INFLUENCE OF GENDER PERCEPTION IN THE ROLE OF WOMEN KABUKI PERFORMERS TODAY

GIOVANNI PADILLA RIOS

Abstract

The basic notions of gender in Japan have changed over time, and one of the mediums in which this has happened is through the arts. In some of their traditional dances, such as Noh and Kabuki, women performers were replaced by men during the seventeenth century, and they have been performing women roles ever since. Despite the repealing of the ban two centuries later, professional recognition is still a challenge. It would be beneficial to know why this keeps happening even when the social inequality gap between women and men has diminished. That is why this paper explores the history of Kabuki and how gender has been manipulated in it. Through the years, scholars have found that the androgynist nature that early onnagata (men who perform women roles in Kabuki) brought with them pushed them to become models of womanhood. Through intense training, they have done it so effectively that they have gained popularity and remained the most dominating figure in this dance. On the other hand, it has been argued that women do not have the same ability as the onnagata to execute women roles. This does not make sense considering that after the repeal of their ban, women have shown through groups that they have built to perform this dance, that they are able to perform women roles successfully. The complex history of gender and the androcentric mindset of Japanese performing arts seem to be inhibiting them from performing Kabuki in the popular stage, which is why this subject must continue to be explored.

Traditional Dances in Japan

Through the arts, Japan has been one of the countries that has transformed the basic notions of gender. In some of their traditional dances, including Noh and Kabuki, women performers were replaced by men during the seventeenth century to diminish prostitution, and men have been portraying women roles ever since. Although the ban was repealed during the nineteenth century, Kabuki continues to be dominated by men. Through the years, women have been able to get more involved with this dance, but professional recognition is a challenge that has stayed with them up to the present day. In a world in which the social inequality gap between women and men has shrink, it would be beneficial to know why women are being held back from participating in traditional dances like Kabuki. After giving an overview of the background of this dance, the paper explores how the concept of gender has been manipulated in it, with special attention given to the men who perform women roles in Kabuki (onnagata). Then, the paper evaluates possible explanations as to why women have been marginalized in this dance. The complex history of gender roles in Kabuki has challenged the general perceptions of what it means to be a man and a woman, and the effects of this might be inhibiting some social groups, such as women, from performing this dance in the popular stage.

Historical Background of Kabuki

Kabuki may currently be a male-dominated art form, but that has not always been the case. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, this dance came to fruition in Kyoto thanks to a woman named Okuni. She was a temple dancer, and it might have been because people were only paid to dance if money was being raised for temples or shrines (Beaman, 2018, p. 106). Her reasons for being a temple dancer are unknown, but what she learned contributed to the development of Kabuki. This is seen in how the dance intertwines temple dances with seductive comedy and pantomime (Beaman, 2018, p. 106). Kabuki began to attract large audiences at the time. Besides being a brand-new art form, the dance gained popularity due to its explicitness. Crowds of mostly commoners wanted to see the novel outdoor skits that Okuni presented with her troupe because women were performing as men, and she was portraying a man who makes love to a courtesan (Beaman, 2018, p. 106). From commoners to high-class individuals, everyone wanted a taste of Kabuki. Its explicitness played a huge role in drawing people to it, but it soon became a source for conflict. From that moment on, this dance has never been the same.

As Kabuki was starting to rise, the Japanese government was undergoing a reconstruction. Some of the aspects that changed were the political system and the capital of the country. The Tokugawa Shogunate began to rule in 1603, and the capital, or center of power, shifted from Kyoto to Edo, which is currently known as Tokyo (Beaman, 2018, p. 106). Because the power was now lying in Edo, most performers migrated there. That is when the explicitness of Kabuki, which was largely responsible for the success that the dance was having, started to be associated with problematic behaviors, and the new government decided to intervene. Since the Tokugawa Shogunate used small incidents to destroy the roots of larger problems, the government banned women Kabuki dancers from performing on stage because they were being involved in cases of prostitution (Toita, 1970, p. 105). This decision revolutionized the performing arts in Japan. In addition to Kabuki performers, women in other dances were also affected. The presence of women performing Noh on stage dissipated in 1629, which was the year when the Tokugawa Shogunate prohibited women from performing publicly (Beaman, 2018, p. 97). Since 1629, the identity of Japanese dances, including Kabuki, has not been the same. Dance stopped being a practice associated with women, and that opened the door for men to rule the stage. This paved the way for a transformation of gender roles that has persisted in Japan till today.

