Flowers of Edo: Eighteenth-Century Kabuki and Its Patrons

Abstract

At Tokyo's National Theatre, kabuki plays conceived and premiered during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are performed today, yet the audience's experience is radically different from that of the period before 1868. Patrons of kabuki in Edo (Tokyo) in 1770 would not have felt comfortable at all in having their theatre so close to the seat of government (in view of the Diet and Imperial Palace and next to the Supreme Court) nor would they have enjoyed the quiet, almost solemn atmosphere or the ban on eating and drinking in their seats. In short, they would be bored to tears at the exalted National Theatre with its posh furnishings. They would feel a bit more comfortable at the Kabuki-za perhaps or would have at the old Shinbashi Enbuj6 Theatre recently demolished. If they wanted to get closer to eighteenth-century kabuki, they would have to leave Tokyo altogether and travel to the Naka-za in Osaka's Dotonbori district or the Minami-za in Kyoto during the face-showing (kaomise) performance in December. Still they would be bored by the stiffness of the audience and performance. They would not be part of the show. It would not be a festival.

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