the exception of Shdroku, whose median pitch is slightly
higher. The rate of speech” for all actors except one (Utaemon) is slightly faster
than the average of 6.9 syllables per second (ss).” The following chart
summarizes the vocal ranges and speaking rates of the four samples shown in
* Hoops, Richard A. Speech Science: Acoustics in Speech. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas
Publishers, 1969. p. 60. The data in Hoops applies to native English speakers in the U.S. It
should be acknowledged that though there are no biological differences in vocal apparatus
between Japanese and Americans, cultural elements could influence the range of voice used on a
daily basis. However, the one-octave range is corroborated by Japanese linguistics data,
particufariy that of Jouji Miwa of twate University.
-Ibid. p. 58.
nRate of speech is calculated by dividing the number of syllables by the total time.
-Calculated from statistics in Kohno Morio, “Mora, Syllable, and Rhythm—A Psycholinguistic
Study'Journal o f the Phonetic Society o fJapan. Vol. 2, No. T April 1998, p. 20.
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Graphs 4 to 7:
A cto r
fu ll range
Shikan VII
88 -2 0 0 hz (F2-G/G# 3)
7.2ss
Baikd VI
100-260hz(G#2~C4)
8.8ss
Utaemon VI
80~160hz(E2~E3)
4.5ss
Shdroku 11
150~240hz (D/D#3~B3)
7.7ss
rate o f speech
An examination of the contours of the graphs reveals few large pitch
changes. The largest of the four examples is in Graph 4, when Shikan’s voice rises
approximately seven semitones, from 125hz to 200hz ((B2-G3) as he says'
mochiaamf (a type of paper), and again when he says “jam /,' (paper). The topic
of his discussion is onnagata, and Shikan raises his pitch on these two words to
stress the type of paper carried in the breast of the kimono as part of the
onnagata costume. Other than these two instances, Shikan's voice rises and falls
only a few semitones with each syllable.
Similarly, the Baikd sample (Graph 5) shows a jump of seven semitones,
from 150hz (D/D#3) to 230hz (A#3), on the “ka" in the word *wakaranaf
(unnoticeabfe) which emphasize the invisible nature of the way in which a kdken
(stagehand) removes props which are no longer needed. At the end of the line, on
*s<5 iu fir (those kinds of things) Baikd again raises the pitch to emphasize 'kinds
of things' a kdken does.
We can see in these examples that the pitch is demonstrably raised only
once or twice in a sentence for the purpose of emphasis. For the most part, the
48
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Graph 4
Example of Natural Speaking Voice (Nakamura Shikan VII)
Watakushi domo wa onnagata, kono yd no mochigami to moshimashite, kami o motte orimasu.
49
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Graph 5
Example o f Natural Speaking Voice (Onoe Baikd VII)
JL
Tacfaiyaku san ga iranai mono o, mo tsukawanai mono ga soko ni attara wakaranai yd ni soreo katazukeru.
Soiufunakotoo.
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Graph 6
Example o f Natural Speaking Voice (Nakamura Utaemon VI)
Sono gakki no te o ne, sono, kangaenai de, ano ku ni shinai de, ano butai derarem yd ni narimaahita.
Note: spike in graphis due to noisein the recording, not the pitch ofthe speaker's voice.
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Graph 7
Example o f Natural Speaking Voice (Onoe Shdroku II)
island
r
* Sore dake onnagata sanwa
kitsukatterun desu kedo ne.
Note: spike in graph is dueto noise in the recording, notthe pitch ofthe speaker’svoice.
52
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rising and falling intonation, as well as the cadences of phrases are rather flat.
This is “typical" of everyday Japanese speech. The small pitch changes—the
intonation of the speech—is a natural by-product of Japanese, which is a pitchstressed language. Stress is achieved by giving certain syllables relatively higher
tones.’3
in many ways sewa speech, i.e. the daily language of Edo, follows the
tendencies of daily speech today—with a few differences. Naturally, the grammar
and vocabulary used are reflective of the Edo era. Furthermore, sewa characters,
especially women, tend to speak slower than the average rate of daily speech,
though faster than jidai speech.
Sewa Speech
Now let us turn to samples of kabuki sewa speech. Graphs 8-10 (p. 55-57)
illustrate two short sewa vocal samples from the role of the clerk Yasuke in the
“Sushiya* scene, as performed by Nakamura Shikan VII. Graph 8 (p. 55) illustrates
Yasuke's line as he greets Yazaemon, the sushi shop owner, upon his return home.
Bowing, Yasuke says ‘okaerinasaremaseT (welcome home). Graph 9 (p. 56)
illustrates Yasuke's response to Yazaemon's inquiry as to the whereabouts of his
wife and daughter: *Say6 nara, watakushi wa chotto, oyobi mdshrte gozarimasunf
(If you wish, I shall go and calf them here for you).
9 Kiyose, Gisaburd. “Formation of the Japanese Accentuation System/ The Study o f Sounds
(Onsetno kenkyti, **CWJF5t) Vol. 19,1981. p. 227.
53
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tn terms of tempo and vocal range, both of these examples demonstrate
how close Yasuke's sewa speech Is to daily speech. Yasuke speaks at a relatively
quick tempo of 6.67 ss,14fractionally slower than the average daily speaking rate
of 6.9ss. Yasuke generally speaks within a one octave range, approximately
165hz to 330hz (E3~E4), rising beyond that only once, on moyobi mdshiteT (call
them). The higher pitch on these syllables emphasizes the humble verb form
Yasuke uses, demonstrating his subservient position as clerk. The pitch rise on
the syllables “yobF is only about five semitones, which is not unusual for daily
speech, and much smaller than will be seen in jidai speech.
The same line of speech shown in Graph 9 is illustrated in Graph 10 (p. 57),
performed by another actor, Onoe Baikd VII. Like Shikan, Baikd speaks more or
less within an octave range (175hz~350hz, or F3 to F4) as Yasuke, though Baikd's
rate of speech is somewhat slower, approximately 4.8ss.
A comparison between the normal speaking voices (Graphs 4 and 5) of
Shikan and Baikd, and Yasuke’s sewa voice as performed by the two actors
(Graphs 8-10), shows that both actors speak eight to ten semitones higher as
Yasuke. This is due to Yasuke's age, probably in his twenties, and the general
tendency of kabuki characters to speak in a range higher than would naturally be
used by a person of the same age in real lrfe.,s Furthermore, the character of
KFigure given is an average of both samples.
* Based on a comparison of 58 vocal samples from kabuki with figures for median pitch levels
from five different studies compiled in Hoops, Speech Science, p. 58.
54
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Graph 8
Example o f Sewa Voice (Yasuke [Nakamura Shikan VII] in “Sushiya”)
m a
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Graph 9
Example o f Sewa Voice (Yasuke [Nakamura Shikan VII] in “Sushiya”)
Saydnarawatakushiwachotto,
o
yo
bi
mdshi te
gozarimasu ru.
56
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Graph 10
Example o f Sewa Voice (Yasuke [Onoe Baikd VII] in “Sushiya”)
ygtd
b ttU
V\
Ko re e
yo bi
moo
shi
te ma e ri ma su ru.
57
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Yasuke is decades younger than the age of either Baikd or Shikan at the time of
the interviews from which the samples of their normal speaking voice were taken.
As a general rule in kabukit the younger characters are, the higher-pitched their
speaking levels, with female roles using a slightly higher range than men.
Remember that the sewa clerk ‘Yasuke* is in reality the Heike general
Koremori, a /da/'character. We have seen how *Yasuke” speaks when in the guise
of a commoner, but there are points in the “Sushiya" scene when ‘Yasuke’s* true
identity is revealed and he exhibits the stature, both physically and vocally, of his
true jidai self.
Jidai Speech: Yamaaata
The first time ‘Yasuke’s* true identity is revealed, he is in the front room of
the shop with Yazaemon. Yazaemon indicates his request for “Yasuke" to stop
pretending, and take a seat so they may speak. Kneeling, Yazaemon addresses
the young man in his true identity of Koremori. Yazaemon apologizes to Koremori
for having to disguise him as a lowly clerk in order to protect him. Even so, the
enemy has seen through the ruse, so Yazaemon asks Koremori to prepare to flee
the next day to a hidden retreat in the mountains for safety. To this, the jidai
character Koremori responds (a slash marks the end of each phrase):
Chichi Shigemori ga k6 on (w)o / uketaru mono wa ikuman nin /
Kazu kagirinaki sono naka ni/okoto no (i)yd na mono ga art (i)ya.
(Father Shigemori’s imperial fa v o r/ was bestowed upon tens of
58
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thousands of people. / Among all of those countless individuals, / how
fortunate I am to encounter one as kind as you.)
Graph sets 11 and 12 (p. 60-63) illustrate the above lines, as performed by
Nakamura Shikan VII and Onoe Baikd VII, respectively, in the role of Koremori.
These graphs demonstrate several important aspects ofjidai voice. The
yamagata form is clearly visible in two phrases. The first, “chichi Shigemori ga kd
on (w)om(Graphs 11 /1 2 A) begins at about 200hz (G3), has a long glissando rise
to a peak of 450hz (A/A#4) on the syllable “fco," before falling again to 200hz.
The second yamagata phrase, ‘kazu kagirinaki sono naka nr (Graphs 11/12 C),
follows a similar overall pattern.
A feature of the yamagata phrase is the slight dip in pitch immediately
before the sharp glide up in pitch. In practice, this dip in pitch is a result of what
actors call “pushing’ (osu,
) the breath. “Pushing’ means tightly contracting
the abdominal and intercostal muscles to increase sub glottal pressure and
airflow. Using this added force, the actor pushes the pitch down, as a kind of
preparatory “hook" from which to rebound, forcing the pitch upwards. This
technique is commonly used in kabuki whenever there is a pitch rise of a
substantial interval.
The length ofjidai breath phrases, i.e. length of time between breaths, is
also rather long. The sewa phrases in Graphs 8~10 are between .8 and 2.5
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Graph Set 11
Example of Yamagata Jidai Voice (Koremori [Nakamura Shikan Vtl] in “Sushiya”)
A.
B.
Chi chi Shi ge mo ri ga
220
I cooo
195.2/454.4
nr
i
fcu
400.8
mo
no
wa
a
(w)o
206.0
ma
a
ni
u ke
181.3
a
155.8
60
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(sfaamisen)
180
ta
Graph Set 11
A
iM
a H
/ W
ka zu
205
D.
\
'W
ka gt
to no CO yo o
200
yv*
f
:
V
'
na Id so no na
170.8/407.5
na a
mo no
I88.I/403.1
ka
at
190
ga
a ro
o 0
148.6/396.1
ya
61
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175
Graph Set 12
Example of Yamagata JidaiVofce (Koremori [Onoe Baiko VII] in “Sushiya”)
A.
Chi chi Shi ge
214
ta n i
mo
mo ri
no
ko o o n
2333/ 445.5
(w)o
(noise)
230.8
no
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u
ke
158.2/397.0
Graph Set 12
C.
ka zu
ka gi
ri
na Id
so
no
na ka
oi
(shamisen)
63
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seconds, while the jidaiphrases of Graphs 11 ~12 range from 3.75 to 6.5 seconds.
These longer breath phrases are not because the phrase has more syllables, but
because each syllable is elongated. This of course means it takes longer to say
the same thing in a jidai voice, and that breath phrases must also be longer. By
way of comparison, the thirteen-syllable sewa breath phrase “oyobi mdshite
maerimasunf (I shall go and call them for you) in Graph 9 (Shikan), takes
approximately 2.1 seconds. In Graph 10 (Baikd), the corresponding thirteensyllable phrase, 'oyobimdshite gozarimasunf takes approximately 2.5 seconds.
In Graph 11 (Shikan), the thirteen-syllable jidai breath phrase 'uketarv mono wa iku
man nirf takes approximately 6.75 seconds, while the corresponding phrase in
Graph 12 (Baikd) takes 5.25 seconds.
in the case of Shikan, this factors to an average of .52 seconds per
syllables (sps) for jidai speech, versus .16 sps for sewa speech, making his sewa
speech more than three times (3.25) faster than hisjidai speech. Baiko’ s rates
are slightly faster, at .40 sps forjidai and .19sps for sewa, making his sewa
speech Just over twice (2.1 ) as fast as hisjidai speech. As these examples show,
sewa andjidai tempos may vary depending on the actor. Tempos will also vary
somewhat depending on the emotional content of lines and the character
speaking.1* Generally speaking, however, sewa tempos tend to be at least twice
"For example, courtesans, who are sewa characters, nevertheless tend to speak very slowly.
A discussion of courtesan speech is included in Chapter IV.
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that ofjidai.
Elements of gidayu pronunciation can also be heard in Koremori’s jidai
speech. First of all, as discussed in Chapter II, the particle “o,“ is pronounced
“u+o" (Graphs 11 /12 A). Also the “yd" of m
y6 n/‘ (& (c, meaning “like, or as") and
the interjective “ya* (“oh" or “ahf Graphs 11/12 D), are pronounced “i+yd" and
“i+ya" respectively.
Jidai Speech: Attack the Second Syllable
The second prevalent pattern in jidai voice, “attack the second syllable and
drop the end of the phrase,’ is illustrated in Graphs 13 and 14 (p. 66-67). These
vocal samples are from the “Hikimado" scene (51
chdchd kuruwa nikki
The Skylight) of Futatsu
Diary o f Two Brothel Butterflies), in which
JOJibei, a newly appointed village official of samurai status, is discussing his first
assignment with two other samurai. The two describe to Jujibei the
circumstances of their brother's death, adding that they are in search of the
murderer. The graphs illustrate JGjibei's response: '[shikaraba,] katafd uchi dozerf
([Well then], this is a virtual vendetta), as performed by two different actors,
Kataoka Nizaemon XVII (Takao; b. 1942) and Nakamura Ganjird III.
In Graph 14, the pitch of the first syllable, 'k a ' begins around 200hz(G#3),
then rises to approximately 450hz (A /A #4) on the second syllable “ta," an interval
of an octave and two semitones. The actor sustains a high pitch for the next four
65
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Graph 13
Example of “Attack the Second Syllable and Drop the End of the Phrase’ Jidai
Voice (Jfljibei [Kataoka NizaemonXV] in “Hikimado”)
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Graph 14
Example o f “Attack the Second Syllable and Drop the End of the Phrase" Jidai
Voice (Jfljibei [Nakamura GanjirS III] in “Hifamado”)
(Final ”n" not clearly enunciated)
67
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syllables, before beginning a glissando fall in pitch over the final four syllables to
finish around 150hz (D /D #3). The overall pitch range of the line is about an
octave and six semitones.
In graph 13, the same phrase follows a similar pattern in a slightly lower
pitch range. Beginning at approximately 150hz (D/D#3) on 'k a ' the pitch rises to
around 400hz (G4) on “ta," and falls gradually on the final four syllables to end
around 125hz (B2). The overall range covered is an octave and eight semitones.
The same high-arching phrase pattern, ‘ attacking’ the second syllable, can
be heard in the speech of Tsutsumi T6nai, a samurai official in the sewamono
Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami. in this scene Tdnai is about to release the
commoner, Danshichi, from prison. Standing over a kneeling, humbled Danshichi,
Tdnai delivers the following speech (a slash ( /) marks the end of each phrase):
Sono hi5koto / kyonen kugatsujtisan nichi / td kachu / O tori Sagaemon ga
keraini te o owase/ sono hd tomo /rdsha no tokoro/ tekizu wa iete / arte
wa rdshi. / Sore yue /Timashima HyddayO sama no/ kakubetsu no
oboshfmeshi/ goshamen to ainaru. / Arigataku / kokoroemoshd zo.
(Charges state that last year on the thirteenth of the ninth month you
quarreled with a retainer of Q tori Sagaemon and injured him. You and he
were both imprisoned, and though the man's injury was slight, he died while
in prison. Therefore, due to the good graces of Tamashima HyddayO, you
have been pardoned.*7 Show your gratitude.)
7 Edo law would have required that both individuals involved be questioned. The death of the
other man made further investigation impossible, resulting in Danshichi's release.
68
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Almost every phrase of Tonai’s speech, shown in Graph set 15 (p. 70-71),
follows the "attack the second syllable rule." Each phrase rises sharply—by up to
an octave—at the beginning, then falls gradually to the end. Tdnai, a samurai,
speaks in a typical //cfaApattemed voice. However, since Tdnai is an Edo Period
samurai, he is a "familiar" entity and part of the sewa world. This makes him a
sewa samurai. His speech demonstrates elements of both jidai and sewa worlds.
The formal, proclamatory intonation pattern isjidai. However, the range of voice
Tdnai uses stays within an octave, thus narrower and less exaggerated than a true
jidai character which, as shown in Graphs 13 and 14, can have a breadth of an
octave and a half to an octave and two-thirds. Furthermore, the pace of Tdnai’s
speech, at 5.03 ss, is faster than that of a jidai samurai.
The two basicjidai patterns demonstrated above—the "attack" on the
second syllable and the yamagata—are also found in the speech of female jidai
characters. One example is from the "Daimotsu ura" scene Cfc&ilt, Daimotsu Bay)
of Yoshitsune senbonzakura, as the imperial lady-in-waiting, Suke no Tsubone,
warts with her charge, the child emperor Antoku, who is of Heike blood. Together
they watch a decisive sea battle between the Heike and the Genjt clans raging in
the distance. Seeing that the Heike will be defeated, Suke no Tsubone calls for
the attendants to “bring the [Heike] flag of the young lord" (kimi no on-nagare
chddaimesare).
69
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Graph Set 15
Example of Yamagata (Tdnai in Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami)
K
J
t
» ; : .
a
t
i
A.
Sonobd koto
B.
ga kerai trite owase
.
kyonen kugatsuju sannichi
to ka cbu
Soohdotomo r6 shaao tokoro
Otori
Sagaemon
tekizuwaiete
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Graph Set 15
C.
aitewa
roshi
soreyue
Tamashima Hyddayu samano kakubetsu no obo
kokoroemashd zo
shfmaght goshamen.to at nant
71
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(Ee^.)
An examination of the line, illustrated in Graph 16 (p. 73), shows that the
first phrase, kimi no on-nagare, more or less follows a yamagata pattern. Rising
gradually from around 250hz (B#3) to 350 hz (F4), the pitch of the phrases jumps
to 540hz (C#4) on the syllable “na* and falls again to just above 200hz, spanning
approximately an octave and five semitones. The second phrase, chddaimesare,
beginning around 150 hz (D /D #3) on the initial syllable of *cho,“ rises sharply an
octave and ten semitones to 542 hz (C#4) on the second syllable, “o.“ From there
the pitch falls gradually, dropping on the final syllable and returning to
approximately 250hz. The tempo of speech is a stately jidai pace of 2.4 ss.
Sewa and Jidai‘Coupling*
The example of Koremori/Yasuke shows howjidai and sewa modes of
speech converge or “couple.” When the jidai character of Koremori is in disguise
as the cleric “Yasuke,” he speaks and acts as the sewa character he appears to be.
He speaks in his jidai voice only when his true identity of Koremori is revealed or
acknowledged.
Kabuki actors also occasionally make use of the jidai and sewa vocal
modes in order to express a psychological aspect of a character. The character of
JOjibet in “Hikimado“ is a good example. At the opening of the scene, JGjibei is
away at the magistrate's office, where he is informed of his promotion to the
position of village official, a post his father held before him. When Jujlbei left the
72
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Graph 16
Example o f (onnagata) Yamagata (Suke no Tsubone [Onoe Baikd VII] in
Yoshitsune senbon zakura)
{
out
I:
\
Ki mi no
\
-
*
: A vA»
o naga re e
cho o
da
i
me
sa
73
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re
e
house, he was the commoner known as Yohei; he returns as a samurai, given the
hereditary name of Nampd Jujibei.
Dressed in haori, hakama and two swords, the official costume of his office
and symbol of his new elevated status, Jujibei returns home. Excited by his
promotion, he enters the house and calls to his mother and wife in the quick,
everyday voice of a sewa commoner, 'Haha ja hito. Nyobo domef (Mother! Wife!).
Realizing the tone and language are not befitting his new samurai status, JGJibei
adjusts both his posture and his vocal delivery for the next line, “Tadaima
tachikaettsT (I have just now returned), which he delivers using the jidai pattern of
“attacking the second syllable."
Jujibei’s lines are illustrated in Graphs 17 and 18 (p 76-77), as performed
by actors Kataoka Nizaemon XV (Takao), and Nakamura Ganjird III, respectively.
Both actors deliver the lines in a similar manner. The first line, "hahaja hito, nydbo
domo, is very “natural" in that the character shouts excitedly, speaking very
quickly in a high pitch. This is followed by a pause and a shift into a controlled
physical and vocal stance as he assumes the format deportment of a samurai, and
continues, in a jidai-Wke voice, to announce that he has returned, 'tadaima
tachikaetta.'
The difference between the two modes of voice is striking. To begin with,
both actors also slow the tempo immensely when shifting from sewa to jidai. The
74
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rate of speech for each actorr summarized below, shows the sewa speech to be
nearly three times as fast as the jidai.
sewa—haha...n 0 syllables)
\idai-tadaim a.J9 syllables)
Nizaemon
1.5 sec / 6.66 ss, or 1.5 sps
4.65 sec / I .93 ss, or .51 sps
Ganjird
1.6 sec / 6.25 ss, or 1.6 sps
5.5 sec /1 .6 3 ss, or .61 sps
The controlled pitch rise on the second syllable of 'tadaimsT (da) in both
examples is also quite striking, especially in the case of Nizaemon, who jumps
from approximately 150hz to 550 hz (D#3 to C#5), an interval of an octave and
ten semitones. The interval of Ganjird’s pitch jump is slightly smaller, at an octave
and two semitones (175hz to 425hz; F#3 to G#/A4), but the pattern is the same.
