Kabuki- Wait! I dropped my pride!

Continuing on the trail of older art forms, there is also a kabuki play that features me! It is called Onna Shibaraku and has been performed since the 11th lunar month of 1746 although the modern version was re-created as a full play rather than just a short scene in 1901. Nakamura Shikan V played the role of the super-heroine Tomoe Gozen for the first time. The play is still being performed today.

This image is from the original Edo era play. Yamabuki appears holding the Minamoto crest to the left. Tomoe is poised to defeat the villain, Noriyori, with one fierce stroke.

 

Onna Shibaraku is a parodic version of the earlier play Shibaraku and the plot is quite simple in both versions. An evil lord plans to take over the country and is about to execute a group of nobles who have resisted him. At the last moment though, the hero appears, yells "Shibaraku" (Wait!) and single handedly slays everyone.

Sounds great right? Actually I'm not all this fond of this representation of me. Don't forget, this is a parody. The reason why is is humorous is that it takes the already overblown situation of Shibaraku and makes it even more ridiculous by having a woman as the ridiculously strong hero. While the audience can barely maintain the illusion that a single man can defeat so many foes in such a dramatic manner, it becomes ludicrous when a woman does the same thing.

This is not the end though. The final parodic moment is just before the play is about to end. Kabuki plays end with the protagonist exiting on a boardwalk through the audience but Tomoe plops down and after that can't even lift her tachi again (no sign of a naginata here). She acts in a cute, womanly way and an experienced actor must teach her how to exit, but instead of completing it properly, she rushes off to visit an actor in his dressing room.

Final Part of Onna Shibaraku (performed 2010)

 

Really, the character of Tomoe Gozen is here shown in such a way that her feats seem truly impossible for a woman and must have been over exaggerated. Instead of being a bold military leader, here, in her unguarded moments, she is seen as a silly woman.