is a

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

with lyrics written by Katsui Genpachi, choreography by Fujima Taisuke and music by Kineya Rokusaburô IV, first performed in 1826. Originally part of a set of five different dances performed as a sequence, is the only one that has survived. The first time these dances were staged in 1826 at the Nakamura-za in

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

, actor Seki Sanjuro II performed all of them as part of his farewell performance. One of many revisions to the play, playwright and actor created a new, more supernatural version of the dance, staged for the first time in March 1937 at the

Kabuki-za in Ginza is the principal theater in Tokyo for the traditional ''kabuki'' drama form. History The Kabuki-za was originally opened by a Meiji era journalist, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas in which Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and ot ...

. In this version, the maiden becomes the spirit of the

wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and north o ...

. The next year, performances of the dance by at the

Minami-za is the primary kabuki theatre in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded in 1610 as . The current building, with a 1,086 seat capacity, was built in 1929. History The Minami-za is one of the earliest of the seven officially-licensed kabuki theatres built i ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

and at the Kabuki-za in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, helped popularized the dance. remains a popular and famous dance in the kabuki repertoire.

Characters

The titular Wisteria Maiden is the only character seen in the play, and is accompanied by a musical ensemble of singers, , drums, flute and small gongs.

Plot

Translation

The play was translated into English by Leonard C. Pronko in ''Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864'', edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter and published in 2002. * ''Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864''. (2002) University of Hawaii Press, .

External links

Fuji Musume at Kabuki21.com

References

{{reflist, 2, refs= {{cite web , url=https://www.kabuki21.com/fuji_musume.php , title=FUJI MUSUME , author= , date= , website= , publisher=kabuki21 , access-date=2018-01-08 , quote= ''Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Kabuki Plays on Stage III: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864''. (2002) p. 166-169. 1826 plays Kabuki plays