The character of Jujibei, unlike ‘Yasuke,* is not a sewa character in disguise.
JOjibei's samurai status is clearly indicated by his dress and physical carriage the
moment he enters. Internally, however, JOjibei has not fully adjusted to his new
promotion in status. The change firom sewa to jidai \n the first lines Jujibei utters
in the scene—i.e. when he greets his family using the lines shown in Graphs 17 and
18—is an indication of the character's own self-awareness and incomplete
psychological transition into his new role. JOjibei switches from jidai to sewa in
other instances in the scene for similar reasons. Nakamura Ganjird III attributes
this particular interpretation of JOjibei to his grandfather, Ganjird I, and calls it
“Kamigata style.” * Ganjird I may well have been the first to perform Jujibei using
* Interview with Nakamura Ganjird ill, July 5r 1999. Osaka. Ganjird is a Kamigata actor,
having been bom and raised in the Kansai area.
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Graph 17
Example of Use of Psychological Switching from Sewa to Jidai Voice
(JQjibei [Kataoka Nizaemon XV] in “Hikimado”)
A.
B.
Hahajahito nyd bodomo
(d)a
t * ma
ta
chi
(actorgrunts
ka
gasps in thought)
e
e
(kakegoe)ta
76
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Graph 18
Example of Use of Psychological Switching from Sewa to JidaiVoice
(JOjibei [Nakamura Ganjird III] in “Hikimado”)
A.
Hahajahito nydbodomo
B.
l
ma
ta
chi
ka
e
(kakegoe) ta
77
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this switching between jidai and sewa, but his interpretation is commonplace
today among Tokyo actors as well.
This “coupling” ofjidai and sewa voice to express the internal aspects of a
character is a pure kabuki invention. In the original bunraku play, Jujibei uses a
deliberate and formal jidai-like speech throughout the scene. As one narrator
explained to me, the voice must suit the puppet head and the clothing.’9
Therefore, without an outward change in the puppet's appearance, a change in
vocal demeanor would not be appropriate. Kabuki actors, however, do not have
this limitation and can
use the established vocal modes to reveal internal psychological aspects of a
character.
Another aspect of the vocal switching between jidai and sewa is a purely
technical one. Considerable vocal control is required to switch between the two
with ease, and the difference in sound between the two is striking. Actors use
opportunities such as those present in the role of Jujibei, to “couple” the dramatic
effect of switching from one mode to another, with the opportunity to display
technical and artistic accomplishment. Consequently, moments such as these are
appreciated on both a dramatic and metadramatic level by the audience.
* Interview with Toyotafce Rodayft, May 1 9 ,1999. Tokyo.
78
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CHAPTER IV : MERIHARI—MODULATING PITCH,
TEMPO, AND INTONATION
Merihari, a buzz word of kabuki voice, is usually translated as "modulation,'’
as in vocal modulation. It is written with the ideograms
“men," meaning
“decrease" or “weaken," and 55, “haif meaning "increase," “tighten," or “expand."
An actor is said to have merihari if the pitch, intonation, tempo, and dynamics of
his voice are well modulated. The kabuki actor’s voice must have merihari to be
aurally stimulating.
This chapter discusses important basic rules the actor uses to give his
voice merihari. Any “full-fledged" actor (Jchininmae, —AftT) has internalized these
rules and uses them regulariy in the performance of all types of characters in both
sewamono and jidaimono.’ When asked, an actor may not be able to articulate
rules of voice, but this is a consequence of his training. There is no voice course
that provides a list of rules which are learned and then applied when acting a
character in a play. On the contrary, an actor learns roles, and after years of
building a repertory, he simply “knows" what the rules are, even if he cannot
enumerate them.
* I have limited discussion to “pure" Qunsui) kabuki and gidayQ kydgen, though the rules also
apply to vocai interpretation in matsubame mono (t&fiSUr, prays adapted from noh and
kyogen). “New" kabuki
shin kabuki), which are influenced by Western realism, have a
different sound vocally, and are not included in this study.
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Students enrolled in the kabuki actor training courses have only two years
to learn all the basics of kabuki dance, stage combat, acting and voice. The
majority of trainees are completely devoid of any knowledge o f kabuki prior to
entering the program.2 Therefore, kabuki actors teaching the trainees often
elucidate aspects of rules through the specific instructions and examples they
give, hoping to expedite the students' learning process, as two years is not
enough time to develop an intuitive understanding of the kabuki art form without
a few hints. Consequently, my observations of training sessions at the National
Theatre of Japan in Tokyo and the Shdchiku-za in Osaka, were a wonderful
opportunity to see the rules discussed herein as they were being taught.
Actors Take Their Pitch Off the Shamisen?
A common adage in kabuki is that ‘the (pitch of the) onnagata and
nimaime
young lovers) is the third string (of the shamisen); tachiyaku (St
& , lead males) the second, and toshiyori
, old people) and katakiyaku (0 i
& , villains) the first.’* Variant versions afso exist, such as ‘the (pitch of the)
onnagata is the third string (of the shamisen); soft lovers (nimaime) and
supporting roles (JBS, wakiyaku) are the second.’4 The two versions dont seem
* Interview with Sawamura Tanosuke, November 6 ,1 3 9 8 , Tokyo.
1Onoe Baik6 interview for the program Kabukino sekai:onnagata
: lefc, The Worfd
ofKabukkOnnagata) NHK Production, 1983.
«Mizuguchi Kazuo, manager of the Sh6chiku-za kabuki training course and former kabuki
wakiyaku (supporting actor).
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to agree on the pitch of the nimaime role. In addition, the second version does
not specify whether the supporting roles are male or female characters. Nor does
it mention tacNyaku roles. I give less credence to this variant, for it seems logical
that adages propagated in an actor-centered theatre would mention leading roles
above supporting ones. However, given that the source of this variant was
himself a male role supporting actor, it makes sense that he might remember a
version of the adage which included wakiyaku.
A third version of the adage, by Onoe Kikuzd, is much simpler the open
second string of the shamisen is the basis (of pitch for the voice).* Kikuzd was a
member of the Onoe Kikugord theatre troupe for his entire career, acting
supporting onnagata roles alongside Onoe Baikd's leading roles. Even so, each
actor quotes a different version of the same adage. A t still further extremes,
there are actors, such as Nakamura Ganjird III, who give no credence to any of the
sayings regarding shamisen pitch and the pitch of the actor's voice.5
This particular ‘‘rule’ presents many problems and exemplifies the
complexities of the folklore surrounding oral traditions. Some of the folklore
comes to be stated as fact by the artists themselves. This saying, for example,
floats around and is quoted in one form or another in kabuki appreciation courses
given to children, in introductory texts on kabuki, as well as by actors themselves
‘ Onoe Kikuzfi, Serifu nyumort, Nov. T990.
• Interview with Nakamura 6anjir6 III. July 5 ,1 9 9 9 , Osaka.
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in interviews. But which version, if any, is true? ft seems probable that some sort
of relationship exists between the shamisen and the pitch of the actor's voice.
But what is it?
Shamisen music is an integral, indispensable element of every kabuki play
or dance. Any one or more of four musical genres— nagauta, kiyomoto, tokiwazu,
or takemoto—will be used as accompaniment in dance and dance plays. All
styles of plays make use in varying degrees of the offstage nagauta string and
percussion ensemble. Furthermore, takemoto music accompanies the plays
adapted from bunraku, which comprise a large portion of today’s kabuki repertory.
That both nagauta and takemoto music are necessary for performance is clearly
demonstrated by the organizational status they have. Today there are two
groups of nagauta musicians contracted year-round exclusively for kabuki
productions, while takemoto musicians, along with actors, have year-round
contracts with the Shdchiku Company/
The main instrument in all of these musical genres is the shamisen;
therefore, it is not surprising that it could be the focal point of pitch for kabuki
actors. If the tuning of the strings indicates the pitch of the actors voices, then
we must first understand how the instrument is tuned.
There are three basic shamisen tunings.* Hon-chdshi CfcSS-?0 or ‘basic
TInterview with Takemoto Ayatayu, Tokyo.
•There are other rare tunings not often heard in kabuki.
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tuning” is a perfect fourth between strings one and two, and a perfect fifth
between strings two and three. In ni-agari, (~ ± U , “second string raised”) the
second string is raised a tone, maidng a fifth between strings one and two, and a
fourth between two and three. In san-sagari (= T tf, “third string lowered”), the
third string is lowered one tone, making two perfect fourths between strings one
and two, and strings two and three.”
As a rule, pitches of the shamisen are relative and can be tuned to match
the lead singer. In practice today, however, the geza nagauta ensemble in kabuki
usually tunes the first (lowest) string to C#.’° The explanation given is that the
nagauta shamisen resonates best in this tuning." The open strings of the nagauta
shamisen would be thus be tuned as follows for most kabuki plays:
(hon-chdshi)
(san-sagari)
aInformation on shamisen music is based on my own twelve years of study. For published data
in English on nagauta, see Malm, William P. Nagauta. Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle, T959.
•Traditionally pitch in Japan is referred to as “hon." C# is equal to go hon, or ‘5 hart*
"Interview with Kineya Wakichi, professional geza nagauta shamisen player. Jan. 23, 2000,
Honolulu, HI. Cuhousiy, in nagauta concerts the shamisen is usually tuned a half tone lower [CJ.
If C# is where the instrument resonates best, one would expect it to be the pitch used a t a
concert where the shamisen is the focus of attention.
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The tuning of the takemoto shamisen is generally a fourth lower than the
nagauta, so that the two ensembles do not clash when playing pieces that
dovetail with each other. Thus, the basic tuning of the takemoto shamisen would
be as follows:1*
(takemoto hon-ch6shi)
As a general rule, kabuki takemoto tuning is a whole tone higher than that
used by "hon’ gidayti (the ‘original’ gidayu of bunraku). The reason for this, as
explained by Takemoto Ayatayfl, the head tayO in kabuki today, is that it is easier
for actors to speak with this higher tuning.1* This would seem to imply a
relationship between the pitch of the actor's speaking voice and the pitch of the
takemoto. AyatayO further stated that the tuning for a scene featuring many
female roles ‘may be slightly higher, but not as high as *A," since the actors
speaking are, after all, men.*1* Again, a pitch relationship is implied, but since
actors dont sing along with the shamisen, they arent bound to the pitch of the
shamisen in the same manner as the narrator.,s
Which shamisen, nagauta or takemoto, provides the pitch reference?
“ Shamisen tunings are not necessarily tuned according to a Western tempered scale, but may
be adjusted slightly higher or lower depending on the weather, or mood or condition of the
singer or narrator. Pitches given are thus dose approximations.
* Interview with Takemoto AyatayO, Tokyo, May 30, 1999.
’‘ Ibid.
•Interview with Toyotake Rodayu, May 1 9 ,1 9 9 9 , Tokyo.
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Actors and articles that invoice the adage never say which shamisen is intended.
Nagauta would seems the likely choice since it is used offstage at some point in
almost every play, including gidayu kydgen. If this were the case, based on honchoshi tuning, the focal pitch for onnagata and nimaime would be C#5 (554.4hz),
F#4 (370hz) for tachiyaku, and C#4 (277.2hz) for old people. These pitches are
much too high to be median pitches of the respective character types. Moreover,
none of the vocal samples in my data reflects pitches as high as these for any of
the respective role categories.
If, on the other hand, the takemoto shamisen is taken as the baseline, each
of the pitches would be a fourth lower. This translates to G#4 (415hz) for
onnagata, C#4 (277.2hz) for tachiyaku and G#3 (196hz) for older and evil
characters. In the case of tachiyaku and oid characters, these levels are closer to
the median pitches exhibited in the fifty-eight vocal samples I examined.
However, the G#4 pitch is too high as the onnagatab median pitch. In fact, it is
close to the upper limit of the onnagata vocal range for many veteran actors.
In any case, the takemoto shamisen is not used in all plays, so it could not
possibly provide the base line pitches for actors all the tim e. Perhaps the adage
originally intended to address a relationship that existed only in gidayu kydgen,
and became generalized overtime. Whatever happened, the reality doesn't seem
to support the adage that actors take their pitch from the shamisen.
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Perhaps the saying is a relic from a time when the shamisen were tuned
lower. Tokiwazu Tokizd, a tofdwazu musician, has said that shamisen tuning
today is about a tone higher than in his grandfather’s day.’6 I have not been able
to confirm that nagauta and takemoto tunings in kabuki were lower in the past,
but it is possible that sound would have earned sufficiently at a lower tuning in
the smaller theatres of the Edo period. It is difficult to imagine that actors are
not at all influenced by the pitch of the music that accompanies them. The
relationship today, however, appears to be much less direct than the adage would
lead one to believe.
Onnagata Use an ‘Affected Accent* (Naman) to Sound Seductive
Japanese is a pitch-accented language, in contrast to English, which is a
stress-accented language. English stress results from certain syllables having a
higher tone and longer duration, while Japanese syllables are of a fairly equal
duration, and stress is achieved by giving certain syllables (relatively) higher
tones.'7 Individual words in Japanese have specific pitch accents. These are
usually described as being high (H) or low (L). For example, the word ‘kabuki* has
a L-H-H pitch accent pattern.
The pitch accents of individual words are fixed when they are spoken as
•Interview, Mar. 29, T999, Tokyo.
• Kiyose GisaburO. ‘Formation of the Japanese Accentuation System." The Study of Sounds
{Onset no kenkyO, Wr<OW5t)Vot. 19,1981.p. 227.
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free agents. However, Japanese is an agglutinative language, which means that
the pitch accent of an individual word is affected by other words in the phrase to
which the word becomes bound.’* For example, the three-syllable word ‘shirof
(white), has a pitch accent of L-H-L in standard Japanese. The pitch accent for
m
hana gaT (flower, plus the subject marker “gaT) is also L-H-L. If these three words
are spoken as separate two phrases (i.e. with a pause in between), “shiroi/ hana
ga,meach retains its original pitch pattern of L-H-L / L-H-L. However, if joined
together and spoken as one phrase ‘shiroi hana ga," the pitch pattern for the
single phrase becomes L-H-L-L-L-L.’9 Though pitch accents are described as being
high (H) or low (L), in actuality there are more than two relative pitches." Thus, in
a series of “high’' pitched syllables, consecutively higher tones lead up to the
highest pitch, called the accent nucleus. Conversely, in a series of “low” pitches,
as in *shiroi hana ga,“ syllables will be consecutively lower pitched.
There are two basic rules governing Japanese intonation. The first is that
once the pitch falls to “low* in a pitch phrase, all the following syllables in the
phrase become low.21Thus, a pitch phrase cannot have two “high* tones with a
“low* in the middle. So in the phrase, “shiroi hana gaT once the pitch falls to low on
the last syllable of ‘shiroi,’ all following syllables become “low.* The second rule
* Ibid, p. 197.
* Sakiyama Seifcf, p. 209.
* Sakiyama Seikf. 'Phrasal Pitch In Japanese Language* in The Studyo f Sounds (W£r®£iF5t), Vol.
21,1985. p. 209.
■Kiyose, p. 213.
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is that if the accent nucieus of a phrase falls on the third or later syllable, all prior
syllables, except the first, become “high."* These rules will be of particular
importance when examining courtesan's speech.
Japanese particles—"wa," ‘ga’ ‘o,’ ‘ni,’ and *de’—are often natural
divisions in a sentence, as are verbs in a connective form, but they neednt always
be. It is possible to divide words between two particles into more than one
phrase, or speak them as one. For example, the sentence
Onnagata wa mochigami to iu kami o mochimasu.
(Onnagata carry a kind of paper called ‘ mochigami.’)
can be said as one, or divided into two, three, or even four phrases. Some
possibilities are:
(2 ) Onnagata wa mochigami to iu/kami o mochimasu.
(2) Onnagata wa / mochigami to iu kami o mochimasu.
(3) Onnagata wa /mochigami to iu /kami o mochimasu.
(4) Onnagata w a/ mochigami/to iu /kami o mochimasu.
How phrases of speech are divided is largely up to an individual.” The
divisions determine the pattern of the pitch phrase, which in turn affects the
intonation of the phrase. Consequently, intonation patterns vary depending on
the choices an individual makes.
This element of choice is also true in kabuki. Whether a character is jidai or
sewa, as well as the character's gender, age, social status and dramatic situation,
*lbid.
■Kiyose, p. 229.
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all influence the number of pitch phrases into which a character's lines tend to be
divided. Another large factor, especially in the case of sewa characters, is actor
choice. That is why it is difficult to find specific patterns in sewa speech; the
choices actors make are almost as varied as the choices people make when
speaking everyday. The more formal jidai speech, however, generally dictates the
use of long pitch phrases. This results in pitch patterns that fall gradually from a
pitch nucleus at the beginning of the phrase, as in “attacking the second syllable”
(e.g. L-H-L-L-L-L-L), or rise gradually to a pitch nucleus somewhere in the middle,
then fall gradually afterwards, as in the yamagata (e.g. L-H-H-H-L-L-L).
The pitch accents of words in Japanese also vary according to
geographical region. A favorite example of many Japanese is the word hashL
Pronounced with a H-L (high-low) pitch accent it means “chopsticks,” but with a LH pitch accent it means “bridge”—in the Tokyo area. In much of western Japan,
including Kyoto or Osaka, just the opposite is true. Varying regions also have
idiosyncratic words and verb endings. All of these elements—pitch accent, verb
endings and vocabulary—identify individual provincial dialects, called namari (Bfe
U) in Japanese. The verb form, namaru, means to speak with a provincial accent.
Namaru can also imply a “corruption* of speech, or something that is out of the
ordinary.
The namari of the kabuki onnagata is not a provincial accent, but a
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theatrical construct that consciously “corrupts' the normal pitch accents of
words and pitch patterns of phrases, either by inverting or exaggerating them to
an extreme. I refer to the onnagata namari as an “affected accent" to distinguish
it from the usual meaning of “provincial accent.” Kabuki actors say that this
namari gives the onnagata “sex appeal’ {iropposa, feo & £ ).24
The most blatant examples of the onnagata’s affected accent are in the
speech patterns of courtesans and prostitutes. Licensed quarters throughout
Japan developed their own peculiar dialects, which were adopted by the country
girls serving in them. The language of the Yoshiwara licensed quarter of Edo was
known for its “arinsu kotobsT (’ arinstf language), named for its distinctive verb
endings of “ririsu” and *nsu.mU For example, the verb ’ arimasW (is) would be said
‘arinsu,’ and “gozarimastf (humble form of “is") would become “gozansif in
Yoshiwara. The speech of courtesans and prostitutes in kabuki makes use of the
peculiar vocabulary and verb endings of the language of the licensed quarter.26
Furthermore, accents and intonations of this language are corrupted to make the
courtesan sound more seductive.
* Observations of Sawamura Tanosuke VI teaching at National Theatre of Japan in Tokyo, Nov.
1998, and Kataoka Hidetard II teaching at Shdchiku-za in Osaka, July T999.
* Matsumura Akira. Edokotoba, Tokyo kotoba (
■J K g t z Tokyo: Kydiku
Shuppansha, 1983. p. 204.
* I have not done a thorough study of the differences of language between the licensed quarter
of the three major urban centers of Osaka, Kyoto and Edo and cannot say how different the
language of each was historically. However, as performed today, most courtesans and highranking prostitutes, no matter where they are from, use a language similar to the arinsu
kotoba.
90
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The following speech, made by the courtesan Agemaki just after entering
on the hanamichiin the play Sukeroku, contains several example of the namari, or
affected accent, of courtesans (breaths are indicated by a slash mark):
Watashiga / konoyd niydta w a/doko de dd ta to oboshimesu/
hazukashinagara / Nakanochd no / kadonami / achira kara mo / kochira
kara mo / chotto / Agemaki san / nazo to / yobikakerarete / sakazuki no /
kazu /kazu.
(How and where did I became as tipsy as this, you may wonder. It's quite
embarrassing, but as I walked along the teahouses in Nakanochd, I heard
“wait now, Agemaki,* called out from far and near. Each served me sake,
glass upon glass.)27
Graph Set 19 (pp. 93-94) illustrates the speech as performed by veteran
onnagata Nakamura Utaemon VI in the role of Agemaki. Examples of courtesan
namari can be seen in the following words and phrases (the highest pitched
syllables are underlined):' achira kara mo,' *kochira kara mo,” “Agemakisari,"
“yobikajsararetd and “kazu.." All of these cases lack the natural build in pitch to
the accent nucleus, and in all cases but the first, the accent nucleus, or highest
pitch, is positioned where it would not normally occur.
The contrasting intonations used for “achira kara mrf (Graph 19 B) and its
companion phrase, “kochira kara mcT (Graph 19 B/C), show the namari clearly.
The pitch accent for the both phrases in standard Japanese is the same: L-H-H-H*"The author acknowledges that AgemakTs speech, due to her tipsiness, may be slightly more
heavily "accented* than some other courtesan's speech. However, it is representative of the
various types of unusual, purposeful accents used by female characters when speaking in order
to sound*sexy.' Similar 'accenting' (namari) is seen in the other examples following.
