Sakai in Edo

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. Places of Edo .
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Sakai Cho in Edo

A pleasure quarter near the center of town at Nihonbashi.
One of the three famous Kabuki theaters of Edo was located in Sakai.


source :　carolyn staley prints.com
The Kabuki Theater at Sakai, Fukiyacho 葺屋町
Kitao Masayoshi Keisai (1764 - 1824)


Edo Sanza 江戸三座
the three famous Kabuki theaters of Edo
with a special permission from the city government （町奉行 machi bugyoo).

堺町・葺屋町 Sakai Machi
Kobikichoo 木挽町 Kobiki cho
猿若町 Saruwaka choo. later renamed Nakamura-za

- 猿若町 Saruwaka cho district
The name of the area is connected to the name of Saruwaka (Nakamura) Kanzaburo who is said to have been the founder of Edo-style Kabuki. The area featured a number of tea houses connected to the theaters which provided visitors with guidance, food, rest and other services, and many theater proprietors and actors settled in the area, forming massive entertainment district. The district flourished until the first year of the Meiji Era, however, the theaters relocated one after another thereafter and the theater town was lost.
- source and more photos : ndl.go.jp/landmarks/e -

Saruwaka Kanzaburō　猿若勘三郎 （1598 - 1658)
the founder of Edo kabuki and first in the premier Nakamura-za lineage.
It was not until the year AD 1624 that a man named Saruwaka Kanzaburo, at the command of the Shogun, opened the first theatre in Yedo in the Nakabashi, or Middle Bridge Street, where it remained until eight years later, when it was removed to the Ningyo, or Doll Street.



quote
Sketch of the Plays in Saruwaka Town (Saruwakamachi Shibai no Ryakuzu)

This is a bird's eye view of the entire Saruwaka Town,
which helps us to gain a good understanding of the atmosphere of this so-called theater town.
By order of the Shogun, the Nakamuraza and Ichimuraza Theaters moved in 1842 (Tempō 13)
and the Kawarazakiza Theater, which is a hikae-yagura
(the alternate theater which was allowed to give a performance
when three officially recognized Kabuki theaters of Edo were not available)
of the Morita Theater moved in the following year into Saruwaka Town,
making it one of the largest theater towns.
Saruwaka town (near Asakusa 6-chome in Taitō ward) was a closed area
which was accessible only through the wooden gates installed at the south, north and southeast of the town.
In addition to the theaters, there were teahouses attached to a theater,
houses for actors and theater-related people, restaurants, souvenir shops, stage set stores,
and theater properties shops in Saruwaka town.
The Shogunate incorporated all the people and properties related to theaters into this town.
The town name used to be Asakusa Seiten town, but changed to Saruwaka town
when Nakamura Kanzaburō (Saruwaka) I, the founder of Edo Kabuki,
opened the Saruwakaza Theater in this town in 1624 (Kan-ei 1).
Saruwaka town had from 1-chome to 3-chome with the Nakamuraza Theater in 1-chome;
the Ichimuraza Theater in 2-chome; and the Moritaza Theater in 3-chome.
In the Meiji period, however, the Moritaza Theater moved to Shintomi-cho (in Chuo ward)
and the other two theaters also relocated to Torigoe-cho and Shitaya Nicho-cho (both in Taito ward) respectively.
The role of Saruwaka Town as a theater town came to an end
after all the rest of the theaters moved to the central area of the city in 1892 (Meiji 25).
This picture is presumed to have been published in 1842 (Tenpō 13)
because the 3-chome area, to which the Kawarazaki Theater
was scheduled to move, is hidden behind the clouds.
source. Tokyo Metropolitan Library


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Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII 十八代目 中村勘三郎
May 30, 1955 – December 5, 2012

He made his debut under the name Nakamura Kankurō V in April 1959 in the role of Momotaro.



His kabuki credits under that name include roles in Kagami-jishi, Kamiyui Shinza and Yotsuya Kaidan. Nakamura-ya.

