The Living Tradition of Jikabuki: Rural Japan’s Hidden Theatre
What Makes Jikabuki Unique?
Kabuki is a traditional Japanese theatre form, which originated in the Edo period. Over time, it has split into the professional Okabuki, and the amateur Jikabuki, specific to the rural areas of Japan, with the latter retaining some original traits that were phased out of the professional art. For example, women are allowed to participate in a performance, and even perform in both female and male roles. In the professional Okabuki, women were barred from performing by the shogunate in the Edo era, and to this day, male and female roles are exclusively performed by the male actors.
The plot of a kabuki play can be centered around a pre-Edo era “Jidaimono” or an Edo era “Sewamono” story, or just feature dance and music “Buyomono”. Each play lasts for about an hour, and several pieces are performed during one show. Some productions are unique to Jikabuki, and are never performed in professional Okabuki. During the play actors may enter a pose called Mie, it is a special static pose that is held for an extended amount of time to add to the dramatic effect and emphasise an important part of the action. Actors wear heavy makeup, which is referred to as Kumadori, its style is determined by the character’s role in the action. Based solely on the actors’ makeup it is possible to tell if they are playing a positive or a negative character. In Jikabuki, theatres attract professional makeup artists for their productions, whereas in Okabuki actors apply their makeup themselves.
The performance is accompanied by music. The main instruments used are Ki - the rounded ebony sticks that produce a clapping sound while struck, and are used to mark the start or the end of an act and Tsuke - the wooden blocks that are hit on a wooden board, they produce a loud sound of clatter and are used to emphasise the footsteps of the actors or the Mie pose. Another musical instrument that is used during a performance is the traditional Japanese string instrument called the shamisen. The play is narrated by Tayu, who guides the whole performance. The Shamisen accompanies Tayu’s narration with music. The musicians sit in a walled off area on the right side of the stage, invisible to the audience, yet able to see what is happening during the performance.
Step Inside a Traditional Playhouse
The playhouse has the main seating area on the lower level, as well as an upper gallery. The audience is seated on the floor, on soft cushions. The curtain of the stage of a kabuki theatre is always colored into the Black, Red and Green stripes. The left side of the stage is referred to as Shimote, and the right side as the Kamite. There is also a long platform that reaches into the auditorium, through which actors enter the stage, called hanamichi. Some theatres have two such platforms, on both sides of the stage.
Gifu: The Heart of Community Kabuki
Gifu prefecture has the most Jikabuki communities in Japan. Positioned as a major transportation hub, Gifu frequently welcomed traveling actors from Edo and Kamigata (Kyoto/Osaka), from whom local villagers directly learned acting and choreography. During the Edo period, many of these performances were held at shrines. Today, Gifu has twelve theatres and close to thirty communities dedicated to the preservation of the art of Jikabuki.
One of these theatres is the Gomo-za kabuki theatre in Iiji, Ena City, which was built shortly after the second world war. It serves as a real center of the local community, hosting a wide array of events apart from kabuki performances, such as concerts, movie viewings and elections. The theatre was renovated in 2024, adding an improved dressing room which allows it to host professional kabuki actors. The main hall is still filled with the smell of the hinoki wood. The local kabuki association hosts a performance once every two years, and the children's kabuki troupe hosts one every year.
In Kabuki theatre, there are two main ways for the audience to express their appreciation of the performers, Omuko and ohineri. Omuko are exclamations of the audience, usually naked of actors or specific honorary phrases. In professional Okabuki they are precisely timed, but in Jikabuki they can be used much more freely. Ohineri are small pieces of paper with money folded inside of them, which could be thrown during the Mie pose. These are only present in amateur Jikabuki. Ohineri could look like a piece of paper folded like a flower, with coins or a note in the center, or a little envelope. At Iiji Gomou-za, ohineri are presented by placing money inside small red-and-white envelopes; the front of the envelope bears the donor's name, a message, and sometimes the name of the performer. This ensures the gift reaches the performer directly.
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