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H-H.“ Yet the actor uses a completely different intonation for each phrase.
*Achira kara m<f follows the pitch pattern L-H-L-H-L-H. Undulating up and down
breaks the rule that says within a pitch phrase, once a pitch has fallen to low, it
does not return to high. Yet, the actor does so twice in this phrase.
On the other hand, ‘ kochira kara m<f (and near) follows a H-L-L-L-H pattern,
beginning at about 425hz (6#/A 4), gradually falling more than an octave in pitch,
to 175hz (F3), and rising again on the final syllable. This phrase inverts the pitch
accent on the first word, kochira, which is L-H-H. In addition, by beginning and
ending on a high tone, the phrase breaks the same rule as the “achira kara m<f
phrase. Given the wide pitch intervals used by the actors, it is clear that when a
courtesan inverts a pitch accent, it is no subtle matter, as the inversion is further
stressed by making the pitch of the inverted syllable extremely high. All of these
elements—breaking rules, inverting and exaggerating—work together in creating
the seductive namari.
In the case of 'Agemaki san’ as well as * vobikakerareteT (“was called;"
Graph 19C), the accent nucleus is clearly placed in a strange position.
Furthermore, no leading tones are used to build to the high pitch, which makes the
words stand out. The word ‘ fcazi/* (Graph 19D), meaning “number," is repeated
twice, emphasizing the number of cups of sake Agemaki was offered. The actor
* The pitch pattern may vary in a dialect, but it wouid presumably vary in the same way for
both phrases since they are structurally similar.
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Graph Set 19
Example of “Affected Accent” {Namari) of Female Characters
(Agemaki [Nakamura Utaemon VI] in Sukeroku)
A.
Watashi ga konoyooniyo u ta wa
B.
shina gara
na
ka no cho o
no
do kodedo o ta
ka
do na
too boshime su
mi
a chira ka ramo kochira
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Graph Set 19
C.
karamo cho tto
Age ma Id sa
n
na-a
zo
to
yo bi ka ke ra re te
if
D.
sa ka zu Id a no (shamisen) ka zu u
ka
a
a
V # l
zu
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a
a
purposefully inverts the natural accent on the first ‘ kazu,mmaking it L-H. The
second follows a natural H-L pitch accent, but is made outstanding because the
actor indulges in stretching each of the two syllables to an extreme for the
ending cadence.
The extreme elongation of the final syllables of an utterance, which is
common to courtesan's speech, often ends with a rising inflection. The duration
of the syllables alone is enough to make the speech stand out as different from
others, yet another layer is added by the rising inflection which goes counter to
natural Japanese intonation. In normal speech, a rising inflection may be used at
the end of sentence if it is a question or seeks approval, but otherwise phrases
generally use a failing intonation. Courtesans and other coy female characters in
kabuki purposefully use a rising inflection even when it is not called for. This is a
part of their conscious “corruption’' of speech, or namari.
Graph ZO (p. 97) shows the concluding phrases of five courtesans’ lines at
the opening of Sukeroku. Standing in front of the Miura-ya Teahouse, they speak
about the cherry blossoms in poetic passed-along dialogue (watarizerifu). This
type of dialogue requires three or more actors to speak successive lines, joining
together to speak the final phrase. The idea is to make a seamless delivery, as if
one individual is speaking the entire passage. After commenting on the beautiful
cherry blossoms, they see the courtesan Agemaki approach, and say:
95
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Cdurtesan One:
Hon ni sd de (Truly, it is her)
All Five Courtesans:
gozansu na. (indeed)
They then shift their bodies toward the hanamichito focus attention on Agemaki’s
entrance. These lines set up the tempo for the music that will accompany her
entrance. Given Agemaki’s high rank, and that the actor must walk gracefully on
eight- to ten-inch wooden clogs in a costume and wig weighing in excess of thirty
pounds, the entrance is a slow, stately affair. Thus, elongating the vowels to set a
largo tempo for the musicians makes sense, considering the pace at which
Agemaki can physically move. Yet even when circumstances differ, courtesans do
not speak much faster. Savoring the flavor of the courtesan’s speech requires that
it be leisurely, creating an opportunity for the long, erotic glides up and down in
pitch.
Graph 20 shows several noteworthy glides, remarkable for the pitch
intervals as well as the vocal range in which they occur. The following chart
summarizes the approximate pitch on each syllable:*9
ha
n
ni
SO.
SL
de
e
500+
350
400
864
550
400
325
(B4+)
(F4)
(G/G#4)
(A5>
(C#4)
(G/G#4)
(E4)
* The Speech Analyzer program used to produce all graphs contained In this dissertation does
not recognize fundamental frequencies above 500 hz. Pitches above SOOhz were determined by
Praat Speech Analyzer, and therefore are not reflected In the graph. Undetermined pitches
above 500hz are indicated as *500+.’
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Graph 20
Example of "Affected Accent" (Namari) of Female Characters (Courtesans in Sukeroku)
mm
.>
rf
i
js
<
^
Court A: *H o
a n t
so*
'
o
de
(kafcegoe)
(AH)
Go
za a
a*
a
su
u
u
a a
a
a
a*
•Indicates point wherethe pitchjumps oneoctaveup, beyondthe measurementmeansofthis program.
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go
za
a
a
su
na
a
375
375
683
500+
475
400
629
(F#4)
(F#4)
(E/F5)
(B4+)
(A#4)
(G/G#4)
(D#5)
The frequent rises and falls in pitch, as well as the final rising
intonation, are what make this speech sexy and alluring in the kabuki world. To
obtain a maximum number of possible rises and falls of intonation, the actor
essentially divides the six word utterance into three pitch phrases—‘hon ni," "sd
de," and "gozansu nsT— the maximum number possible. In standard Japanese,30
the pitch pattern for each would be H-L-L, H-L-L, and L-H-H-L-L respectively.
In many respects the courtesans' intonation follows these pitch patterns:
the first phrase, "hon nr begins high and falls, but the pitch rises again on "ni,"
counter to standard Japanese. The next phrase, "sd de," follows a standard
intonation of H-L-L, but stands out because of the controlled drop in pitch of an
octave at an extremely high vocal range. The final phrase, "gozansu na," goes
counter to the normal intonation pattern because of the final rise on the extended
vowel ‘'a.' Once a pitch phrase has fallen to “low* it should not rise again. Yet
courtesans, as well as other female characters, do it ail the time as part of an
“affected* speech pattern, used because of its presumed sex appeal.
The same six syllables could also be broken into two pitch phrases, "hon ni
so deT and "gozansu na." In this case the pitch patterns would be H-L-L-L-L-L and
* The language itself is not ‘Standard* Japanese, but would follow the given pitch pattern if said
with standard intonation.
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L-H-H-L-L, which would create fewer opportunities for pitch rises and falls. In
“normal* speech, people do not usually break their utterances into the shortest
possible pitch phrases. Accordingly, normal speech has fewer pitch undulations
than commonly heard in courtesan's speech. By deciding to use the maximum
number of possible pitch phrases, and exaggerating the intervals of the pitch
glides up and down, and speaking at a slow tempo, the actor can best exhibit the
attributes considered appealing and appropriate to a courtesan’s speech. To
further “affect" the speech, the courtesan sometimes uses pitch patterns which
are counter to natural Japanese, as seen in examples in Graph 19 and 20.
Furthermore, courtesans cap their speech off with extremely protracted cadences,
which often rise, also counter to “normal* Japanese.
The example in Graph 20 is noteworthy for yet another reason. The pitch
range used by the actors covers approximately an octave and five semitones,
which is not remarkable. However, the band at which the male actors are
speaking, between E4 and A5, is essentially a soprano's singing range. Excluding
the high leaps, even the lower range the actors use lies between 325hz and 400hz
(F#~G/G#4), which is still higherthan that used by older onnagata actors like
Utaemon in the role of Agemaki (Graph 19). This example supports an observa­
tion made by Onoe Baikd in 1983, that “young onnagata today try to force the
voice to sound like a female’s and consequently speak at extremely high pitches.”31
* Onoe Baikd interview in Kabukino sekait Onnagata. Videotape. NHK, 1983.
99
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This sample in Graph 20 is from a 1985 production in which Nakamura
Tokizd V (b .l 955) played courtesan A. At the time he was a 30 years old and a
rising star—perhaps one of the young people to whom Baikd was referring. On the
word "sd’ Tokizd’s voice rises to an amazing 864 hzf or A5—well into a soprano's
upper range. It is not possible for a male to produce this pitch without using a
falsetto (KTfc, uragoe) voice.
If younger actors are using higher and higher pitches, as the example in
Graph 20 shows, they must also be making increased use of the falsetto voice.
Yet, kabuki actors continue to proclaim that onnagata use a “natural voice” (ifej*,
jigoe) and not a falsetto. They certainly are using a “natural voice," but only in
part. My data shows that while older onnagata actors make jumps into the 400
hz to 500 hz range, temporarily slipping into a falsetto voice, the lower part of
their range is usually between 200hz and 350 hz (G3~F4). This corresponds to
the range of overlap between a male chest and falsetto voice.® Kabuki actor's
vocal training pushes the limits of the jigoe, or chest voice, to make it possible
for those playing onnagata to use the “overiap zone* without making use of a
falsetto voice. However, when the range of the voice is 450hz and above, the
actor must use his falsetto.
Graph 21 (p. 102) illustrates a line spoken by the courtesan Miyagino, in
* Sundberg, Johan. The Science o f the Singing Voice. Dekalb: Northern Illinois UP, 1987. p. 51.
100
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the “Ageya’’33scene 0 9 5 , The Ageya) of Gotaiheiki Shiraishi Banashi
65
9f), as performed by Nakamura Ganjird III. Wanting to be alone with a young
woman she suspects to be her sister, Miyagino sends her attendant away, saying
‘sonata wa NakanocM no Izutsu-ya e itte, fond no henji kiite oja? (You go to the
Izutsu-ya Teahouse and get their reply to an inquiry I made yesterday).
Nakamura Ganjird is a veteran actor and does not display the constant slip
into falsetto voice. The graph shows that he remains largely within the upper
limits of the male chest voice, speaking between 175 and 450hz (F3~A4). He
slides into falsetto only on the second syllable of ‘kiite? towards the end of the
line, when the pitch far exceeds SOOhz. This graph also shows fewer pitch
undulations than either Graph 19 or 20. In this particular scene, Miyagino is in her
own room and not entertaining customers. Even so, hints of the namari are still
present.
For example, in the phrase ‘ Nakanochd no Izutsu-ya e itte,* the pitch rises
on the final syllabfe, where normal speech would continue descending. Further­
more, the rise in pitch on the word ‘ kiite,mfrom 175hz to over 500hz (F3~B4+) is
at least an octave and seven semitones. The pitch accent of the word ‘ kiite? is LH-H, but the exaggeration of the pitch rise is extreme, especially for an ordinary
unemotional exchange such as this. Such outstanding pitch undulations are an
* An ageya is one of the various types of piaces, like "teahouses?’ ($ ff, chaya) to which higher
ranking prostitutes were called to entertain guests.
101
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Graph 21
Example of "Affected Accent" {Namari) of Female Characters (Miyagino
[Nakamura Ganjird III] in the “Ageya” scene of GotaiheikiShiraishiBanashi)
A.
So na
ta
wa Na ka no cho o no
I
zu
tsu yae
. 7- , , . >
- -v
J"5^-v*
A /*
.i—
....
B.
Id no o
♦Pitch goes above 500hz.
no
he
n ji
(w)o
Id
*t
te
(w)o
102
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ja a
important aspect of the courtesan's namari, and necessary, it woufd seem, even
when the courtesan is alone in her quarters.
Courtesans are not the only alluring female characters in kabuki. Princesses
(#», hime), young daughters (& , musume), and wives (& 5 f, nydbd) are also prone
to use aspects of the namari commonly found in courtesan’s speech. An example
can be heard in the character of Okaji in the mOtaifaysT scene
Teahouse) of Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami
Otai
Summer Festival: A Mirror
of Osaka), shown in Graph 22 (p. 104). Okaji, the wife of a fishmonger, has come
to the Otai Teahouse to convince the young samurai, Isonojd, to abandon his
profligate ways and go home. Arriving at the teahouse, Okaji kneels next to
Isonojd and introduces herself, 'Kaji, de gozarimasunf (Kaji is my name34).
The namari is visible (audible) in the rise in pitch at the end of the sentence,
on the final extended syllable "u." The character of Okaji is a strong, attractive
married woman. She has come to a teahouse in the licensed quarter to convince a
young handsome man to go home. Dramatically, using a slight hint of namari is
very befitting. Female characters exhibit namari to varying degrees, depending on
their age, social status and situation. Though more research needs to be done to
prove the direction of influence, I am intrigued by the possibility that when female
characters use odd inflections for the sake of sex appeal, copying aspects of
“ The initial '<f is eliminated when introducing oneself.
103
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Graph 22
Example of "Affected Accent" 0Namari) of Female Characters
(Okaji [Ichikawa Monnosuke] in Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami)
Ka
ji (shamisen)
d£ go
za
ri
ma
su
ru
(u)
104
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courtesan’s speech in kabuki, they are reflecting the way that courtesans’ speech
in real life influenced the speech of women in all classes of society.35
Sing the Lines
Kabuki actors speak of ‘singing the lines' (■£ V
to ‘sung lines’ (i8 5
U
? , serifu o utau), refer
utau serifu), and call lines ‘song* (R8, uta).3* Yet, they
do not ‘sing’ in the same way as the narrators or singers who accompany kabuki
dances and plays.
Linguists classify a language as ‘ musical" if it has few‘satellites,’ or
consonants, either before or after the vowel ‘nucleus’ of a syllable. Japanese
syllables are comprised of either a single vowel, the vowel-like consonant ‘ n,’ or a
single consonant followed by a vowel. Japanese is therefore a ‘musical” language
by linguistic measures, but IVe yet to hear anyone speak of how ‘musical” daily
spoken Japanese sounds to the ear. Linguistic studies show the Japanese
syllable length to be very even— and very short, averaging only 1.45ms
(microsecond). That is approximately 6.89 ss, or 1.68 times faster than English.37
“ Tanaka Akio. Tokyogo—sonoseiritsuto tenkai(MSLK—
Tokyo: Meiji Shdin,
1983. p. 220.
* I have come across these expressions repeatedly during observations of kabuki training
classes, in talks given by actors, in television interviews, and in print.
“ Kohno Mono. *Mora, Syllable, and Rhythm—a Psycholinguistic Study.’ Journal o f the Phonetic
Society o f Japan. Vol. 2, No. 1. April, 1998. p. 20.
105
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I suggest that everyday spoken Japanese does not sound “musical"
because it is spoken at such an even, rapid tempo that there is no time to develop
the musical potential of all those ‘‘unbound” vowels. In song, vowels are
elongated to fill in a rhythm, express emotion, or create a beautiful melody. What
kabuki actors do first of all is slow the tempo of the Japanese language. This
allows time to modulate those “unbound” vowels that make Japanese so
potentially musical. Furthermore, the pitch modulations that kabuki actors make
are much more exaggerated than normal speech and make use of a vocal range far
beyond the octave range used by most individuals in everyday speech.
The type of breathing employed by kabuki actors for speaking is also
comparable to what singers use. Kabuki speech, especially in jidaimono, makes
use of long sustained phrases in which opportunities to inhale are few. In normal
breathing, a person inhales and exhares about 0.5 liters, or ten percent of the
lungs’ vital capacity, every five seconds.* Speech is often initiated at about fifty
percent of vital capacity (2.5 liters). Singers begin phonation at lung volumes
near one hundred percent of vital capacity, squeezing their lungs more efficiently
to leave as little as five percent of vital capacity in the lungs.* What a kabuki
actor learns through his practice of gidayu narrative singing, or other form singing,
is how to breathe like a singer when speaking.
* Davis. A Beginning Singer's Guide., p. 32-33.
* ibid. p. 33-35.
106
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In observations of kabuki actor training at the Shdchiku-za theatre, I
repeatedly heard Kataoka Hidetard II tell his students to ‘sing the lines” during
their practicum lessons of the play KotobukiSoga no Taimen 05® 3£©fcfiif, An
Auspicious Confrontation for the Soga Brothers). The story is nothing....the play
is all in the sound of the lines,” he told them.40 By “nothing,” Hidetard was referring
to the meager plot line of the play. In the version of Kotobuki Soga no Taimen
performed today” very little in fact happens in the approximately twenty-five
minute scene. “Singing,” as Hidetard used it, meant not being afraid to emphasize,
by exaggerations in pitch, the natural intonations of a line. By slowing down and
exaggerating the highs and lows—sliding up and down several semitones instead
of just a few, or making a curved arc up or down rather than a direct line from one
pitch to the next—one turns the intonations of speech into a “song."
in fact this is exactly how the eminent traditional Japanese music scholar
and kabuki commentator Koyama Kan'o describes kabuki voice. He advises
audience members to relax and “enjoy listening [to kabuki speech] in the same
manner as a song.” If one does this, even if the words are too difficult to
understand, the rhythm will be clear and the voice “pleasant to the ear.”4*
Indeed, producing a voice “pleasing to the ear* of the audience is a
40Observation, July 1999, Osaka. Hidetard used the word chSshi (■•=?), lit. pitch and rhythm,
which i have translated as the'sound o f the line.*
"The version used today was written by Kawatake Mokuamr in T885.
"Koyama Kario. Kabuki armai (K ftttJE A ). Tokyo: Gurafusha, T986. p. 44.
107
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sentiment echoed by many actors, and of preeminent importance, ideally, one
shouid find sensual pleasure in listening to kabuki actors speak, much the same as
when listening to music. This is not to say that all kabuki speech is song. Some
characters' speech is more musical than others. Certainly the frequent rising and
falling tones in the speech of the courtesan is more “musical” than that of a sewa
character like Yasuke. But there are points when almost any character's speech
becomes more song-like. Kataoka Hidetard characterizes the umiji as a “point
where the line becomes a song.”** The extended vowel of umiji certainly creates
potential for executing a melody with the voice. Extending vowels also retards the
tempo, allowing more time to manipulate the pitch of each syllable.
Onoe Kikuzd equates the “sung lines* of kabuki specifically with the shichigo-chd of Kawatake Mokuami (1816-1893). The regular rhythm of the verse form
and the regularity of the melody used in its delivery in kabuki make it perhaps the
closest thing in kabuki to a recognizable “song.”4*
The comments of Kikuzd, Hidetard, and others all share a common idea.
Kabuki possesses a great variety of musical elements in its speech, from the
grand arcs of sound spoken by jidai characters to the melodic undulations of the
courtesans. I suggest the “song” of kabuki is a relative entity that emerges at
emotional or dramatic focal points in a play. The umiji, for example, draws out a
Observation at Sh6chiku-za. July 1999, Osaka.
* Chapter VI discusses shichi-go-ch6 In depth, so I will not go into detail here.
108
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word to emphasize the emotion behind it and focuses attention on that point in
the drama. By the same token, the "song" of the shichi-go-ch.6 verse stands out
from the other speech because of its very regular rhythm and melody.
If Speaking High, Then Speak Low; If Low, Then High. If Speaking Quickly,
Then Speak Slowly; If Slowly, Then Quickly.
This simply stated rule, advising the actor to contrast pitch and tempo, is
quite complex in its application. The first part of the axiom, “if speaking high then
low," etc., addresses pitch modulation. I have divided pitch modulation into three
types. The first concerns beginning and ending tones of a phrase. The second
concerns the overall pitch range of a phrase, and the third concerns the intonation
of a word or phrase.
An incident which occurred during one observation session at the Shfichikuza clearly illustrates the first type of pitch modulation. Students were practicing
the opening section of passed-along dialogue ( watarizerifu) from Kotobuki Soga
no Taimen. Assistant instructor Kataoka Ainosuke VI (b. 1972) stopped the
students in the midst of practice and explained that they should make use of the
"three (relative) pitches in kabuki—low, medium and high.” He instructed them to
listen carefully to the final pitch of the previous speaker, and then ‘begin at (east a
half tone below or above th a t* Thus, if actor A ended "low", then actor B should
« Observation in July 1999, Osaka.
109
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start at “medium’ or ‘high.’ If actor A ends “high’ , actor B should begin ‘ medium’
o r‘low,’ etc.
In fact, the students had been listening very carefully to each other before
Ainosuke's advice—and each was beginning his line on approximately the same
pitch he heard the previous person end on. This might seem a natural way to
create the illusion of a continuous utterance by one individual. In this regard,
however, the kabuki rule is counter intuitive. Using a pitch shift, or interval,
between phrases adds variety. This is particularly important in watarizerifu
passages which are spoken at an even, regular tempo. The same principal of using
pitch shifts between phrases applies to solo speech as well. In practice, however,
the pitch shifts between phrases are often much more than a ‘halftone.’
The second type of pitch variation, use of varying pitch ranges for phrases,
is illustrated by the example in Graph 23 (p. 111). This line is spoken by JQjibei’s
elderly mother, Ok6, in the ‘Hikimado’ scene of Futatsu Chdchd Kumwa Nikki.
Responding to her son, who has asked to be left with his samurai guests to
discuss his new duties, Okd says, 'sadamete daijina goyd de ard. Sonnara washira
wa go enryd shimashd (Most certainly, you must have important business. In that
case we shall refrain from interfering). The actor, Nakamura Matagord II (b. 191S),
breaks the line into the following four breath phrases:
1) Sadamete
2) daijina goyd de ard.