In addition to performing at the Kabuki-za and other kabuki venues, Kankurō helped establish the Heisei Nakamura-za, a temporary kabuki stage erected for only one set of performances, in a variety of locations. He erected it, and performed on it, in Asakusa (Tokyo), Osaka, and, in 2004, on a US tour, performing in Boston, New York, and Washington DC. The Heisei Nakamura-za performed again in New York and Washington in 2007.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Kanzaburo passed away much too early.
During his funeral procession, the parade passed the Nakamura-Za and all the people who loved him dearly came out to carry a mikoshi palanquin in his honor.
This was maybe the first time of such an outburst of sympathy for an actor.


彼の世へと顔見世デビュー中村屋
ano yo e to kao mise debyuu Nakamuraya

to the other world
to show his face -
NakamuraYa
Tr. Gabi Greve

Momochigusa 百千草

滑稽俳句協会　Parody Haiku Association
source :　www.kokkeihaikukyoukai.net

kaomise 顔見世 "showing the faces"
is the first performance of the New Year,

. Kabuki Theater ... 歌舞伎 .

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'Kogiku in Saruwaka-cho'

Toyohara Kunichika (豊原 国周, June 30, 1835 – July 1, 1900)
was a Japanese woodblock print artist. Talented as a child, at about thirteen he became a student of Tokyo's then-leading print maker, Utagawa Kunisada. His deep appreciation and knowledge of kabuki drama led to his production primarily of ukiyo-e actor-prints, which are woodblock prints of kabuki actors and scenes from popular plays of the time.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Ichimuraza Opening Comic Puppet Theater
市村座開場浄瑠璃狂言

Utagawa Kunisada III (1848 - 1920)

Famous places in Edo

Ukiyo-e ni miru Edo no meisho.
Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1993.

From Kyôhô period on to Meiji, there were three kabuki theatres, the “sanza,” of which the two oldest, Nakamura-za and Ichimura-za, were located along the single street of Sakai-chô Fukiya-chô (now Ningyô-chô 3-chôme).
(The Morita-za was in Kobiki-chô, some 2.5 km to the south, and rarely appeared in meisho-e.)

Here Masanobu shows us the view from the Sakai-chô end, with the Nakamura-za on the right; the play on the kanban here enables dating of the keikan to early spring (shoshun) Enkyô 2 (1745). Further down on the same side in Fukiya-chô is the Ichimuraza, and on the left are three ayatsuri-ningyô-koya. Some eight years later, Eisen shows the same place but from the opposite direction, with Ichimura-za on the front left, an ayatsuri-za on the right, and Nakamura-za in the distance.
The time is now autumn, at kaomise. It is intriguing to compare the two views to see what has changed, what has not.

Ten-odd years after Eisen’s print, on 10/7 of Tenpô 12 (1841), the Sakai-chô Fukiya-chô shibai-machi was destroyed by fire, and Mizuno Tadakuni, who had begun the Tenpô no kaikaku just five months before, refused to permit rebuilding on the same site. As a result, a new shibai-machi named Saruwaka-chô was constructed north of Asakusa Kannon, shown here by Hiroshige II in a view showing the three theaters in order of seniority on the west side of the machi: Nakamura, Ichimura, and Morita.
source : www.columbia.edu

and a Japanese link with more photos
Okumura Masanobu 奥村政信


芝居狂言舞台見世大浮絵
source : tisiruinoe

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- quote -
Saruwaka Kyōgen: "The Inner Palace of Chiyoda

An image of Saruwaka Kyōgen performed in the inner palace is illustrated here.
Saruwaka Kyōgen is a type of Nō farce that was a specialty of Nakamura Kanzaburō I and the object carried in the woman's hands pictured in the center of the image is a harlequin/Saruwaka puppet.
The Inner Palace of Chiyoda is a set of illustrations by the hand of Yōshū Chikanobu (Hashimoto Chikanobu) which displays annual events in Edo castle (also known as Chiyoda castle) and the lives of maidservants there. Forty works were issued from the armory in Nihonbashi, Tokyo between 1894 (Meiji 27) and 1896 (Meiji 29).
As it was forbidden to leave written records or speak of the activities that went on inside the inner palace, not much is known about them. Singing, dancing and playing musical instruments was part of compulsory education for samurai daughters and for the festival held in Edo Town on the first day of the horse in February, maidservants such as those rendering services in the next chamber and the third chamber performed dances and farces even in inner palace and the Shogun's wife is said to have viewed this from behind the curtain.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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- quote
Theaters in Sakai-chō and Fukiya-chō 堺町葺屋町戯場