3) Sonnara washira wa
4) go enryd shimashd.
110
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Graph 23
Example of Modulating Beginning Pitch of Phrases (0k6 [Nakamura Matagord II]
in the “Hikimado” scene of Futatsu ChOchd Kuruwa Nikki)
A.
sa da me te
da
t ]t na go yoo dearoo so nnara washlrawa enryoshimashd
in
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The graph shows that the actor speaks the first phrase, *sadamete,’ at a low pitch
with relatively flat intonation. The second phrase occupies a slightly higher pitch
range, and the third much higher. The fourth uses an intermediate pitch range that
falls between that of the second and the third phrase. This example also
illustrates the first type of pitch variation. The initial pitch o f each phrase either
begins on a higher or a lower tone than the ending of the previous one. The
second phrase begins at a slightly lower pitch than that on which the first ends,
while the third and fourth phrases each begin on a higher tone than the end of the
previous phrase.
The next example illustrates the third type of pitch modulationcontrasting intonation. Otatsu's “honor speech’ from the “Sabu uchi* scene C=M
rt, Sabu’s House) of Natsu matsurinaniwa kagamiis a climactic moment. In the
speech, Otatsu confronts her husband’s new friend, Sabu, for refusing to permit
her to take the young samurai, Isonojd, away with her to safety on grounds that
she is ‘too beautiful.’ Following is the text and a rather literal translation (each
phrase is marked by a slash [/]):
fttan tanomu no / tanomareta no to aru kara wa / tatoe mikka demo
oazukari mdsaide wa/watashi no onnago ga tachimasenu. / Mata Tokubei
mo / tachimasenu. / Tatanu zo e. / Tachimasenu zo e. / Tatete kudanse. /
Mdshi/Sabu san.
(Someone asked me favor / and since I have been asked / if (Isonojd) is not
in my care for at least three days / 1will lose my honor as a woman. /
Tokubei, too, will lose his honor. / Lose honor, I say. / We shall lose our
honor, I say. / Help us save our honor. / Hear me / Sabu.
112
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Graph Set 24 (pp. 115-T 21) shows the speech as performed by Nakamura
Kankurfi V (b. 1955). The focus of the speech is saving face, or honor, and indeed
the word ‘ tachimasenu** comes up five times in one form or another. Every time
it comes up, the actor uses a different pitch range and contrasting intonation for
the word or phrase in which it is contained. In the first occurrence, “tachimasenu '
(Graph 24/D ) the voice is rather flat-cadenced and stays in a medium range of
200-300hz (G3~D4). The second time tachimasenu occurs (Graph 24/F), the
actor splits the word in two, raising the pitch nearly an octave and seven
semitones, from approximately 150hz to 450hz(D/D#3~A/A#4), in the middle of
the word.
On the third occurrence of the word, 'tatanuzo eT (Graph 24/G~H), the
pitch begins high on the first syllable, drops approximately an octave to 200hz
(G/G#3) on the second syllable, then continues a gradual glissando rise to around
300hz (D4) on 'zo e" The fourth occurrence is the very next phrase, “tachimasenu
zo & (I/J ). The pitch jumps about ten semitones, from 425hz (E4) on “ma" to
600hz (D/D#5) on ‘se,mfollowed by a glissando fall of an octave to around 300hz
(D4) on 'zo e.“ The movement of these two consecutive phrases, one ending in a
gradual ascent and the other a gradual descent, creates a wonderful sense of
contrastive motion and clearly shows the actor “speaking high then speaking fow.“
* Tachimasenuliterally means "not to stand* and in this sense means one's honor does not stand.
I have translated it here as lose honor.*
113
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The first part of the rule Instructs the actor to vary the pitch; it provides
guidelines, not specifics. Through training and observation, actors leam how to
apply the guiding principles. Contrasting pitch, whether it be initial pitches, the
pitch range of phrases, or the intervals of intonation, is of central importance.
The second part of the axiom instructs the actor to vary the tempo, the
other major variable of the voice. I have divided tempo changes into those that
happen gradually over several phrases, and those that essentially occur during one
phrase. To retard gradual^ over several phrases, the actor slows the rate of
speech for each consecutive phrase, but maintains a relatively consistent syllable
length within each phrase.
This method can be seen in the first half of Otatsu’s speech (Graph Set 24).
As the tempo slows with each successive phrase, the tension builds, until it is
punctuated at the end of the sixth phrase by two heavy strokes on takemoto
shamisen. The rate for each of the sbc phrases is as follows:
tanomareta no to am kara wa
4.3ss
tatoe mikka demo oazukari mdsaide wa
3.1 ss
watashi no onnago ga tachimasenu
2 .8 ss
Mata Tokubei mo
2 Ass
tachimasenu
1 .6 ss
Within each of the phrases, the length of time given each syllable is fairly regular.
In each successive phrase, each syllable is given a fractionally longer duration,
114
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Graph Set 24
Example of Modulation o f Phrasal Intonation and Slowing of Tempo
(Otatsu [Nakamura Kankurd V ] in Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami)
n
I
ta
tan
t a
no
mu no
n o to aru karaw a
ta
ca
to
em t
no
(k)
115
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ma re
ka
de
ta
m
Graph Set 24
, y L r u aJ vA - ^
D.
sfaf
no
aa
gP
ga
ta
chi
v
m a
se
116
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Q
U
Graph Set 24
JL
chi
m a
see
nu u
117
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Graph Set 24
H.
(t)a
a
nu
zo
o
e
e
e
118
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Graph Set 24
L
X.
t
e
e
a
chi
m a
e
se
nu
t
a
zo o
t
e
t
119
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(y)e
e
k
u
Graph Set 24
a arm
K.
ku
da
a
n
n
(kakegoe)
se
^
^ .v S fr tV i;
moo
/
■ v e r y*■’TV' y TV" * 1^ T - . -t-frr-v •v, *-’j ~
* v
^
-
' K
(kakegoe)
sh! it
120
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* v
f r v ’ ’'V
'
• '•'.
Graph Set 24
M.
(shi i)
(kakegoe)
Sa bu
sa a
a
NOTE: Kakegoe is a form o f applause, whereby an audience member calls out words o f praise for
the actor.
121
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creating the overall retard. Contrastingly, when the tempo is slowed in a single
phrase, the actor holds each successive syllable in that phrase a fraction longer,
elongating the final two syllables the most.
Acceleration of tempo also follows two general patterns: shortening each
successive syllable in a phrase, or suddenly breaking into a rapid tempo between
one phrase and the next. Sukeroku's name-saying speech (nanori) in the play
Sukeroku is an amazing example of the use of tempo variation. The very first line,
'ikasama naT (“As you wish, then’ [illustrated in Graphs 2-3, pp. 31-32]), consists
of only five syllables, but takes Danjurd XI eight seconds to say, and Danjurd XII
just over nine and a half seconds. Such a leisurely introduction would lead one to
believe an unhurried speech might follow, but in actuality the speech continues at
a clipped pace, slowed down periodically with a single drawn out phrase, then
sped up again. At one point in the speech, the actor suddenly breaks into a rapidfire delivery called ippon chdshi (—$*■?•), before finally bringing the speech to an
end with a grand retard.47
Danjurd XI was particularly lauded for the way he performed Sukeroku’s
nanori. During the two minute plus speech, the actor's voice is the only sound;
there is no music underscoring the moment, and only a few hand gestures for
movement. Such highlights are known as a kikasedokoro ( H l i t e r a l l y a
'The entire speech would require about 36 graphs (18 pgs.) to illustrate. I believe the point can
be made without the benefit of the graphs, so have not included them.
122
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'point (where peopie are) made to listen.” To make people listen for that long,
the actor must control the tempo, lulling them with soft, gentle retards and
grabbing them with sudden, sharp increases in tempo.
Pass the Tail End of the Word to Your Partner
From Actor to Actor
In addition to varying the tempo of his own speech, an actor must be able
to pass the tempo he establishes with his voice to the next actor speaking. He
does this by “passing the tail end of the word” (gobi o watasu,
). In the
words of Onoe Kikuzd, an actor must be able to
...touch a partner with the end of his line. If he ends in such a manner that
the next person is unable to come nght in, it's problematic; or, if he ends
such that the next person cannot breathe (before beginning his line) that is
also problematic. Being able to 'pass to your partner* determines whether
one is a true professional or not.4*
The quote makes it clear that the responsibility for a smooth transition lies
with the actor sending the line. Passing the last syllable involves two things:
tempo and breath. The receiving actor must be able to determine when and how
long to breathe by listening to the “sending” actor speak.
Actors speed up and slow down the tempo constantly for contrast and
emphasis, and they must be able to communicate desired changes in tempo to a
* ‘SerifugetnyQmon'HSgakutoBuy6, Nov. 1990.
123
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partner. The m
Serifu get nytimon”series contains an example from the climactic
scene in *GenjidanaM9 (S 5 0 , also commonly called “Kirare Yosa,' tU b
Scar-Faced Yosa), which demonstrates how actors should pass and receive a
tempo.50
In the scene, Yosabur6 and his sidekick, Kdmoriyasu, have imposed
themselves on the mistress of a wealthy house and are trying to extort money
from her. In the course of events, Yosaburd realizes that the mistress of the house
is Otomi, his courtesan fover of three years ago whom he thought dead. He now
finds her being kept by another man in rather luxurious surroundings, while he has
been living as a scar-faced thief since being gashed from head to toe by Otomi’s
jealous patron three years earlier. Yosaburd gives Otomi a piece of his mind, then
has the following exchange with Kdmoriyasu:
Yosaburd:
Soreja ichibu kaeraremee, naa-a Yasu-u vo-o.
Kdmoriyasu:
S6 -0 - 0 da, sd-0 -0 da.
(After all that I cant leave with just one coin. Isnt that right, Yasu?)
(Exactly. Exactly.)
In this example the actor playing Yosaburd retards the tempo in the last
phrase, *naa-a Yasu-uyo-o," by extending the last three ending vowels. Each of
those vowels is held fractionally longer than the one before; he begins slowing on
“naa-a," slows further on “Yasu-u," and establishes the final tempo with “yo-o.“ In
* An alternate reading of the ideograms of the title, Genyadana, is used by A.C. Scott as the
title of his English translation.
•Onoe IGkuzfi. ‘Serifti get nyOmon,' Nov. 1990.
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performance, the actor glides up in pitch on the “yo,* and descends on the
extended ‘o.’ The length of time it takes for the pitch rise is the same amount of
time it should take the pitch to fall on the final ‘o.’ The actor playing Kdmoriyasu
feels how long it takes for the rise, and knows he has that long to inhale on the
descent. When Kdmoriyasu comes in with his line, he matches tempo with
Yosaburd, elongating the ‘o’ in ‘sd-o-o’ to draw out each syllable.
In passing the end of the word to a partner, it is common for the actor to
raise the pitch on the penultimate syllable, and drop the pitch on the final syllable,
as in the above example. ‘Yo’ is actually one syllabfe, but treated as two, “yo’ and
‘o,* when extended. It is essential that the length of time for the descending pitch
be the same as that for the ascending pitch. If it is not, it is difficult for the
receiving actor to match breath and tempo with the sender.
When trainees at Shdchiku-za were practicing a passage of watarizerifu,
which has a very regular tempo, they were told to ‘push* the final syllable to give
it full voice.5’ However, when they ’pushed,’ they elongated the final descending
syllable too much. Consequently the descending syllable was longer than the
rising syllable, which threw off the receiving actor. The receiver breathed on cue,
but had to wait for the end of the unpredictably extended final syllable. A kabuki
actor must be able to ‘push’ the final descending syllable to give it strength and
energy, without allowing the force of breath to elongate it more than it should be.
” Observations of Kataoka Ainosuke instructing trainees at Sh6chifcu-za. July 1999, Osaka.
125
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The receiving actor also has a responsibility to accept what is passed to
him, even if it is "bad/ For example, the lines exchanged between Yosaburd and
Kdmoriyasu could be performed in the following manner:
Yosaburd:
SoreJa ichi bu kaeraremee, naa Yasuyo.
Kdmoriyasu:
S6 da, sd da.
This example contains no extended vowels and no retard in tempo. Dramatically,
it is desirable for Yosaburd to slow down to accentuate his insistence on not
leaving the house with such a pittance of cash. When Yosaburd slows, Kdmoriyasu
follows suit. If however, Yosaburd does not slow down, then Kdmoriyasu cannot
either.12 He must pick up the tempo from the leading actor—Yosaburd—even if
the tempo he is given is a “bad” one, much in the same way musicians in an orche­
stra must take the tempo from the conductor, even if they dont agree with it.
From Actor to Musician
An actor must also be able to pass the tempo of his line to the musicians,
the other “partners* in the performance. An actor must “touch" the musician with
his words, in the same way that he touches another actor. The actor passes the
end of his word to the offstage musicians when they are to underscore a long
speech, or accompany an exit or other significant movement on stage. I refer to
this rule as “setting up“ the tempo for the musicians, and to the lines themselves
as ‘set up lines.’
* Onoe Kikuzfi. ’Serifugei nyQmon," Nov. T990.
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The following example from the ‘ Sumiyoshi mae" scene (& «flfr, “In Front of
Sumiyoshi Shrine*) of Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami shows both the seamless
passing of lines from one actor to the next, and a slow retard in the final phrase
which sets up the tempo for the musicians. A handsome young refined samurai,
Isonojd, is saved by an elderly boatman named Sabu, from two palanquin bearers
trying to swindle an exorbitant fee from him. Discovering who the young man is,
Sabu promises to protect and help him. Relieved, Isonojd prepares to depart and
await Sabu at a nearby restaurant. fsonojd's exit on the hanamichiis accompanied
by offstage music, and he and Sabu set the tempo with their final lines to each
other:
Isonojd:
Sonnara Sabu dono
(Well then, Sabu, sir...)
Sabu:
Isonojd sama
(Isonojd, my lord...)
Isonojd:
Nochi hodo, gyoiemasuru. (Let us meet again later.)
Isonojd is a refined character, and the tempo he establishes appropriately
deliberate. The speech of higher status characters like Isonojd would generally be
slower than commoners such as Sabu. This example, illustrated in Graph 25 (p.
128), shows how Sabu matches the slower tempo of Isonojd. In the first line,
Isonojd speaks to Sabu at 3.2 ss; Sabu responds at a fractionally slower rate of 3
ss. The exchange between the two of them is seamless, continuous sound, as
evidenced by the lack of discernible breath pause between the two actors’ lines in
the magnitude graph. Furthermore, we can see how Isonojd slows his final phrase
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Graph 25
Example of Set Up Line (Isonojd [Otani Tomoemon VIII]
and Sabu [Ichimura Uzaemon XVII] in Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami)
*>
(ISO) S o
No
a na
ra
Sa
bu
495.1
do
no (Sabu) I
so
no jo o
chi
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sa
ma
even more, to 2 ss, setting a regal pace for the music which wilt accompany his
exit.
The next example is a "set up* line for the lead character of Danshichi, again
from the *Sumiyoshi mad scene of Natsu matsuri. fn the scene, Danshichi has
been released from prison, meets and talks with his old friend Sabu, then prepares
to go inside the barbershop for a shave, haircut, and change of clothing.
Danshichi’s departing words to Sabu are, *Dore, otoko o ichiban / migaite koyd
kai* (Well now, 111get polished up and be back as a first rate gentleman).
Graphs 26 ,2 7 , and 28 (pp. 131-133) illustrate the same line as performed
by three actors, Nakamura Kichiemon II (b. 1944), Nakamura Kanzaburd XVII
(1910-1988), and Nakamura Kankurd V, respectively. All three actors divide the
line into two phrases, *otoko o ichiban*and *migaite koyd kai.* The graphs show
that each actor delivers his set up line at a slightly different tempo. The offstage
musicians respond accordingly. Kichiemon speaks at about 2.85 ss for the first
phrase, stowing to approximately 2 ss for the second, while Kankuro begins at 4ss
and slows to 2.25 ss, which is slightly faster than Kichiemon. Kanzaburd on the
other hand, begins at 4ss and speeds up to 5.64ss. The rates of speech of each
actor during his set up line are reflected in the tempo of the offstage music. For
Kichiemon, the slowest, the musicians play at 102bpm (beats per minute). For
Kankurd the tempo is slightly faster, at 106bpm. For Kanzaburd, who speaks
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much quicker than the other two, the offstage music pfays accordingly, at an
allegro tempo of 120bpm.
The actor's voice is the most important instrument in the ensemble that
composes the soundscape of the kabuki play. As conductor, the actor uses his
voice to give tempo to other instruments and actors. As one part of the
ensemble, he regulates his tempo, pitch, and vocal melody in relation to and in
harmony with the other actors. In performing solos he makes dynamic use of
pitch, tempo and intonation ‘melodies.* These rules define basic guiding
principles which the actor uses in ‘composing* the musical line of his speech. The
form the speech takes will depend on character type, the dramatic situation of the
play, and the actor's interpretation.
T30
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Graph 26
Example of Set Up Line (Danshichi [Nakamura Kichiemon II]
in Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami)
A.
Do
"O
to"
re
O
to
ko
o
i chi
ba
a
(chuckles/kakegoe)
are actually an octave higher, while pitch comes down at "ko”
mi
ko
k a
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Graph 27
Example of Set Up Line (Danshichi [Nakamura Kanzaburd XVII]
in Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami)
132
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Graph 28
Example of Set Up Line (Danshichi [Nakamura Kankurd V]
in Natsu matsuri nanrwa kagami)
\
A.
Do * re
o to
*"re* 220.7 at bottom (top is noise)
ko o
i
chi
* ba n
mi
*ban is below ISOhz
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CHAPTER V: THE RIDING RHYTHM OF NORl
Nori Before Kabuki
Non ( f i l l ), literally “ride," is used to mean “riding a rhythm/ The verb,
non/f is often used to mean “get in the groove/ or ‘ move to a rhythm/ It may also
be used to mean “pick up the tempo” of speech.
In Japanese performing arts, the term ‘ norf is associated with the way
speech is matched to a rhythm. In noh, non refers to the three rhythm systems for
the chant: hiranori, chQnori, and dnori: In each, twelve-syllable lines of verse are
matched to the eight-beat meter of the noh percussion ensemble, creating
different rhythms. Hiranori (¥<D V /regular rhythm”), the most common, is a kind
of syncopated pattern in which the first syllable of chant is sung on beat eight and
and half (the upbeat just before one), and generally no syllable falls on beats one,
three, five and eight. In dnori (^ (0 U , “large rhythm"), one syllable is sung on each
down-beat, usually beginning on beat two, while chunori&O) y , “medium
rhythm*) is a sort of double-rime, with two syllables chanted per beat, beginning
on beat one and ending on eight. All rhythmical sections of noh utilize one of
these three main patterns, or one of a few rare patterns comprised o f combina­
tions of the three main ones.
' Descriptions of non in noh are from The Music of Noh/ chapter six in Komparu Kunio. The
Noh Theatre: Principles and Perspectives. New York: Weatherhili, T983.
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In gidayu, nori are passages in which the narrator sings or speaks in a
rhythmical manner. Gidayti narration is filled with elongated, melismatic passages
in which a syllable can go on for several measures. In nori,, the tayti picks up the
tempo, singing or speaking one syllable per beat. Nori passages are generally
short and are of two basic types: sung nori sections called noriji ( / Uife, also
called j i nori), and spoken norisections (i.e. dialogue) called kotoba nori (M J V,
rhythmic speech). Kotoba, or dialogue sections of gidayu, are usually
unaccompanied by shamisen, but kotoba nori stand apart because they are
accompanied.
The shamisen melodies that accompany nori can be subdivided into chO
noriOt1/ U, lit. “middle" nori), in which the open middle string of the shamisen is
the pitch center; and ya nori (*%./ V , lit. “arrow" nori), in which the attack of the
plectrum on the strings is sharp, like an “bow loosing an arrow."*
Nori in Kabuki
Nori comes to kabuki directly from gidayu. When a gidayu play is adapted
to kabuki, kotoba sections of the original generally become actors1dialogue.
Dialogue passages which in gidayu are sung asj i or iro (fe, a type of gidayu
singing between kotoba andji) also become spoken actor dialogue. Descriptive ji
passages which are not necessary in kabuki are cut, and the remaining ones are
* Ibid, p. T57-T58.
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sung by the takemoto narrator, or tayu. Consequently, the two types of non
which in gidayti are both performed by the tayti, are divided between the actor and
tayu in kabuki. The tayu (and shamisen player) perform the j i non, and the kabuki
actor (and shamisen player) perform what had been kotoba non in the original
gidayti. In kabuki, b o th / non and kotoba non are commonly referred to as norijf
or just non. I will focus here on the actor's non. Furthermore, in kabuki non can
refer to both the actor's speech and movement “riding the rhythm* of the
shamisen. I wilt concentrate on the aural element only.
In kabuki, spoken nor? is found almost exclusively in jidafmono plays
adapted from gidayti. Dozens of examples of non exist in the kabuki repertory
today, and all instances seem to have one thing in common. They occur at an
emotional peak or a decisive moment. For example, a warrior messenger, called a
gochtishin O&j&ft, lit. “honorable reportage*), may use non. Typically he rushes in
on the hanamichi shouting “gochtishin, gochtishin,* then reports the status of an
important battle raging offstage, illustrating the battle scene with vigorous
movement.
Similarly, a character's suppressed emotions, finally permitted to surface,
may also be performed as non. In the “Mamataki” scene (£ & £ , Preparing the
Young Lord's Meal) of Meiboku sendaihagi
The Date Gan's Disputed
* Non is also a musical term, meaning to pick up tempo and ride the rhythm, t use 'spoken* to
make a distinction between the shamisen non.
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Succession) Masaoka, chief nurse to the young lord Tsurukiyo, must watch her
own son be poisoned and stabbed. She does this to protect Tsurukiyo from an
evil faction trying to murder him and prevent him from becoming heir to the dan.
Near the end of the scene, after the conspirators have left the room and Tsurukiyo
is safely in the hands of two trusted ladies-in-waiting, Masaoka is finally able to
show her grief. Cradling her son who lies dead on the floor, she uses a non style
delivery to express pride for the boy's bravery, and deep sorrow at his death.
Invoking the principles ofjo-ha-kyu, Ganjird III claims this non section is
particularly demanding because the actor must maintain a pace befitting the kyO
(fast) section of a play.4
Normally in kabuki, the takemoto shamisen only punctuates the actor's
lines with an occasional note, or comes in at the end of an actor's spoken line with
an interlude, ora lead in for the narrator's lines to follow. In kabuki non however,
the shamisen plays an introductory phrase, the actor enters with his line, and the
shamisen continues playing along while the actor speaks. Non is the only time in
kabuki the actor "sings," in a manner of speaking, along with the takemoto
shamisen.
Kawatake Toshio describes kabuki as a “semi-musicalized" form, a property
which necessitates the use of varying degrees of stylization. Non, he believes,
* Interview with Nakamura Ganjird, July 6. T999, Osaka. I have been unable to find any other
references relating jo-ha-kyu and norf.
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shows the most extreme position of this “semi-musical stylized nature/*
Non passages are typically found in the “distant* worlds of gidayu kydgen
jidaimono. These types of plays are created using costume, language, vocal and
movement conventions which already lean towards the extreme on the kabuki
spectrum of stylization. In this context, the stylization has to be very extreme to
stand out. Atorfstands out in the extreme because of its strong rhythmicality and
the unique relationship of the actor's voice to the shamisen.
The non section in the “Kikubatake” scene OSflU, The Chrysanthemum
Garden) o f Kiichihdgen sanyraku no maki (& —
The Three Scrolls o f
Master Tactician Kiichi), is one of the longest in the kabuki repertory today. The
play dramatizes the life of the twelfth-century warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune
when he was a young boy called Ushiwakamaru. Central to the story is a legendary
book of military tactics that supposedly enabled Ushiwakamaru to defeat the
opposing Heike clan and bring the Genji to power.
The Kikubatake scene takes place in the chrysanthemum garden of
Yoshioka Kiichi, the eldest of three brothers of a family loyal to the Genji.
However, as a young man Kiichi defected to the opposing Heike in the hopes of
rising to power with them. Now an old man, Kiichi secretly wishes to give the
scrolls o f his recorded military tactics (called tora no makit lit. “tiger scrolls”), to
* Kawatake Toshio. "Nori"mata wa noru’ to id kotcf « ® (J
Zasshi Kabuki, Vol. 15
January 1972. p. 55
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C t ) in Kikan
his younger half-brothers who remained loyat to the Genji. Kiichi hopes that the
scrolls wilt enable his brothers (whom he hasnt seen since childhood) to lead the
Genji to victory, thus allowing Kiichi to fulfill his dying father's last request, as well
as atone for his youthful mistaken decision to defect to the side of the enemy.
Now grown, Kiichi's brother Kisanda is in the service of the future Genji
leader, Ushiwakamaru. Kisanda and Ushiwakamaru disguise themselves as the
servants Torazd and Chienai, and pretend to be in the service of Kiichi. Together
they await an opportunity to steal the scrolls, but their plans are foiled when the
Heike leader, suspicious of Kiichi's loyalty, sends a messenger ordering Kiichi to
turn the scrolls over the following day. The messenger also brings news that two
Genji loyalists, Kisanda and Kijird (Kiichi’s other brother) are suspected of being in
the area. Kiichi, suspecting his servants'true identities, dismisses them from
service in the hope of giving them a chance to escape capture.
Left alone in the garden, Kisanda and Ushiwakamaru ponder what to do.
Almost within reach of their goal, they know they must act immediately, or alt will
have been for naught. At this decisive moment, Ushiwakamaru staunchly says,
‘iya, kono go ni oyobi shian to wa tenurushi tenurushr (No, at such a time as this,
our plan we must not release, must not release). This line leads into the non
section.
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Following is the text of the full nori passage in Kikubatake. The English
translation closely follows the order and syllabic count of the original. Sections
delivered as non are underlined.*
Ushiwakamaru:
lya, kono go nioyobishian to wa tenurushi tenurushi.
(No, at such a time as this, to our plan we, must not release, must not
release.)
(takemoto shamisen strikes two notes, in rhythm set up by
Ushiwakamaru's last two words)
tora no maki o/osametaru hdzd no annai/ware voku shittari / shinobi itte
teniiren
(Tora no maki is / hidden in the treasure house / which I happen to
know well / 1will sneak inside and get mv hands on it)
{takemoto shamisen strikes two notes)
naniim
(meanwhile vou)
{takemoto shamisen strikes two notes)
happd ni manako o kubari/sore to sasavuru mono araba / ichi ichi kirisute
/ Tankai aurume / Kiichi tote / ydsha sunna (suruna)
(Keep vour eves wide searching all directions / And those who should
trv to interfere with us / hesitate not to kill each one / Tankai included /
Even Kiichi / shall not have his life spared.)
Takemoto:
Kokoroetaru ka / to notamaeba
(“Do you understand what I / am telling vou.* savs he)
'Translated from the script used for the Nov. T998 production at the Kabutd-za, with Ichikawa
Oanjuro XII as Chienai, and Nakamura Shikan VII as Toraz6.
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Chienai:
Kiichi utsu koto / aomen are.
fBut killing Kiichi is / one thing i cant do.)
Ushiwakamaru:
Yaa, gomen to wa / okuretaka.
What, cant do it you say / do vou defy me?
Chienai:
Ikkana okure wa/ itasanedo/ Kiichi wa ware aa ani nareba/kono ai bakari
wa / aovdsha. goydsha.
f Never would I ever wish to / defy mv lord but / Kiichi is bv blood mv
elder brother / and thus mv hesitation. / Forgive me. Forgive
me.)
Takemoto:
to iwase mo hatezu
(he replies but it ends not there.)
( takemoto shamisen plays the nori introductory phrase)
Ushiwakamaru:
Yaa. qini votte wa ova ani no/ kubio utsu mo vusha no narai/sore shiranu
wa nushi de nashi / Mmm. sate wa Kiichi to / kokoro o awase / kono
Ushiwakao/
(Yet, duty demands slaving parent or brother / and following
commands-that is tauaht the warrior. / If vou do not know that I am
not your lord. / Hmm, so vou and Kiichi have / joined forces and now
attem pt/t o take Ushiwaka here/)
Takemoto:
Oiidasan
(and try to remove him)
( takemoto shamisen plays the nori introductoryphrase)
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Ushiwakamaru:
tedatexQ n a /
(You plot against me!)
Chienai:
K6 wa mottai nakion'dse. / Nanori aiseshi / kvddai nareba/ utsu nikokoro
wa okurenedo/ kono Kisanda o /o td to to shiranu ani o b a /te nikakum wa
/ kore kyddai no michi ni arazu / osorenagara
(But sir, vour unkind utterance is undeserved. / Would that he and I both
knew / that we were indeed brothers / my heart would not rebel and I
would Slav him but / that f. Kisanda. am / his vounaer brother he has no
idea so / to die at mv hand / indeed / would contradict the duty
brother owes brother. / 1most humbly beg)
Takemoto:
Kiichi wa kimi ni fun mukete / ware wa hdzd ni shinobi iri / tora no maki o
ubai totte / tsukamatsuran wa
(Kiichi be left to mv lord to take care of / while I sneak quietly into the
treasure house / and remove the precious tora no maki scrolls. / In this
way I can obey)
Chienai:
Kono gi wa ika ni
(Please allow me this duty)
I will first examine the rhythm of nori, then discuss other important
performance conventions demonstrated in this example. The first section of the
Ushiwakamaru's nori, as performed by Onoe Kikugord VII (b. 1942) is transcribed
in Score 1 (p. 144). The shamisen melody and rhythm are drawn on the staff, and
the actor's lines indicated, in rhythm, below. The actor sets the tempo with
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‘ tenurushi tenurushi. ’ passing it to the shamisen player, who pfays two quarter
notes on the beat. The actor breathes on the beat and comes in on the upbeat.
Kikugord divides the section of nori notated in the score into the following
six breath phrases:
T) tora no maki o osametaru hdzd no annai ware yoku shittari
2) shinobi itte te ni iren
3) nanjiwa
4) happd ni manako o kubari
5) sore to sasayuru mono araba ichi ichi kirisute Tankai gurume
6) Kiichi tote ydsha sunna
One notable feature of nori, visible in the score, is that each phrase begins on the
upbeat. If a phrase has an odd number of syllables, as in the first, second and fifth
phrase, the actor waits either a half or one and a half beats between phrases.
Conversely, if the phrase has an even number of syllables, the final syllable will fall
on a downbeat. In this case, the actor rests one or two beats between phrases.
The actor decides where to divide the phrases. There are varying degrees
of flexibility in this regard, depending on the passage. Some actors prefer shorter
(or longer) phrases than others. Nakamura Shikan, for example, breaks the
opening section of Ushiwakamaru's non into seven phrases, compared with
Kikugoro’s six. Shikan divides the second phrase, ‘shinobi itte te ni iren" after
‘shinobi,’ rests a half beat and continues with “itte te ni iren." This is not a
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Score for
Nori Section from "Kikubatake"
i
± = i = a = ±
te nu ru shi te nu ru shi
ra no ma ki o o sa me
ta ru ho o
i
zoo no a(n) na i
wa re yoku shi t
ta ri
shi
no bi i t
ta te ni i
*
re
na n
ji
wa t
*
ha p po o ni ma na ko o ku ba
a l= d = = jn
$
i =
so
re to sa sa
t o
=
n ka i gu ru me (e)
yu ru mono a ra ba i chi i chi ki
«
Kiichi tote
(free rhythm)
yosha sunna
ri su te Ta
significant difference, but it does illustrate one of the subtle ways in which the
actor exercises freedom of interpretation within a very fixed rhythmic form.
The shamisen and actor's voice are intricately intertwined, so the actor
must confirm his choices with the takemoto musician in rehearsal. The shamisen
melody is composed based on the phrasing the actor uses. The melody often
punctuates the final syllables of the actor's phrase, and it is essential that there
be one stroke (two if the actor's pause is for two beats) of the shamisen between
phrases of speech to fill the rhythm while the actor breathes. There is never a
beat in which one of the “voices"—human or shamisen—isn’t sounding. It is the
responsibility of the shamisen player to follow the actor. If the actor gets off the
rhythm (and many of them do) by coming in on the down beat, the shamisen
player has to skip a beat to match the actor/
Aforf could be called "kabuki’s rap’ rhythm.* Both "voices," the shamisen
and actor, work together to create a complicated syncopation, punctuating the
unaccented beats and entering on upbeats. The actor can emphasize the
syncopation by giving a syllable falling on an upbeat a higher pitch, which serves
to accent that syllable, and thus the upbeat. All actors are not consistent is this,
however. In a comparison of three actors' performance of llshiwakamaru’s nori,
one consistently accented the upbeats with a high-pitched syllable (Onoe
r Interview, Takemoto Ayatayti, May 30,1999, Tokyo.
* A term used by Mtzuguchi Kazuo to describe norL Interview, July 5 ,1 9 9 9, Osaka
145
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Kikugord VII), one used rather flat Intonation throughout (Nakamura Shikan VII),
and one fell somewhere in between (Onoe Baiko VII).
The Kikubatake nori also demonstrates three types of alternation which
may occur in non. First, lines may be passed back and forth between actor and
tayu, or between two actors. In most cases, lines are passed a few times
between actor and tayu. A nori delivered by three people (two characters and the
tayu), as in Kikubatake, is a bit unusual in both the length and number of times the
dialogue is passed (ten). The basic pattern, however, is the same whether it
happens once or ten times. Ushiwakamaru and Chienai each pass the lines to the
tayu twice, and each time they do, the final phrase breaks away from the nori
rhythm.
This demonstrates the second type of alternation, between nori and nonnori rhythm. This is referred to as m
noru-norazu,uliterally “riding and not riding/
When the actor breaks rhythm, the shamisen accompaniment ceases. After the
actor's non-norrline, the shamisen comes in again to accompany the tayO. Every
passage of nori has at least one point where the actor gets on to ride the rhythm
(non/) and a point where he gets off (norazu). Longer nori passages such as the
one in Kikubatake have several points where the rhythm is broken and resumed.
Maintaining the same rhythm throughout would be monotonous.
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Score 1 notates the nori passage in “regular' rhythm* (S IB Joma), meaning
that each syllable fills the full eighth note. One of the most highly valued nori
skills for an actor, however, is the ability to speak marginally o ff the beat, but not
lose the sense of nori rhythm. This is called ‘ ma o zurasd"
lit.
“stagger the timing*). ‘A4a o zurasu” does not destroy the underlying 4 /4 rhythm
of the voice, nor does it affect the syncopated shamisen rhythm punctuating the
voice. Rather, it accentuates the syncopation by holding some syllables just shy
of or slightly more than an eighth note, which teases but does not obliterate the
rhythm. Another principle is the m
han ma, * (¥ IB , lit. half beat) which refers to
using only half the time allowed for a syllable, and resting for the remaining half.*
In 4 /4 , this means the actor says a syllable in the time of a sixteenth note instead
of an eighth note, and rests for the length of a sixteenth note. To be able to freely
use han ma, ‘regular rhythm* (Jd ma), and “stagger the timing* (ma o zurasu)
without destroying the underlying rhythm of nori increases the syncopation. It is
also extremely difficult, but varying the rhythm (nori chigai, <DU fe u ) in this way
is considered the highest level of skill in noriJ0
The third type of alternation in nori is between the actor's rhythmic voice
and his rhythmic movements. The amount o f movement varies depending on the
role. Ushiwakamaru and Chienai do not have a great deal of physical movement in
* Tanaka Denzaemon. et.a! u,Nom,n to fit koto: Ohayashi, enshutsuka, yakusha ni kiktff ro-S l t.
I A S W f l c H ) . KikanZasshrKabuki(«nttl£tt*&)rJanuary T972. p. 87.
"Ibid.
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Kikubatake. Gochtishin, on the other handr are extremely vigorous and better
demonstrate this alternation.
Sagami Gor6 in the “Daimotsu ura* scene (;M AX) of Yoshitsune senbon
zakura
is a notable example of gochQshin that uses noriji in the line
delivery.” The scene is extremely tense as the lady-in-waiting Suke no Tsubone
awaits news of the decisive battle between Taira no Tomomori and Minamoto no
Yoshitsune. Sagami Gord rushes in shouting *gochQshin, gochushin." Anxious to
hear news, the lady bids him to report. The takemoto shamisen plays a grand
introductory nori passage as Sagami Gord rises, taking a powerful stance to begin
describing the battle. He brings the unexpected news that the defeat of
Tomomori's troops is imminent. This marks a dramatic turning point in the scene,
for only hours before when Tomomori departed, he was certain of victory.
Following is a translation of the first half of Sagami Gord’s gochushin
The translation closely follows the syllabic count and phrase order of the original
Japanese text. Lines delivered as noriji are underlined.
Sagami Gord:
Kanete shukun no / tedate no aotoku/kuremutsu suai vori/mikata no kobune
Si/noridashi
" The movements of gochQshin are always very rhythmical and the actor is said to “ride" the
rhythm of the shamisen; however, all gochQshin do not use the specific rhythm of noriji in the
delivery of the lines. For example, Shirosuka Rokurd in Honchd Nijushikd CMS—
and
Shiragaki Tard in Omi Genji Senjin Yakata (j&xESEE&IVig) are notable gochQshin, but their lines
are not delivered as nori.
■Transcription and translation based on an October 1976 production at the Kabuki-za in which
Bandd Mitsugord IX (Minosuke) played Sagami Gord.
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fln accordance with our lord's / prearranged ofan o f attack / fust past the
sixth evening bell / in the boat of an altv we / boarded and sailed)
Takemoto:
nori dashi
(boarded and sailed)
(takemoto shamisen plays introductory nori passage)
Sagami Gord:
Yoshitsune aa uchi norishi / motomune meaakete/koko niyoseshini
fOn the boat Yoshitsune had boarded / we set our sights and went
forward/)
(takemoto shamisen plays introductory nori passage)
Takemoto:
orishimo hageshiki/ muko yama oroshi / tsurete orifuku/ame ikazuchi
(It was then that the seas grew rough / armies rushed like mountain gales /
along with them descended / showers and thunder)
(takemoto shamisen plays introductory nori passage)
Sagami Gord:
tokikoso kitare to / mikata no aunzei / mina kaichue/ tobi komi
(Our demise is upon us. thought / the warriors on our side /so to the
depths of the sea / everyone leaped)
Takemoto:
tobi komi (everyone leaped)
This example also exemplifies the three alternating principles in nori. First,
the lines are passed back and forth between actor and narrator. Second, the actor
alternately speaks using nori and breaks away from the rhythm in the final phrase
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passed to the tayu, illustrating the principfe of noru/norazu. Thirdly, while the
tayO narrates, Sagami Gord illustrates the narrated words, ‘ riding the rhythm*
(nori) with his vigorous movements. Each section of movement ends with a mie
(A ft, pose), giving a visual cadence to the movement phrase, and then segues
back into an aural passage of nori.
A t the end of each section sung by the tayu, the shamisen plays the
following phrase of music:’3
------1--------•J
"
/
t f i ---------- -------------i------
-
n r ff 0 _ —
^ -----j-----------
" r r p
This musical phrase serves two purposes. The first two bars vary in length
depending on the actor's movement. These two bars, together with the third bar,
build a crescendo of sound while the actor strikes a mie. During the fourth bar of
music, the actor prepares to continue speaking, using a nori delivery. In addition
to underscoring the actor's mie, the shamisen phrase serves to reestablish the
norrtempo. The musical phrase finishes on the downbeat, and the actor begins
his line on the upbeat immediately following.
The nori rhythm used in kabuki may have originated in gidayti, but its uses
in kabuki vary widely from those of the original gidayu. Sometimes a section of
"The key of the melody may vary.
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nori that exists in the original may not appear in the kabuki adaptation. This may
be due to the fact that a particular section of nori was eliminated when the
original gidayu was adapted to kabuki. There are also cases where the kabuki
version maintains the original gidayti text, but does not deliver that text as nori.
In the “Kumagaya jinya" scene of fchinotani futaba gunki, for example, there are
two instances where the kotoba nori of the original gidayti is delivered as normal
dialogue in the kabuki version. One of those instances is a line spoken by a minor
character. It is possible that delivering that particular line of text as nori in kabuki
would call too much attention to a minor character, so the choice was made to
use a delivery that would not stand out. In the context of the original gidayti,
however, non does not stand out as much since it is just one of many rhythmical
and melodical delivery patterns, all accompanied by shamisen, that a tayti uses to
express the text while showing his own virtuosity. Therefore, in gidayti it makes
no difference whether the non belongs to a minor or major character. Furthermore,
in gidayti, nori is not limited to turning points and highly emotional passages, as it
seems to be in kabuki.
Some passages of nori are maintained in kabuki exactly as in the original
gidayti. In the "Kumagaya jinya* scene, Kumagai’s monogatari (10J8§, narrative)
tells of the young Atsumori bravely facing his death. The one instance of kotoba
noriin the gidayti is retained in the kabuki version. However, kabuki may also add
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noriin places where it does not occur in the original. Whereas Kumagai’s
monogatari has only one case of nori in the original, the kabuki contains two
separate lines of nori.
Most noteworthy are those passages that begin as one or two phrases of
noriin the original gidayu and are expanded to create an entire focal scene in
kabuki. The long passages in “Kikubatake” and “Daimotsu ura* translated above
are cases in point. Masaoka's nori passage at the end of the ‘Mamataki* scene is
another. In all three of these cases, the text of the original gidayti has been
maintained in the kabuki adaptation, but the way in which the lines of that text are
delivered differs from the original. Much of which is (non non) sung ji or iro in
gidayti is delivered as nori by the kabuki actor.
Sawamura Tanosuke has said that the actor determines whether or not to
use nori. Even if a script indicates nori, an actor can choose to use it or not.
Likewise, an actor can decide to use nori where it is not indicated.*4 Actor choice
could explain why certain nori lines in the original text are not delivered as nori in
kabuki. Actor choice can also explain why additional lines in kabuki are delivered
as nori. In practice today, however, the same sections of kabuki plays seem to be
1Interview, Aug. 5,1999, Tokyo.
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performed as nori from production to production,’5with only minor word changes,
or differences in the phrasing or intonation used by an actor. Actor choice,
however, certainly may account for the way in which nori was adapted to kabuki.
Actor choice must certainly be at least partially responsible for decisions to
expand particular nori sections into focal scenes, and eliminate others in order to
de-emphasize the text or the lines of a minor character.