Sakai-chō is a theater district where a playhouse was run from 1651 by the Saruwaka-za Theater (later Nakamura-za Theater), which was founded by the father of Edo kabuki theater, 中村勘三郎 Kanzaburō Nakamura, in 1624.
Fukiya-chō is another theater district where 村山座 Murayama-za Theater (later 市村座 Ichimura-za Theater,)
one of the three kabuki theaters of Edo, relocated from the playhouse built in Sakai-chō in 1634.
However, after this painting was finished, all of these playhouses were moved
to 猿若町 Saruwaka-chō in 1842 as a result of the Tempō Reforms.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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Sakai is a name given to many towns and villages in Japan, which are situated at a border, to another domain or village or region.

Sakai city (堺市, Sakai-shi)
is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the Medieval era.
Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the 5th century. The largest of these, Daisen Kofun, is believed to be the grave of the Emperor Nintoku and is the largest grave in the world by area. Once known for samurai swords, Sakai is now famous for the quality of its kitchen knives; most high-quality Japanese cutlery originates in Sakai, and its production is a major industry in the city.

In the Muromachi Period Sakai was one of richest cities in Japan. Sakai is located on the edge of Osaka Bay and at the mouth of the Yamato River, which connected the Yamato Province (now Nara Prefecture) to the sea. Sakai thus helped to connect foreign trade with inland trade.

Sakai was an autonomous city run by merchant citizens. In those days it was said that the richest cities were Umi no Sakai, Riku no Imai (tr. "along the sea, Sakai; inlands, Imai"; The latter is now a part of Kashihara, Nara). The famous Zen Buddhist priest Ikkyu chose to live in Sakai because of its free atmosphere. In the Sengoku Period some Christian priests, including St. Francis Xavier in 1550, visited Sakai and documented its prosperity.

Sen no Rikyū, known as the greatest master of the tea ceremony, was originally a merchant of Sakai. Because of the close relationship between the tea ceremony and Zen Buddhism, and because of the prosperity of its citizens, Sakai was one of the main centers of the tea ceremony in Japan.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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source :　edococo

Edo no Ame 江戸の雨 Rain in Edo
More rain illustrations on this link.


. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

雨の日や世間の秋を堺町
ame no hi ya seken no aki o Sakai choo

this rainy day -
(I leave behind) the autumn of the every-day-world
entering Sakai town

Matsuo Basho, age 35, in 1678

seken ... has a special notion as a place including the hardships and vicissitudes of every day life.


秋雨がしとしとと降っている。こんな秋の日は淋しいものだが、堺町だけは別で随分賑わっていることだ。
堺町は日本橋にあった色街。秋の淋しさを境で分ける意と、泉州堺の賑わいとをかけた。
source :　www2.yamanashi-ken.ac.jp

Even on such a rainy day
This world's autumn has
A border with the pleasure quarter.
Tr. Thomas McAuley


a rainy day
the autumn world
of a border town
Tr. Jane Reichhold

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口切に堺の庭ぞなつかしき　
kuchikiri ni Sakai no niwa zo natsukashiki

opening a new tea jar
in a garden in Sakai -
full of dear memories
Tr. Gabi Greve

Written in 1629 元禄5年初冬

Basho was invited to this ceremony in Edo, but he remembered the splendid tea ceremonies of Sen no Rikyu in Sakai, Osaka.
This hokku is a greeting to his rich host.