Occasionally, kabuki even creates a long nori passage where no hint of one
existed in the original. One example is Sagisaka Bannai’s speech in Ochiudo (M X ),
a travel dance depicting the lovers Okaru and Kampei. Commonly performed
following the fourth scene in full length productions of Kanadehon chOshingura (i§
The Treasury of Loyal Retainers), Ochiudo does not even exist in the
onginai gidayd play.’*
Bannai’s nori in Ochiudo is a type known as charinori (J -y y £<J). In the
Kansai dialect, “chart refers to something or someone who is comic.'7 Charinori
therefore refers to nori spoken by comic characters (ddkegata, iH t# ), like
Bannai. The rhythm and principles in charinoriare basically the same as other nori.
• In a comparison of recent productions of four scenes containing non, performed by different
actors, I found no basic difference in what each actor performed as non. Nor did I find
additional nori sections used in any of them. The scenes were: "Daimotsu ura’ scene of
Yoshitsune senbonzakura, "Hikimado' scene of Futatsu chdchS kuruwa nikkr, “Kumagaya jinya*
scene 0n the katari section) of ichinotani futaba gunfd, and "Kikubatake* scene of Kiichi H6gen
sanrayku no maki.
• Ochiudowas written as a dance piece in 1832 by Mimasuya Nisdji.
“■Kabukijitenr p. 270.
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One minor difference is that charinori is always performed using jdma, with no
attempt to further syncopate the rhythm with han ma or ‘‘staggering." I believe
this clear, straightforward approach is a reflection of the unambiguous nature of
the comic character.
Dramatist Aoe Shunjird characterizes nori as “the moment when a plane
gliding along the ground takes off and flies. From that point on the individual
speaking is no longer an ‘everyday person’."1' A distinctive rhythm, coupled with
the novel combination of the actor “singing” with the takemoto shamisen, make
nori passages stand out as one of the unique “songs” of kabuki.
•Aoe Shunjfrd “Norikuy<? (® t/ « * ) in K i k a n z a s s h i k a b u k i January 1972.
pp. 82-83.
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CHAPTER VI: THE RHYTHM AND MELODIES OF SHICHf-GO-CHO
Shichi-go chd
) is a twelve-syllable verse form composed of
alternating hemistiches of seven and five syllables. This verse form has been the
basis of poetry for over thirteen centuries in Japan, with written records that go
back as far as the Kojiki (‘S H E ; Record o f Ancient Matters, 712) and the
Manydshu(MWtk; Collection o f Ten ThousandLeaves), an eighth century imperial
poetry anthology. Alternating hemistiches of seven and five are found in
numerous poetic forms: the waka (5-7-5-7-7), seddka (5-7-7-5-7-7), and chdka
(poems up to one hundred lines, alternating units of five and seven and ending
with 7-7) being the oldest.* From waka, a (inked verse called renga, in which
poets composed sequences of “capped* verse, either adding a line of 7-7 to one
of 5-7-5, or a line of 5-7-5 to a 7-7, developed in the Kamakura (1185-1333) and
flourished in the Muromachi and Edo Periods (1333-1868). Out of this grew haiku
(5-7-5) and comic senryu (5 -7 -5), both of which were extremely popular in the
Edo Period. Practicing haiku, called haikai at the time, was fashionable among
kabuki actors, many of whom even held pen names as poets, called ha/me/(IfeS,
also read haimyd).
This poetic verse form found its way into Japanese theatrical forms as well.
Zeami, who flourished under the tutelage of imperial poets such as Nijd
' Wright, Harold, trans. Ten ThousandLeaves. Boulder: Shambala, 1979.
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Yoshimoto, used waka as the seeds for noh plays/ In principal, the poetic
passages of a noh text are composed of "phrase units of twelve syllables, a
hemistich of seven followed by a hemistich of five syllables" called a *kif (€j).3 In
gidayti as well, sung descriptive passages are almost entirely composed in poetic
shichi-go chd. Kabuki is also a part of this long poetic tradition. Shichi-go chd is
as basic to the rhythm o f kabuki as it is to noh or gidayti. Shichi-go chd takes
several forms and is used by sewa and jidaicharacters in "pure" kabuki plays as
well as those adapted from bunraku (gidayti kydgen).
The alternating hemistiches of seven and five of shichi-go chd are a clearly
recognizable written verse form. In Japanese, the word for both verse and song is
mutsT (Sfc). This basic verse form is musicalized differently in every theatrical form
that makes use of it. The “song" of noh, gidayti and kabuki written in shichigo chd
have very different sounds.
In this chapter I will first discuss the types of shichigo chd dialogue, give a
translated example, and discuss the conventions of each. I will also discuss
origins of and influences on shichigo chd use in kabuki. Finally, f will analyze
representative passages of shichigo chd in detail, discussing the rhythm and
melodies that create this distinctive "song" of kabuki.
* Rimer, Thomas and Yamazaki, Masakazu. On the Art of the N6 Drama. Princeton: Princeton UP,
1984, p.xviii.
* Komparu Kunio. The Noh Theater: Principles and Perspectives. Tokyo, Weatherhill, 1983. p.
169.
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The Use of Shichi-go chd in Kabuki
In kabuki, shichi-go chd is used in three types of speech: monologues,
called tsurane {Mte), split dialogue, called wanzerifu
7 ), and passed-
along dialogue involving three or more characters, called watarizerifu (X U i f y & ).
Tsurane: Monologues
Tsurane literally means “lined up,“ referring to the images or associated
words ‘ lined up” in the speeches. Tsurane are found only in ‘pure* kabuki plays and
are spoken only by leading characters. Shichi-go chd has been used in kabuki since
the tsurane monologues of the bombastic heroes of the Genroku era (1688-1703)
aragoto plays.4 Sukeroku’s nanon, an example of an early tsurane,5contains
shichi-go chd phrases, but the entire speech is not written in shichi-go chd. There
is no way of knowing how this and other Genroku kabuki tsurane sounded in
contemporary times, but the manner in which Genroku-type tsurane are performed
today gives no hint to the listener of the presence of shichi-go chd. In Sukeroku's
nanori, for example, the section of the speech delivered using an extremely rapid
monotone called ippon chdshi, is the section composed in shichi-go chd. It is said
so quickly that the syllabic structure could easily go by unnoticed to the ear.
Later playwrights wrote tsurane that were entirely composed of shichi-go
* Yamaguchi Kdichi. Shichi-go ch6 no kdsatsu in Nishi to Higashi no kabuki C 5 £ X 0 9 d ttt).
Tokyo: Ehgeki Shuppansha, 1980. p. 17.
sSukemkuvos first performed in 1713. The Genroku era technically spans the years from
1688 to 1703, but culturally its influence extends beyond. "Genroku kabuki’ generally refers to
aperiodfirom the 1680s to 1720s.
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d iv erse . When performed, these tsurane have a regularity of rhythm and melody
which makes them stand quite apart from the rest of a character's dialogue. The
playwright Kawatake Mokuami (1816-1893) is particularly noted for his long
shichi-go chd tsurane. He was continuing a tradition established by kabuki
playwrights before him, like Sakurada Jisuke I (1734-1806), Namiki Gohei I (17471808), and Tsuruya Namboku IV (1755-1829).
One of the most well-known shichi-go chd tsurane in kabuki belongs to the
character of Ojd Kichisa in the play Sannin Kichisa (E A a H , Three Bandits Named
Kishisa).* In the opening scene on the Sumida River, Ojd, dressed as a woman/
tosses an unsuspecting passerby into the river after lifting 100 ryCf from her. Ojd
then sits alone on the banks of the river, gazing at the moon and says:
Above a hazy moon glows / ice fish dart about / /
Fishermen's fires dim in / misty spring skies / /
Even this chill air can be / intoxicating / /
Feeling light-hearted I stare / absentmindedly / /
Cawing through the moonlight a / lonesome single crow / /
Returning home now to roost / on the riverside / /
Was it the boatman’s oars th a t/w e t my palm like this / /
Unexpectedly I find / in my hand one hundred coins9 / /
* Written by Kawatake Mokuami in 1860.
T0J6 Kichisa, a thief, is male but dresses as a female to make it easier to approach his victims.
* A ryd was a unit of measure for coins, the value of which varied depending on the year.
Regardless, 100 ryd was a large sum of money.
* in the translation, t have made every attempt to maintain the onginai order of each seven- and
five- syllable hemistich, but have not matched the English stress with Japanese intonation.
Japanese text of this passage appears on p. 176.
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This is quite poetic speech for a pick-pocket, though the twist at the end does tie
the speech to the action of the play. The tsurane?s function as a meta-dramatic
tool, providing an opportunity for the actor to show off his voice, is stronger than
the dramatic connection of the speech to the play.
The basic structure and rhythm is shown by this English translation.
Phrases reflect the alternation between the seven and five-syllable hemistiches in
the original Japanese. The final line of a shichi-go chd tsurane typically consists of
two seven-syllable hemistiches, following a long tradition in Japanese poetry.
The basic rhythm of shichi-go chd in kabuki is as follows:
In 4 /4 time, each syllable would be equal to one eighth note, with one eighth rest
following the seven-syllable hemistich and three eighth rests following the fivesyllable hemistich. This rhythm can also easily accommodate an “extra” syllable
( * & y Jiamari) that sometimes occurs in shichi-go chd. An eight-syllable
hemistich would eliminate the rest in the first bar; a six-syllable hemistich would
eliminate one eighth-rest in the second bar. This same basic rhythm also
accommodates the two seven-syllable hemistiches that commonly conclude a
passage of shichi-go chd, in which case each bar would contain seven syllables
and a rest.
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tt is important to note that this rhythm is a choice. Noh and gidayti have
made different choices. As shown in previous chapters, Kabuki actors often
extend or shorten syllables; the rhythmic regularity of this choice is one of the
reasons it is so flexible. It is easy to count, and therefore also easy to ‘‘split” and
‘pass along” dialogue.
Warizerifu:‘ Split” Dialogue
Warizerifu literally means 'split speech,” so named because lines of
dialogue are ‘split* and passed back and forth between two characters. Typically
in warizerifu, the two characters voice parallel thoughts, joining together in
thought in the culminating final hemistich, which is spoken in unison. Warizerifu is
also spoken by main characters and is often used in ‘pure” kabuki plays, and more
rarely found in gidayti kydgen.
Warizerifu seem to appear in kabuki in the late eighteenth century. For this
reason, Furuido Hideo suggests that the kakeai serifu (& (t cH 'i t U & , lit.
‘dialogue thrown back and forth”) may be the origin.10 Kakeai serifu were sung
passages of dialogue written in shichi-go chd, which were passed back and forth
between an actor and narrator. They first appeared in the (ate 1740s, were
extremely popular from the 1750s to 1780s, and used various types of musical
" Furuido Hideo has studied iate eighteenth century piays extensively. He suggested this
possible origin for wari- and watarizerifu in a graduate kabuki seminar at Waseda University,
and supplied me with copies of shdhort (j& £ , 'original libretto’) of kakeai serifu from his
private collection.
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accompaniment. However, kakeai serifu disappeared at the end of the eighteenth
century, around the same time that warizerifu appears in plays. The rhythmical,
melodic spoken shichi-go chd warizerifuthat emerged may have been a
transformation of the sung shichi-go chd kakeai serifu.
Sakurada Jisuke I was a leading playwright, and Tsuruya Namboku IV a
budding playwright in the 1770s when kakeai serifu was at its peak. By the end of
the century, they were both leading playwrights, authoring plays with the earliest
known shichi-go chd warizerifu. Further research is necessary to prove the exact
connections, but it is an avenue worth pursuing.
One of the most stunning poetic passages of warizerifu performed today is
from the ‘ Mimeguri no bar (=H<0*§, “Mimeguri Shrine") of Sakurahime azuma
bunsho (ScJBIOG^, The Scarlet Princess o f Edo), written by Tsuruya Namboku IV
in 1817. On stage is the embankment of the Sumida River, with a shrine gate at
the center of the opposite bank, indicating the approach to Mimeguri Shrine.
Princess Sakura enters on the hanamichi, and priest Seigen from a temporary
hanamichi on the opposite side of the house. Each is distraught and in search of a
loved one. Princess Sakura mourns for the baby cruelty taken from her by a villain
wishing to marry her to gain power. Seigen pines for the unrequited love of
Princess Sakura. Speaking in the dark, neither is aware of the other's presence.
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Following is the English te x t as translated by James R. Brandon in Kabuki:
Five Classic Plays." His translation follows the original syllabic count very closely.
I have marked the seven-syllable hemistich with a single slash, and the end of the
twelve-syllable line with a double slash.
SAKURA: Does the flock of birds
rising high into the air
now before my eyes
foretell safety for my child,
or what else we do not know?
SEIGEN: Dedicated though I was / to Buddha's service; / / still there is
living no man / made of stone and wood. / / For the sake of another /
this Seigen was swayed; / / the one word "love’ obsessing / my heart
and body. / / How dreadful this all becomes, / how despicable. / /
SAKURA: Thinking back upon that night / at Buddhas temple; / / in order
to save the thief / who was my lover; / / the esteemed priest was
brought / to degradation; / / a crime for which punishment / now
heavily falls; / / by the Sumida River / on a rain lashed form; / / altered in
appearance now. / . . .Princess Sakura. / /
SEIGEN: When I think of how my soul / sinks in misery; / / deeper each day
for her love, / then I long to meet: / / that she may see the anguish /
caring for the child; / / causes me unknown to her, / for if I could now ..//
SAKURA: . . . what person where extends to him / the hand of succor; / /
raising my child to manhood, / my babe just one glimpse. . . / /
SEIGEN: . . .in one meeting to reproach / with mounting bitterness.. . / /
" Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, T992. p. 308-309.
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SAKURA . . .of my beloved infant, / my darling child.. . / /
SEIGEN . . . the parent of this child, / Princess Sakura.. . / /
SAKURA . . . to meet again. . .
SEIGEN . . .toseeyo ul/
SAKURA .. .Oh, Merciful Buddha.. . / /
SEIGEN . . . let the princess...
SAKURA ...le t the child/
SEIGEN .. .please let us
BOTH (together, drawn out) . . .m eet.. .one.. .more.. .timel / /
Sakura begins by quoting a waka poem, which opens the sequence with a
classical air. What follows could be thought of as two parallel monologues, or
parallel thoughts, that unite at the end, demonstrating the standard warizerifu
convention. Warizerifu typically begins with one character speaking two or more
twelve-syllable lines, and the other character doing the same. With further
exchanges, the number of lines spoken decreases, until each character gives only
one line. Eventually each recites only one hemistich, before finishing the final
hemistich in unison.
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This above example is typical of warizerifu in many ways, but also has two
unique elements. The first is the starting waka poem. The second is the way the
final unison line is constructed. Namboku fully exploits the structure and the
delivery technique of the shichi-go chd by building in additional divisions. He
breaks the line in the middle of a hemistich, in addition to the usual position after
a seven- or five-syllable hemistich. In other words, he divides the hemistich at an
internal break. Brandon's English translation marvelously reflects the original
syllabic count, with the exception of the final line where this internal division
occurs. An alternate translation which maintains the onginal syllable count and
reflects the internal break in the hemistich might be:
SEIGEN.. .Please let us
(ddzo; 3)
BOTH.. . come together.. .1beg you please hear me.
Cawasete; 4)
(kudasarimase; 6)
The unison line at the end of this example differs from the usual convention.
Typically, the two voices join for the final hemistich only. The division of the first
hemistich into two pitch phrases enables the two characters to join together
vocally on the second pitch phrase, in this case the word “awasete,” which means
“come together.' We should note that the final hemistich has only six syllables,
‘ ku-da-sa-ri-ma-se,min the written text. However, the actors create the seventh
syllable in performance by holding the final “e“ for an extra beat.
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Gidayu is another possibfe origin o f kabuki’s shichi-go chd warizerifu (as
welt as watarizerifu.) As discussed above in Chapter V, gidayu music is divided
into three basic delivery styles: kotoba (H ), or spoken dialogue; ji(M ), sung
lyrical passages, and iro (fe), an intermediate style between j i and kotoba. Ji
sections of gidayu are usually written in shichi-go chd verse. Kotoba sections are
not. In gidayO, a character's lines may be delivered as kotoba, i.e. spoken; or, they
may be sung iro or Ji. When a gidayu play (i .e.jdruri) is adapted to kabuki, some of
the lines and thoughts of a character th at are sungji and iro in the original,
become dialogue spoken by the actor.
The climactic scene of the third or fourth act of a gidayu play typically
features a suicide or other sacrifice of life in the name of duty. Such scenes
usually conclude with long sung lyrical (ji) passages, commenting on the sadness
of a world in which such mournful events are inevitable. Typically, when these
climactic gidayO scenes are adapted to kabuki, some of the shichi-go chd phrases
of the ji are used as actor dialogue. The narrative of the original gidayO becomes a
shared thought of the characters, spoken by them in passed-along shichi-go chd
phrases. Adapting the scripts in this way for kabuki appropriately makes actors
the active entities, giving them, rather than the narrator, command of the final
moments of a play.
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The “Yoshinoyama" scene (a S lii, Mt. Yoshino) of fmoseyama onna teikin
(fcW lUjfeJfiOT, M t Imo and M t Se: An Exemplary Tale o f Womanly Virtue)
contains a short passage of warizerifu in the kabuki version. In the scene, the
young lovers, Hinadori and Koganosuke, choose to die and be together in the next
life, rather than be pushed into the service of an evil lord. The death of the
children shows their parents, Sadaka and Daihanji, the senselessness of the
historic rivalry between their two families, and points up the evanescence of life.
At the conclusion of the scene, the parents, one on Mt. Imo and one on Mt. Se,
stand with the bodies of their departed children, and contemplate:'*
Daihanji:
A cruel world is this filled with / grief and suffering / /
yoshiya yo no naka / uki koto wa I f
Sadaka:
Some day may there be an end /
itsuka taema no /
BOTH:
In this land of Yamato. / /
Yam atojini./f
Kabuki uses the exact words of the original gidayu in this passage. Though brief,
it follows the basic conventions of watarizerifu, and is proof that shichi-go chd
warizerifu did exist in gidayO kydgen. However, examples are rare.'5 Shichi-go chd
watarizerifu, which is also a result of adapting gidayu kydgen sung /passages to
passages spoken by actors in kabuki, is much more prevalent.
“Translation represents present-day performance practice.
* t have been unable to find any others in the current kabuki repertory.
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Watarizerifu: Passed-Alona Dialogue
Watarizerifu is dialogue 'passed along” among three or more characters,
and often involves as many as six or seven. Each speaks a line or hemistich in
succession, and the final hemistich is spoken in unison. Watarizerifu is spoken by
main, supporting and minor characters, and is widely used in both gidayu kydgen
and ”pure” kabuki plays
The 'Terakoya* scene of Sugawara denju tenarai kagami and the "Kumagai
Jinya'scene of fchinotaniFutaba Gunki are two examples of gidayu kydgen scenes
that conclude with a passage of watarizerifu. In both cases, the lines are spoken
by the main characters. In the 'Kumagai Jinya* scene, we discover that Kumagai
actually killed his own son, using his head as a substitute for that of the young
enemy Heike warrior Atsumori. He made this sacrifice to serve his lord
Yoshitsune, who gave an order (veiled in poetry) that Atsumori not be killed
because he was of imperial blood. By sparing Atsumori, Kumagai fulfills duty to
his lord, and also repays an obligation to Atsumori's mother, who saved the lives
of Kumagai and his wife seventeen years earlier.
At the conclusion of the scene everyone on stage stands: Kumagai with his
wife, Sagami; Yoshitsune and his retainer; Atsumori's mother, Fuji no Kata; and the
stone carver Midaroku. Sharing their grief-filled thoughts, they comment aloud:'4
“Translation based on Japanese text as reprinted in Kabuki On Stage, Vof. 4 . Koike Shdtard, ed.
Tokyo: Hakusuisha, T98S.
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Midaroku:
Even Musashibo / Benkei’s sign / / TS
Musashibdga/ seisatsu mo / /
Fuji:
Pity scattered blossoms but / much sadder is this / /
hana wa oshimedo f hana yori mo f /
Sagami:
A beloved son vanished, / warrior no more / /
Oshimu ko o sute / bushi o suteTS/ /
Kumagai:
A traveler with no home, / for eternity / /
Sumidokoro sae / sadamenaki/ /
Yoshitsune:
Constantly changing is th is.. .,7
uitenbenno/
All:
. . .universe of ours indeed.
Yo no nakaja na-a. / /
The lines are taken directly from the original gidayu. As narrated gidayu, the
sequence is a poetic comment on the situation, made from afar. As dialogue of
the characters themselves, it is as if each voices a personal thought on the
transience of the world, and their thoughts unite as one in the end.
This sequence follows a typical pattern for watarizerifu, similar to that of
warizerifu. The first person begins with a full twelve-syllable phrase, and each
person follows in succession. The last individual speaker slows the tempo on his
phrase, passing it to everyone for the final unison phrase. Here, too, the Japanese
"The notice board with a poem which contained the veiled order not to kill Atsumori, was
written in Benkei’s handwriting.
" Modem productions of Kumagai jinya* usually assigns Yoshitsune’s retainer a phrase just
prior to Kumagai. Sagami says only the first hemistich, *A beloved son vanished* and the
retainer the second one, “warrior no more.*
' Kabuki on Stage attributes this hemistich to Kumagai. In present-day productions, however,
it is spoken by Yoshitsune.
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for the final hemistich, “yo no nakaja na “ has only six syllables. The actors hold
the final “a" to create the seventh syllable.
Passages of wari- and watarizerifu show how important the rule of “passing
the tail end of the word" can be. Passing the tempo and maintaining the rhythm
are essential to the beauty of shichi-go-chd dialogue. Passing the final phrase
before the unison line is particularly difficult. The actor must slow the tempo and
be clear enough that all actors—often spread across the stage—can breathe,
enter and speak in unison. When passing the lines, each actor will also consciously
vary the pitch at the start of his line from the ending pitch of the previous actor’s
line. Furthermore, we can see in these examples how umijils used in stretching a
syllable to fill the rhythm.
Shichi-go chd watarizerifu is also found in “pure” kabuki plays. Kawatake
Mokuami and others used it in sewamono. It is also used in rewritings of classics.
One of those classics is Kotobuki Soga no Taimen. Rays dramatizing the famous
twelfth-century vendetta of the Soga brothers were a staple of Edo kabuki
theatres at New Year's time. The climactic scene featured a confrontation of the
brothers with their father's murderer, Kuda Suketsune. Today, kabuki regularly
produces Mokuami's version of the confrontation, Soga no Taimen.
The scene is composed almost entirely in shichi-go chd. It takes place at
Suketsune's mansion. All have gathered for the New Year celebration, and to offer
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flowery felicitations to Suketsune on his new appointment to office:
KUDO SUKETSUNE: Today is the day I, Suketsune / / am appointed to the
position of this year’s f f Mt. Fuji hunting expedition Magistrate. / / Upon
being favored with this esteemed office / / you come in celebration of my
good fortune / / voices raised in congratulations, signs indeed / / of our
nation's peace and prosperity this spring.
KOBAYASHIASAHINA (or MAIZURU):’8 Like the red-crested crane which
lives a thousand years f f leisurely ascending to a place in the heavens
/ / today gathering here in these rejoicing skies f f 1, Asahina (Maizuru),
closely bonded with the crane / / do attend your illustrious celebration
f f as congratulatory words come from one and all. f f
KAJIWARA KAGETOKI: And I, Kajiwara, also wish to partake f f in your
luminous reign a t Mt. Kamakura, f f Embroidered crests grace the finery
this fine day f f our cheerful hearts rise with the dancing spring mists, f f
DAIMYO1: Wafting fragrant also your new cypress abode f I the building
completed on an auspicious day f f
DAIMYO 2: Unveiled to lords great and small to pay respect; f f the gates
ornamented in decorative pine
ff
DAIMYO 3: All Kamakura blossoms, fragrant as the spring f f each house in
celebration, an auspicious sign, f f
DAIMYO 4: Today no one must endure pain or suffering f f for all now feast
and revel, drunken with joy. f f
■The character of Asahina is sometimes replaced by his sister, Maizuru. Which is used
depends on whether or not the roie is to be filled by an onnagata* In either case, the only
difference in the lines is the name.
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DAIMYd 5: Tails on New Years kites flowing gently in the breeze, I f at
every gate well-wishers stagger like plovers f f
DAIMYO 6: Their hakama precisely pleated and creased f f love letters
delicately fastened to a branch f f
DAIMYO 7: Auspicious affairs for all, say fortune-tellers; f f everyone
rejoices / in the coming year f f
DAIMYO 8: The rough waves shall be calmed and the land pacified f f give
praise to he who commands over the four seas f f
ASAHINA: To celebrate here today / his longevity.. . / /
KAGETOKI: I, Kajiwara, as do / all of us gathered.. . / /
KAGETAKA: Now offer our congratulations.. . /
ALL: With humble heart and soul.
This passage is much longer than any watarizerifu adapted from gidayO,
though follows the same pattern. Lines are passed form character to character,
with all speaking in unison on the final line. Each line is an image, linked to the
images of the previous line. Little real information is revealed in this passage, nor
is it a poignant comment akin to the summary passages found in gidayO kydgen
like “Kumagai Jinya." The important thing in this passage, as Hidetard told his
students, is that the sound of the verse be pleasant to the ear.
Another use of shichi-go chd watarizerifu has been incorporated into
kabuki in more recent times. Modem day time constraints limit playing time for a
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show to approximately four hours. This requires that tdshi kydgen, ( i i L IB S ', fulllength plays) be edited. A. program may also be composed of scenes from
various plays which may require editing in order to fit into time frame. Newly
written shichi-go chd is sometimes added to revivals of tdshi kydgen and other
scenes, as a way of summarizing information that has been cut.19 This is usually
performed by minor characters, such as ladies in waiting, attendants, etc.
ChO-ushibai and Shichi-ao chd
Using shichi-go chd to summarize and shorten plays may not be such a new
idea. Extant scripts of the Bunka-Bunsei eras (1804-1830) show that shichi-go
chd watarizerifu was used extensively in chu-u shibai (*£ 0 2 S ).M Chu-u shibaF
were middle-ranked kabuki theatres in the Kamigata (Kyoto-Osaka) region.** They
gained popularity in the 1790s, dominated Kamigata kabuki after the turn of the
19th century, and lasted well into the Meiji Era (1868-1912).“
These smaller theatres were located near ningydjdmri (puppet) theatres,
and many of the plays they performed were adapted from the gidayu. The
* During the years I wrote monthly English language commentaries for kabuki (1992-96; T997,
1998), I occasionally encountered passages in modem scripts that were not in original scripts.
"Kabuki Gakkai, ed. Kabuki no refdshit Atarashii shiten to tenbd (WME<DKJ£—S rtA 4J|j££!l
2 ). Tokyo: YOzankaku Publishing, 1998. p. 31 1.
a Also called simply chC-shibai pt*3EJS). However, some scholars add the additional “u* to
distinguish it from the name of an Osaka theatre, the Naka (no) shibai (CP2ES ), which uses the
same ideograms.
"Among them were the Rokkakudd (7 \A tt) and Nishiki Tenjin (23Ett)in Kyoto, and the
Wakadayd (£ £ £ ) and Kadomaru (A A ) theatres in Osaka.
* Based on Aoki Shigeru,nKansei ik6 kamigata gekidan no dokon
BBM) £ C) Gefnoshi
kenkyO (SUBfSt) Vol. 104, February, 1989.
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adaptations made littie use of gidayO music, and instead used extensive shichi-go
chd wari- and watarizerifu. Kamigata kabuki scholar Aoki Shigeru suggests that
because of the close proximity to ningydjdruritheatres, the chu-u shibai were
reticent to use gidayu music, and instead opted to used the musical shichi-go chd
delivery"
I suggest there was another reason for using shichi-go chd dialogue in lieu
of gidayu music, for there was no such reticence in the large licensed theatres Cfc
2EM, dshibai), which were also located near ningydjdruri theatres. Edo law forbid
chu-u shibai to give performances of a single full-day five part play (£158815#,
godan tsuzuki kydgen), so programs were divided into separate, often unrelated
parts, and a separate admission fee charged for each part.25 Consequently, many
audience members would see only one act of a play. This made it important to
use time effectively in presenting the story. The pace of gidayO is slow and time
consuming. It also does not provide an opportunity for actors to speak. Using
shichi-go chd instead keeps the plays very musical, cuts time, and summarizes
actions quickly. In addition, watarizerifu allows a large number of actors to speak,
which serves a practical purpose of providing training for up and coming actors.
A young actor training in Kamigata first acted in kodomo shibai
children's theatres), then miyashibai
temporary theatres constructed on
** Kabuki no rekishi: Atarashii shiten to tenbd, p. 310.
“ Matsudaira Susumu. "Kamigata no chO-u, kodomo shibai" (± ^ 0 't*O ^ U E S ), Kabuki kenkyO
to hihyd
Voi. 11, June 1993.
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shrine grounds), and finally in chG-u shibai if sufficiently popular as an adult, he
would graduate to one of the dshibai, such as the Naka no shibai in Osaka.25
Actors also migrated from Kamigata chu-u shibai to the large theatres of
Edo. Conversely, Edo actors came to Kamigata chG-u shibai to hone their skills
before returning to try and break into the big leagues in Edo. One of the most
successful was Nakamura Utaemon III (1778-1838), an Osaka actor who began in
the kodomo shibai and worked his way to up to the top. When he performed in
the dshibai of Edo, he rivaled the popularity of Edo's biggest names.27 His
apprentice, Utaemon IV (1796-1852), was originally from Edo, but left with
Utaemon III in 1812 to train at in the miya- and chu-u shibai of Osaka.25 Utaemon
IV returned to Edo to great acclaim in 1838, where he acted in the dshibai theatres
until his death in 18S2.29 Ichikawa Kodanji IV (1812-1866) was another Edo-bom
actor who trained in Osaka. At the age of ten he began performing in kodomo,
and later chG-ushibai. He returned to Edo in 1844, where he was very popular,
particularly for his excellent portrayals of lower class commoners.*
* Kabukino rekishi: Atarashii shiten to tenbd, p. 293.
” Gunjt Masakatsu. "Kabuki and its Social Background” in Tokugawa Japan: the Social and
Economic Antecedents o f Modem Japan. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1990. p. 207
■ Leiter, Samuel L. AfewrKabuki Encyclopedia, p. 451. Leiter mistakenly gives the date of death
for Utaemon III as 1813.
■ Nojima Juzaburd. Kabukijinmeijiten (R S & A & V X O - Tokyo: Nichigai Associates, Inc. 1988.
p. 409-410.
* Kabukino refdshi: Atarashii shiten to tenbd, p. 292.
17 4
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Chu-ushibai actors, like Utaemon III, Utaemon IV, Kodanji IV, and countless
others yet undocumented, may have brought wari- and watarizerifu to Edo
playwrights.3' Wari- and watarizerifu existed in Edo gidayO kydgen from at least
the 1750s, when plays like Ichinotani futaba gunki and Sugawara denju tenarai
kagami were adapted to kabuki from gidayu. Wari- and watarizerifu are not seen
in “pure’' kabuki plays until the end of the eighteenth century, after the chu-u shibai
had become a strong influence in Kamigata, and a popular training ground.
Furuido's hypothesis that kakeai serifu were the origin of wari- and watarizerifu
would seem to contradict Aoki’s, but both influences could have been at work
simultaneously.
One very direct connection between chu-u shibai and Edo pfaywrights can
be seen in the relationship between Kodanji IV, who originated in the chu-u shibai,
and Kawatake Mokuami, the champion of shichi-go chd dialogue. In 1854,
Mokuami wrote his first play for Kodanji, called Shinobu no Sota (ScDJfcfc, Sneaky
Sdta). in one scene, the two foes Sdta and Umewaka meet in confrontation before
engaging in a fight, in which Umewaka is killed by Sdta. Kodanji requested that
the scene be written in shichi-go chd warizerifu, and he made Mokuami rewrite it
three times before deeming it acceptable.32 This was the first of the many “bandit
plays- (shiranami mono, 62M6) that Mokuami wrote for Kodanji. Later “bandit
-ibid. p. 312.
« Ibfd.
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plays' include Nezumi Kozd (flUHB; ‘The Rat Thief ”1857) fzayoi Seishin (*f-7v&U
<6; izayoi and Seishin,1859), and Sannin Kichisa (1860), among others. The
honorable bandits heroes’ ‘sung’ poetic shichi-go chd tsurane are highlights of
the shiranami mono.
Next I wilt examine what kabuki actors do to “musicalize* shichi-go chd
verse to create its outstanding ‘song” in kabuki.
The Delivery Technique
The twelve-syllable lines of shichi-go chd verse is a clearly recognizable
written form. When performed in kabuki, it also has recognizabfe rhythmic and
melodic forms. I will begin with an analysis of the first half of 0J6 Kichisa's
tsurane, demonstrating the rhythm and showing how the melody of shichi-go chd
is created. I will then discuss how this melodic form vanes depending on the type
of play.
I compare here recordings of three actors doing Ojd Kichisa’s tsurane from
Sannin Kichisa, discussed earlier in the chapter. The three actors are Ichimura
Uzaemon XV (1874-1945), Sawamura Gennosuke IV (1859-1936), and Onoe Baikd
VII. Uzaemon and Gennosuke are Meiji actors; Baikd is a Showa actor. The
comparison has two goals: the first is to determine the essential rhythm and
melody of shichi-go chd in sewamono. i will then use this as a basis for
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comparison with jidaimono shichi-go chd. The second goal is to determine if
there is any important difference in performance styles of shichi-go chd between
the Meiji and Shdwa kabuki actor.
The first half of 0j6 Kichisa's tsurane consists of eight twelve-syllable lines.
The Japanese text is given below:33
A. tsukimo oboro ni/ shira uo no (E ‘feMlcS&cD)
B.
kagari mo kasumu / haru no sora ( f r t f U
C. tsumetee kaze mo / horoyoini0fcT;L S ,& {55SH '(C )
D.
kokoromochiyoku/ ukauka t
o
o fro frt.)
E. ukaregarasu no / tada ichi wa Q&frtl&<D1tf£—
F.
negura ni keeru t kawabata de (M (cHH-SJIWIT?)
G. sao no shizuku ka / nurete de awa (3E©3S;S'3l*l#T?j&)
H.
omoigakenaku / te ni iru hyaku ryd (JSC
?(C0 'SUsEi)
In making the comparison of the three actors’ interpretations, I focused on
the following three factors: rhythm, tempo, and pitch contours. Graphs 29 ,3 0
and 31, illustrating the tsurane as performed by Uzaemon, Gennosuke and Baikd
respectively, are included for reference on pp. 189-198).14
Rhvthm
As discussed above, the basic rhythm of shichi-go chd can be written as
follows:
33English translation appears on p. 153.
~ Recording qualities differed greatly, which affected the quality of graph that could be
produced. There were no probfems with the recording of Uzaemon. At times in the Gennosuke
recording, the gong in the soundtrack was louder than the voice, resulting in the software
drawing the low steady gong pitch instead of Gennosuke’s vocal pitch. The samplefor Onoe Baikd
was of poor quality and did not produce a readable graph for many sections, i have included onty
the readable section for Baikd.
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The written structure of shicN-go chd usually places a natural break between the
seven- and five- syllable hemistich, and actors usually pause briefly for that one
beat between phrases. All three actors followed the basic rhythm, with only
minor changes.
One of those minor changes was to begin speaking a line on the upbeat.
Gennosuke does this in the first line of the speech. To make up for it, he
eliminated the rest between the two hemistiches, as in :
-4-4-
\ s s s J = 3 n ~ *
a-a j
tsuki mo
o bo ro ni
shi ra u o
no
Another variation of the rhythm is to hold a syllable longer than one beat.
This is readily done on the seventh or twelfth syllable. For example, Baikd held the
seventh-syllable in the fourth line for a full quarter note. This also eliminated the
rest before the second hemistich, as in:
mt- n
-4H-
kokoromo
L J L JL .M
chiyokuu
u kau ka
to
Minor adjustments such as these do not significantly alter the basic rhythm. In
fact, within each individual line, the three actors showed little deviation from the
basic rhythm.
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More significant than the rhythm of the line itself is the rhythm between the
lines. The three actors did not exhibit a timing as countable as the notation
would seem to indicate. Each actor approached the tsurane differently. Baikd
treated the entire speech as one thru-composition, and had the most rhythmically
uniform delivery. The beats of the rests in between each line were as countable as
the beats of the twelve spoken syllables. Gennosuke was the other extreme. He
treated each line as a separate entity. Each individual twelve-syllable line more or
less fit the basic rhythmic pattern. However, the time in between lines was very
sporadic and not countable as a specific number of beats. Uzaemon was more
consistent than Gennosuke, but not as regular as Baikd.
In solo speeches, rhythmic irregularity such as this can be an asset. An
actor uses pauses and breath interpretively in the lines. In wari- and watarizerifu,
however, maintaining a regular rhythm between lines is essential so that lines get
passed along smoothly. Consequently, the overall rhythm in wari and watarizerifu
tends to be more regular than in tsurane. From a musical standpoint, this is very
interesting. In wari- and warizerifu a group of actors must approach a passage as
a single thru-composition. In tsurane, the actor is not restrained by having to pick
up the rhythm as it is passed. He can pause as he wishes between lines, and break
up a single composition into different “movements.*
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Tempo
The three actors showed no consistent tempo. Different character types
would be expected to speak at varying speeds, determined by whether they were
jidai or sewa characters, as well as their age, status and occupation. The three
actors in these samples, however, are playing the same character and speaking
the same lines. The only logical explanation for the tempo differences is the
interpretation of the actor.
I had hoped to find a difference between the two Meiji actors and Baikd, the
Showa actor, to support a hypothesis that the overall pace of plays has slowed.
However, the evidence in this case does not support the hypothesis. Baikd and
Uzaemon delivered the eight-line tsurane in 32 and 31 seconds respectively. This
calculates to a rate of speech of 3.13ss and 3.23 ss respectively, which is a
remarkable similarity of tempo. Gennosuke, the second Meiji actor, took only 26.5
seconds for the same eight lines, which is about 3.77ss. Compared with the other
two actors, Gennosuke took much longer pauses between lines, which means his
actual speaking tempo was much faster than 3.77ss. In terms of tempo, no
conclusions can be drawn from this sample regarding historical change from the
Meiji to Shdwa Eras.
Pitch Contours
All three actors manifested the same alternating melodic intonation
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patterns in 0J6 Kichisa’s tsurane. I have divided the line types into two categories.
Type one" lines contain either two or three pitch phrases for the twelve-syllable
line, each of which manifests a moderate, gradual rise and descent. Type two"
lines contain three or four pitch phrases, and manifest larger, more acute pitch
rises and falls. Roughly simplified, the patterns of the three actors can be
represented as:
A.
Type One Line
A.
Type Two Line
Type one and type two lines are distinguished by the pitch range of the
pitch phrases. In all three samples, type one lines showed a pitch range of six to
seven semitones in the first hemistich, and seven to eight semitones in the
second hemistich. Type two lines had more and greater pitch undulations,
showing a range from eight semitones to one octave and four semitones in each
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of the pitch phrases. The exact pitch interval varied slightly from performer to
performer, but the regular alternation, between type one lines with few pitch
phrases and smaller intervals, and type two lines, with more pitch phrases of
sharper, larger intervals, was consistent in all three actors.
To create this regular alternation of line types, some pitch phrases were
manipulated, essentially making a type two line pattern from one that would
“naturally" be a type one pattern. One example is the fourth line (D) ‘kokoromochi
yoku ukauka to." The natural grammatical break is between the two hemistiches,
which divides the line into two pitch phrases, as in (the highest-pitched syllable in
each phrase is underlined):3*
kokoromochi yoku
jjjcauka to
None of the three actors follows the natural break or pitch phrasing. All three
artificially divide each of the hemistiches into two pitch phrases, making the
delivery a type two line pattern, as can be seen in the following diagram:
kokoro
mochi voku
uka-uka to
The first hemistich is comprised of two words, “kokoromochiyoku,"
meaning "a good feeling.” The two words also form a natural single pitch phrase,
•The accent nucleus, or highest tone Is underlined.
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patterned L-H-H-H-H-H-H-L The pitch accent of “kokoromochi”is L-H-H-H-H; the
pitch accent for “yoku" is H-L. The hemistich couid naturally be divided between
these two words into two pitch phrases. However, all three actors’ divide the
phrase into ‘kokortf and “mochiyokucreating the intonation pattern L-H-L-L-HH-L for the word “kokoromochi." This goes counter to the rules of Japanese
intonation, and does not exist in daily speech. The odd intonation results from
the kabuki actor's melodic styling of the shichi-go chd line.
“UkauksT in the second hemistich is divided into two pitch phrases fora
different reason. “Ukauka tcT (H-L-L-L-L) means “dreamy." Divided into two, the
pitch accent patterns become “uka" (H-L) and “uka to’ (H-H-L). *UkauksT is a
“pivot word.’ It holds one meaning in the context of one line, and another meaning
in the context of the next line. The meaning pivots back and forth between the
two. in the delivery of the lines, the choice is made to forefront the pivot word,
by using the intonation of the less obvious meaning, *ukaT (M4fc) grow wings, and
'ukst (M T ) shower down like rain.“ The words “uka uka t<f then come to mean
something like "the wings swooping down like rain,” linking to the following line
that mentions a cawing crow in flight. Two meanings are implied in the line, and
kabuki actors make the choice to highlight the pivotal nature of the word in
performance.
183
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(n the final line of the tsurane, the actors also artificially divide the word
“omoigakenakif (unexpected) in order to obtain a type two line. The pitch accent
of the word is L-H-H-H-H-H-L, which would naturally result in one pitch phrase that
rises gradually to a peak and falls in pitch at the end. However, ait three actors
divide the single word into two pitch phrases, "omoi gsT and *kenakuas in:
omoigakenaku
/ \ / \
becomes
om oi
ga kenaku
This creates the two pitch phrases needed for the type two line, but the pitch rise
on the syllable “ke," makes the pronunciation of the word counter to natural
Japanese. The shape of the contour is given precedence over the natural accent of
the word. These three examples demonstrate how the kabuki actor manipulates
language to obtain regularly alternating melodic patterns for the delivery of
shichi-go chd lines.