Kuchikiri no chaji 口切の茶事 (くちきり) opening the tea jar
kuchikiri, kuchi kiri 口切（くちきり)
kuchikiri chakai 口切茶会（くちきりちゃかい）Kuchikiri tea ceremony
now around November 16
It used to be the 30th day of the 9th lunar month.
Tea leaves picked in early summer are packed inside jars and mature until November. Now the jars are opened (kuchi kiri : open the mouth of the jar).
The leaves are then ground into powder for powdered green matcha.
At this tea ceremony, the tea is prepared using the first fresh powder.
. WKD : Tea Ceremony Saijiki .

. Sen Rikyu, Sen Rikyū 千利休　Tea Master .

MORE - hokku about tea by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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found on the way

Rain in Modern Japan - Photos
source : Lets Japan

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New Kabukiza 2013



The Kabuki-za is back — with big ambitions and aspirations to make the nation’s classical theatrical entertainment more attractive to a 21st-century audience.

The reopened kabuki theater — now reconstructed for the fifth time — in the upscale shopping-entertainment district of Ginza, will roll out a new monthlong program from next Tuesday, three years after it was torn down to be replaced with a more earthquake-resistant structure.

The new building, designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma, retains the Japanese-style facade of its previous incarnations, the first of which opened at the same site in 1889. Improvements include barrier-free toilets, and less seats at 1,808, but bigger ones that also offer a bit more leg room between the rows. The ticket booths are now located on the second basement floor, which is linked directly to Higashi-Ginza Subway Station and is complete with a souvenir shop and a cafe.
source : Japan Times, March 29, 2013

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. Edo - Nihonbashi 日本橋 .

. The town of Edo, Ooedo, Great Edo, Old Edo, Yedo
江戸　大江戸 　Welcome to Edo ! .

. Kabuki Theater ... 歌舞伎 .

. Sukeroku 助六 - Hero of Edo .

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Night View of Saruwakacho

. Utagawa 歌川広重 (Ando) Hiroshige 安藤広重 (1797-1858) .

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Kobikichoo 木挽町 Kobiki cho district


江戸名所図会　Edo Meisho Zue



Located to the Eastern side of Sanjugenborikawa (Sanjukken Canal), from sub-district 1 to 7.
In the beginning of the Edo period, many construction workers using large timber saws 木挽 lived and worked here.


kobiki-noko 木挽鋸（こびきのこ） saw of a Kobiki worker

- quote -
Kobiki Nokogiri and Temagari Nokogiri - Timber Saws
Kobiki-Nokogiri were used in ancient Japan for the rough ripping of logs into boards for carpenters and cabinetmakers. These saws were used by one man, in contrast to Europe, where typically two men used a ripsaw for similar purposes. To properly guide them in very long cuts, the blades of Kobiki-Nokogiri, also known as Maebiki-Nokogiri, were much wider than those of other saws. The saws were roughly made, and at times still showed the smith’s forge marks. Blades were laboriously hand-tapered from teeth to back to prevent jamming.
- source : fine-tools.com/kobiki -


葛飾北斎 Katsushika Hokusai - 木挽 Kobiki cutting wood

In 1642, the 山村座 Yamamuraza Kabuki Theater was constructed in the 6th sub-district and
in 1660, the 森田座 Moritaza (Morita-Za) was constructed in the 5th sub-district.
But the Yamamura-Za was closed in 1714 due to the
絵島事件　"Ejima incident".
At that time there ware more than 16 Chaya tea houses in the district.


Evening Snow at Sanjukken Canal
Sanjugenbori no bosetsu / Kawase Hasui

Ejima-Ikushima affair (江島生島事件 Ejima Ikushima jiken)
the most significant scandal in the Ōoku, the shogun's harem, ...
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -
31 木挽 legends to explore, many related to animals - tba

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- - - - - HAIKU - - - - -

kobiki uta 木挽唄 song of the timber cutters
They are still popular to our day.




松茸や木曽に木曽馬木挽唄
matsutake ya Kiso ni Kiso uma kobiki uta

pine mushrooms -
in Kiso there are Kiso horses
and songs of the timber cutters

鈴木石夫　Suzuki Ishio

The Kiso region was famous for its forests and wood workers.


鮪切る木挽唄など口にせむ
野中亮介

木挽唄芋煮の宴のたけなはに
氏家さち子

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