The basic line types used in the tsurane of OJ6 Kichisa, are also heard
repeatedly in other shichi-go chd tsurane. For example, in the “Inasegawa" scene
(ffiSRJU, The Inase River) of Shiranami gonin otoko (S X S A J Ir Five Bandits o f die
White Waves), each of the five bandits delivers a fifteen-line tsurane in succession.
My analysis of recordings of the five bandits' tsurane,36shows the actors
* November 1971 Kabuki-za production, as recorded in the CD book, Kabuki meiserifu shQ (R ft
7 ft) Tokyo: Shinkosha. 1998.
184
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employed the same basic line types. Reversals of the alternating lines also
occurred. For example, two type two lines may be spoken in a row, followed by a
type one line, thus reversing the pattern. Furthermore, actors used even greater
variation of tempo in the ‘ Inasegawa* tsurane,
Jidai shichi-go chd
The same principle of alternating line patterns also occurs in the shichi-go
chd of jidaimono. However, jidai patterns manifest different melodic contours
than those found in sewamono. in Soga no Taimen, a “pure* kabuki jidaimono, all
of the characters incorporate the jidai pattern of “attack the second syllable and
drop the end of the phrase* into the shichhgo-chd verse. Following is one example
from the daimy&s (lord) watarizerifu (the highest pitch is underlined):
(Daim y6 1)
Koaare mo takaki hinoki ita
(Daimyd 1) z&ei jd ju no
kichinichi ni
Type One Line A.
Type Two Line A.
185
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The first line (illustrated in Graph 33, p .l 9Z37) I will call a type one jidai line. Type
one lines contain only one pitch phrase. The second line, a type two jidai tine, is
divided between the first and second hemistiches into two pitch phrases.
Jidai shichi-go chd also use the yamagata speech pattern. One example is
Taira no Koremori’s speech in the ‘Sushiya* scene of Yoshitsune senbonzakura
(illustrated in Graphs 11-12, pp. 60~63):
Chichi Shigemori ga kd on o
(type one line)
uketaru mono m ikumag nin
(type two line)
Kazu kagirinaki sono naka ni
(type one line)
okoto no v6 na mono ga a&ya.
(type two line)
This example also manifests two alternating line types. Type one (yamagata) is
composed of one long pitch phrase, and the type two line is divided into three
pitch phrases, creating a three-peaked mountain contour, as in:
Type One
Type Two
Both of the jidai shichi-go chd examples contain twelve-syllable lines
delivered as one pitch phrase. In both cases, the single pitch phrase naturally
'F lu te music underscores the entire passage, obstructing the ability of the speech analyzer
program to calculate the vocal pitch. 1have included a graph for the first line of shichi go chd,
which is only obscured on the first four syllables.
186
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
divides, between the two hemistiches, into two phrases. For example, “kogare
mo takakihfnokiita“ can be divided into “kogare mo takakT and “hinoki ita.“
Likewise, “Chichi Shigemori ga kd on o’ also naturally divides between the two
hemistiches: “Chichi Shigemori ga" and “kd on o.“ Dividing the lines would create
two pitch phrases and result in more rising and falling pitch contours in the line.
But this does not happen. Kabuki actors choose to retain a jidai vocal stylization
for shichi-go chd spoken byjidai characters.
The three-peaked mountain pattern in Kiyomori’s speech is a result of some
unusual accenting of syllables. In both of the three-peaked lines, “okoto no yd na
mono ga ard’ and “uketaru mono wa ikuman nin,’ the actor accents the second
and seventh syllable, and third from the last syllable, distributing the high pitches
uniformly throughout the line. Both second-syllable pitch accents correspond to
natural accents in the language. Contrastingly, both seventh-syllable pitch
accents are counter to natural intonation.
Both lines could naturally divide between the two hemistiches, at the
seventh syllable, i.e.: “okoto no yd na / mono ga ard “ and “uketaru mono wa /
ikuman nin,’ creating two pitch phrases. In this case, the seventh syllable would
be the final one of the first phrase and have a falling, or low pitch. Instead, the
actors raise the pitch of the seventh syllable to link the two phrases together,
creating the regularly spaced peaks of the line.
187
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Shichi-go chd manifests different vocai contours in sewamono and
jidaimono. These contours constitute the distinct, identifiable melodies of shichigo chd. These distinct melodies, coupled with the regular rhythm of shichi-go chd,
create a circumstance which stands apart from other “musical" kabuki speech.
The contrast between the daily, irregular speech patterns of sewa diafogue and
the regular rhythm and melodies of shichi-go chd is particularly sharp in
sewamono. This is one reason the dynamic use of shichi-go chd is so effective in
creating a focal scene in sewamono.
Jidaimono, on the other hand, typically use formal speech and formalized
speech patterns for dialogue. Furthermore, those same patterns are incorporated
into the delivery of shichi-go chd. Jidaimono does use alternating line contours
for shichi-go chd speech, which separates it from other dialogue, but the
difference between the stylized speech employed in jidaimono and shichi-go chd
is not as spectacular as in sewamono.
On paper, all shichi-go chd follows the same syllabic pattern. In
performance, it manifests itself in many ways. Scholars and actors often point to
shichi-go chd and say it is “musical" or “easily made melodic."* I have shown how
actors manipulate the language in order to produce the distinctive contours of the
alternating melodic line patterns which create the distinctive aural quality of the
“song” of shichi-go chd in kabuki.
* Suwa Haruo. Kabukino hdfid
Tokyo: Benseisha, 1991. p.171.
T88
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Graph Set 29
Ojo Kichisa’s tsurane (Ichimura Uzaemon XV) tn Sannin kichisa
DMHR“ ■
1 I'
•*
r-*
~ s '
■
y
'
A.
luprai
A.
Tsoidmo o
bo
ronisbira
u
g
no
ii^gasaes
(shamisen)
WA
r.•V
*.
*
H
\
'*V
IM
B.
fca ga
it
mo
ka
su mu
ha
ru
no
so ra
(shamisen)
189
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
T90
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Graph Set 29
E>
F.
u ka re ga
(ra) e
ke
ra
su no
e
ru
tada
ka m
i
chi wa
in . la
(shanusen)
de (shamisen)
191
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
ne gu
q
sa
o
Graph Set 29
H.
mo
i
ga
ke
na
tax
te
ni
t
ru
hya
ku
192
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
ryo
o
Graph Set 30
Ojd
Kichisa’s tsurane (Sawamura Gennosuke) from Sannfrt kichisa
(shamisen)
193
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Graph Set 30
c.
(shamisen)
D.
koko ro
tsu mete e
mo
chi yo
ka ze mo e e e
ku
u
ka
za me ni
u
ka
to
(drum "DON")
194
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Graph Set 30
F.
ra
i
ke
e
ru ka wa ba
ta
de
(shamisen)
195
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Graph Set 30
G.
H.
sa o no shi zu
o
mo
i
(ku) ka na re te ja
ga
ke na
ku
wa
te
ni
o
i
nt
hya
ku ryo o
196
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Graph 31
Oj6 Kichisa's tsurane (Onoe Baikd V II) from Sannfn Kichisa
l/W A
Ka wa
n
mo
ka
su
mu
ha
ru
no
so
197
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
ra
Graph 32
Daimyd in Kotobuki Soga no Taimen
198
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER VII: CONCLUSIONS
All verbal expression has some degree of prosody. Prosody is ‘a kind of
musical accompaniment of speech, just as gesture is a kind of histrionic
accompaniment/* In kabuki speech, the ‘musical’ elements of prosody—rate of
speech (tempo), accent (pitch), and intonation (melody) are consciously
manipulated to maximize the musical potential of the Japanese spoken word.
Linguistically speaking, Japanese is a ‘musical” language, but daily use of the
language does not activate this potential. The art of kabuki speech, on the other
hand, is an art of exploiting the musical potential of the language through the use
of the rules outlined herein. This musicality ranges from moderate, as with sewa
voice, to intermediate, as with jid a ivoice, to the extreme, as with non and shichigo chd passages.
From the limited reality of the language, kabuki creates wide-ranging
theatricality. Kabuki speech exhibits a vast spectrum of stylization by following
the rules of prosody at times, exaggerating the rules at other times, and even
breaking the rules at other times, as seen in the intonation patterns of courtesans
and other onnagata when wishing to sound alluring. The range of vocal stylization
includes quick-speaking, flat-cadenced sewa clerks such as Yasuke, who use a
pitch range, tempo, and intonation which only slightly accentuates the rules of
* Bolinger, Dwight. Aspects o fLanguage. New York: Harcourt Brace T98 T. p. 46.
199
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daily speech. The taut, suspended phrases which come from the mouths of
distant jidai lords and ladies, following the patterns of the yamagata or “attacking
the second syllable,* display a drastic slowing in tempo and suspension of pitch
phrases which produce long arcs of sound.
Still further on the spectrum of stylization is the realm when speech begins
to be “sung." In highly emotional scenes speech is slowed, and vowels elongated
and modulated using greater pitch intervals than what has been established as a
norm for that character. At the furthest extreme of stylization are the “songs" of
the rhythmic non and melodic shichi-go chd.
Kabuki’s Debt to GidayO
Kabuki and bunraku, the gidayti-based puppet theatre, have always had an
intimate relationship. Gidayu kydgen makes up a large part of the kabuki
repertory. Adaptations from bunraku began in the 1720s, reached a peak in the
1750s, and continued through the late nineteenth century. Almost every kabuki
program today includes at least one scene from a gidayu play. Some programs
are almost exclusively gidayO kydgen.
The debt of kabuki to gidayu goes beyond a repertory of plays. Kabuki
actors also acknowledge the fundamental importance of gidayu techniques to the
art of kabuki speech. Gidayu is ideally how kabuki actors learn breath
200
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management, timing, correct pfacement of the voice, and pitch control. The
number of actors directly studying gidayO today may be dwindling, but kabuki’s
vocal stylization is predicated on a knowledge of gidayO. Gidayu training provides
the actor with the skills necessary to affect the highly versatile, rhythmic and
melodic demands of kabuki speech.
I believe kabuki also has a sizable indirect, invisible debt to gidayu. The
two most outstanding, stylized rhythms of kabuki speech—non and shichi-go
chd—can both be traced to gidayO. The most poignant moments in gidayO are
sung, and often composed in shichi-go chd verse. When gidayu plays were
adapted to kabuki, some of those moments were conceded to the takemoto
narrator. Others were taken over by the actor. In so doing, the musical nature of
the original gidayO necessitated developing a musical parallel in the speech of the
kabuki actor for those moments.
In some cases, those adopted musical highlights take the form o f non.
Non came directly from gidayO. It stands apart from other moments of extreme
stylization because its emphasis is on rhythm over tempo or melody, and the
actor's voice is accompanied by the shamisen. Afo/fprovided yet another avenue
for the actor to highlight his skills. Consequently, non sections were expanded in
kabuki.
In other cases, kabuki developed its own distinct melodic vocal patterns to
201
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apply to shichi-go chd tsurane, and gidayO lines which were adapted as wan- and
watarizerifu. These “songs of shichi-go chff are kabuki’s own original melodies,
but very possibly bom out of the necessity to create a musical counterpart in
kabuki for the original gidayu music. In this way, too, kabuki has a “hidden* debt
to gidayu.
Further Study
There is always a first step. I have begun by defining basic rules governing
fundamental musical elements of pitch, tempo, intonation (melody) and rhythm,
and demonstrating how they can be used by a range of character types. A next
step would be further research on timbral qualities, exploring the relationship of
vowel quality and vocal color to specific character types in kabuki. The same
speech analysis programs I have used to illustrate pitch and tempo, i.e. Speech
Analyzer 3.1 and Praat 3.8.41, can be employed to produce spectrums and
detailed formant analyses of individual sounds. Formant frequencies depend on
articulation and affect vocal timbre.2 Correlating the kabuki actor's particular
articulation to formant production would show how an actor produces specific
sound qualities. Matching those particular qualities to individual character types
would deepen our understanding of an important aspect of kabuki voice. The
difficulty of this type of research would be obtaining recordings of actors voices
'Sundberg,Johan. The Science o f the Singing Voice. Dekalb: northern Illinois University
Press, 1987. p. 130.
202
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that are made under identical circumstances. This is necessary to make reliable
comparisons of vocal quality.
Another intriguing outgrowth of this research would be a long-term followup on the tempo changes in kabuki performance. Nakamura Ganjird III has
indicated that the overall tempo of gidayu kydgen has slowed. On the other hand,
actor Ichikawa Ennosuke III acknowledges consciously using quicker tempos in his
productions, as part of his efforts to update kabuki for modem life and make it
more accessible to young people accustomed to a hurried pace. What might be
discovered through an in-depth examination of gidayu kydgen and “pure" kabuki
productions, comparing each decade of the sixty-year period from the 1950s to
the first decade of this millennium? Sixty years is sufficient time to follow three
generations of kabuki actors. Are tempos really changing? And if so, how?
Applications Outside of Kabuki
The breathing techniques, rules, and rhythms I have discussed are all basic
to kabuki speech. Moreover, they are basic to speech and can be applied to other
languages and other manners of vocal stylization. Breath control based on
“sending the voice from the hara,’ breathing deeply through the nose, and
engaging emotion and energy by actively “holding” the breath before speaking are
extremely effective, dynamic uses of breath. Studying gidayu is one way to team
203
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how to do these things. A more viable, expedient possibility is to develop
exercises for the non-kabuki actor, based on these important techniques taught in
gidayu.
The rules discussed herein illustrate that the underlying construct of kabuki
speech is musical. The actor speaks with conscious attention to pitch, tempo,
intonation, and rhythm. The same approach can be applied in developing a
stylized English speech as well. Dividing a text into set phrases, clearly
differentiating the starting pitch of each phrase from the ending pitch of the
previous phrase, using varying pitch ranges for phrases, and contrasting ending
cadences, are several points that can be adopted from the basic rule ‘if speaking
high then speak low; if low, then high." Tempo variations can be added over and
above this, incorporating the second part of the rule ‘if speaking quickly, then
slowly; if slowly, then quickly.* Developing ways for the actor to use the tempo of
his or her voice to control transitions from stylized speech into more song-like
speech, and incorporating the idea o f‘singing the lines,* are further steps towards
creating a broad-ranging vocal stylization.
This is essentially approaching the text as a musical composition. Just as
composers use notes to convey ideas and emotion through music, the actor can
consciously use the pitch, tempo, melody and rhythm that overlay his or her
words as an interpretive tool. Changes in prosody are a natural by-product of the
204
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emotional content of speech. Constructing one’s speech to affect those
emotions is a different approach, and a valuable one which can be learned from the
way kabuki actors employ their art of speech.
205
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APPENDIX: Hertz/Tone Correspondence Chart
(from Hail, Donald E MusicalAcoustics.
Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1991)
55.0
A1
233.1
A#3
58.3
A#1
246.9
B3
61.7
B1
261.6
C4
65.4
C2
277.2
C#4
69.3
C#2
293.7
D4
73.4
D2
311.1
D#4
77.8
D#2
329.6
E4
82.4
E2
349.2
F4
87.3
F2
370.0
F#4
92.5
F#2
392.0
G4
98.0
G2
415.3
G#4
103.8
G#2
440.0
A4
110.0
A2
466.2
A#4
116.5
A#2
493.9
B4
123.7
B2
523.3
C5
130.8
C3
554.4
C#5
138.6
C#3
587.3
D5
146.8
D3
622.3
D#5
155.6
D#3
659.3
E5
164.8
E3
698.5
F5
174.6
F3
740.0
F#5
185.0
F#3
784.0
G5
196.0
G3
830.6
G#5
207.7
G#3
880.0
A5
220.0
A3
206
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AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDINGS
Futatsuchdchd kuruwa nikki (WBk* ® B E ). Bunraku. Date unknown. Videotape.
Gotaiheiki shiraishi banashi GfefcspESSflJr). Perf. Nakamura Ganjird III. Tokyo, National
Theatre of Japan. March 1994. Videotape.
Hikimado (51 # & ). Perf. Nakamura Matagord, Kataoka Nizaemon XV (Takao), et.al. Kyoto
Minami-za, December 1995. NHK1995. Videotape.
Hikimado (5 l# & ). Perf. Nakamura Ganjird III (Senjaku).Tokyo, Kabuki-za, December
1988.
KabukiActing Techniques: The Voice. Dept, of Theatre, University of Michigan. 1980.
Videotape.
Kabuki no sekai: Onnagata
NHK, 1983. Videotape.
Kabuki no sekai: Tachiyaku
: £ & ). NHK, 1983. Videotape.
213
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Kanadehon cMshingura
Perf. Kataoka Nizaemon XIII, Onoe Baikd VII, et.
ai. National Theatre of Japan. October to December 1986. Videotape.
Kikubatake (1HS). Perf. Ichikawa DanJGrd XII and Nakamura Shikan VII. Tokyo, Kabuki-za,
Nov. 1998. Audio cassette.
Koibikyakuyamato 6rai
Perf. Nakamura Ganjird III (Senjaku). Videotape.
KotobukiSoga no Taimen (£flti£<D ftiii). Perf. Kataoka Nizaemon XIII, Kataoka Gat<5 V,
et. al. Tokyo, Meiji-za, March 1993. Videotape.
Kumagaijlnya (M tSIU fi) Perf. Kataoka Nizaemon XV (Takao), et. al. Tokyo, Kabuki-za,
Date unknown. Videotape.
Kumagaijlnya (A8SBIS) Perf. Ichikawa Danjurd XII. Tokyo, Kabuki-za, October 1987.
Videotape.
Meiboku Sendaihagi(faIfiBfcftDO. Perf. Nakamura Utaemon VI, et. al. Tokyo, Kabuki-za,
October 1983. Videotape.
Meiboku Sendaihagi (tiQflbfcftffc). Bunraku. June, 1980. Videotape.
Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami (X& 7E& & ). Perf. Nakamura Kanzaburd XVII. Shikoku,
Kanamaru-za, Date unknown. Videotape.
Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami(X $ ? E 3 lfi). Perf. Nakamura Kankurd V, Ichimura Uzaemon
XVII, Otani Tomoemon VIII, et. al. Tokyo, Kabuki-za, Date unknown. Videotape.
Natsu matsurinaniwa kagami (X S 7E S S ). Perf. Nakamura Kichiemon II. Tokyo, Kabukiza, September 1993. Videotape.
Natsu matsuri naniwa kagami. (X$£?£i&fE). Perf. Ichikawa Ennosuke, Ichikawa
Monnosuke, et. al. Tokyo, Kabuki-za, July 1997. Videotape.
214
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Sakurahime azuma bunshd (ScfeJltXM ). Perf. Kataoka Nizaemon XV (Takao) and Bando
Tamasaburd. Kyoto, Minami-za, Date unknown. Videotape.
Sannin Kichisa (E A n H ). Perf. Ichimura Uzaemon XV, on Kabuki meisaku sen: Sewamono
shu GRJS&SflFjIt: « » » « ) . NHK, 1978. LP.
Sannin Kichisa ( E A * £ ) . Perf. Sawamura Gennosuke. Mid-1920s recording on Victor
Record JL108. Publication date unknown.
Sannin Kichisa
Perf. Onoe Baikd VII. On Kabuki meiserifushQ (SJ&K&Sity
H ). Shinchdsha, 1988. CD.
Sugawara denjO tenarai k
a
g
a
m
i Bunraku. July 1989. Videotape.
Sukeroku (86 /\). Perf. Nakamura Utaemon VI and Ichikawa Danjurd XII. Tokyo, Kabuki-za,
April 1985. Videotape.
Sukeroku (Sft/v). Perf. Ichikawa DanjOrd XI. Tokyo, Kabuki-za, April 1962. Videotape.
Sushiya (U S ). Perf. Nakamura Shikan VII, Kawarazaki GonjQrd III, et. al. Tokyo, Kabuki-za,
1995. Videotape.
Terakoya ( # ? f i) . Perf. Kataoka Nizaemon XV (Takao), Sawamura Tdjurd, et.al. Kabukiza, October 1980. Videotape.
Terakoya (# ^ S ). Perf. Nakamura Kichiemon II, et. at. May 1985. Videotape.
Yoshitsune senbonzakura
Perf. Onoe Baikd VII, Kawarazaki Gonjurd III, et. al.
Tokyo, Kabuki-za. Date unknown. Videotape.
Yoshitsune senbonzakura (88rB $8c). Bunraku. National Bunraku Theatre of Japan, April
1984. Videotape.
215
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INTERVIEWS
Bando Yajurd, kabuki actor. Tokyo, June 15,1999.
Kataoka Hidetard II, kabuki actor. Osaka, July 27 and 28, T999.
Mizuguchi Kazuo, former kabuki actor. Osaka, July 6 ,1 9 9 9 .
Nakamura Ganjird III, kabuki actor. Osaka, July 6 ,1 99 9.
Sawamura Tanosuke VI, kabuki actor. Tokyo, Nov. 61998; Tokyo, Aug. 5,1999.
Takemoto AyatayO, takemoto narrator. Tokyo, May 30 and July 2,1999.
Takemoto Oritayu, gidayu narrator. Tokyo, May 19,1999.
Takemoto Chitosedayti, gidayu narrator. Tokyo, May 19,1999.
Tokiwazu Tokizd, tokiwazu shamfeen player and narrator. Tokyo, Dec. 1998 and Mar. 29,
1999; Kyoto, April 9,1999.
Toyotake Rodayti, gidayu narrator. Tokyo, May 19,1999.
216
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