Wakashu Kabuki

Following the exclusion of women dancers from the stage, Kabuki was at a crossroads. Since its popularity did not faded, another group of people replaced women. After being banned in 1629, young boys became the centerpiece of Kabuki, and the latter became known as wakashu kabuki (Morinaga, 2002, p. 247). However, this was not the first time in which young boys danced Kabuki or performed women roles in the performances. Their presence in Kabuki can be traced back as far as the beginnings of the seventeenth century. Although it is unclear when the term wakashu kabuki arose, young boys had been performing Kabuki since at least 1603 (Takei, as cited in Morinaga, 2002, p. 250). This means that there could have already been tension between the wakashu who played women roles and the women that did it prior to being banished in 1629. Whether this is true or not, wakashu ended up dominating the latter, but only temporarily. With the order that banned young men from dancing Kabuki on stage, they were replaced by adult males who have had their forelocks cut (Toita, 1970, p. 105). Consequently, male adults started dominating the Kabuki stage. They were able to learn the dance and adapt to the roles that they had to fulfill in the performances. This allowed Kabuki to stay present and popular, but it also began to challenge the basic notions of gender in unprecedented ways.

Prior to wakashu kabuki, the term “wakashu” had other connotations. It was associated with homosexuality. “Wakashu” was designated to the adolescent partners in male homosexual relationships (Morinaga, 2002, p. 250). This group of people had particular characteristics involving the length of their relationships and the type of partners that they had. In their relationships, they were going to be of the same gender as their adult nenja partners, who were members of the powerful warrior class, and they saw themselves strictly as transient beings (Morinaga, 2002, p. 251). These unions resembled a father/son relationship, but they included sex. Ideally, wakashu would learn how to be a warrior and a man, and transmit it to someone else once he was old enough. Once they became adults, it was their turn to be a nenja and transmit warrior manhood to a wakashu (Morinaga, 2002, p. 252). In other words, this was a system that ensured the continuation of patriarchy from one generation to the next. Nonetheless, the system was altered with the arrival of Kabuki. This dance form played a role in blurring the wakashu identity. Transforming from a student of warrior manhood to an embodiment of ideal womanhood took several phases, and the first one took place when nenja and wakashu stopped sharing the same gender during the time of Kabuki (Morinaga, 2002, p. 252). Having to play women roles in wakashu Kabuki started to feminize the term “wakashu.” This impacted male homosexual relationships and paved the way for the development of a new term that characterized wakashu. They became known as futanarihira, or androgynous stunners, which meant that their sex was male, but that they were not sure if they considered themselves women or men (Morinaga, 2002, p. 254). This propelled people to start questioning the linearity between gender and sex. It is unclear if one of the underlying reasons for banishing women from performing traditional dances was to allow men to dominate the stage, but along the process, “masculinity” became a relative term, and Kabuki drastically felt the impact.

Birth and Development of Onnagata

It may be perceived that after wakashu were prohibited from performing Kabuki, adult men, who were the ones allowed to perform this dance, had to learn how to it. However, this is not true. Since the ones who were granted permission to perform Kabuki were men who had shaved their forelocks, wakashu were able to continue practicing the dance if they shaved theirs (Morinaga, 2002, p. 250-251). This is an opportunity that women did not have. They were not allowed to do Kabuki under any conditions. On the other hand, the forelock exception left the door open for wakashu to continue practicing this dance in the popular stage. While the ban of wakashu led to the birth of onnagata in the seventeenth century, nascent onnagata were former wakashu themselves, which also means that they carried into Kabuki the state of confusion of the wakashu gender (Isaka, 2016, p. 23). This means that those who were playing women roles wakashu Kabuki continued doing so after their banishment. With them, they brought the characteristics of the term “futanarihira.” The dominancy that futanarihira aesthetics had on onnagata continued until the beginnings of the eighteenth century (Yasuko, 1993, as cited in Isaka, 2016, p. 28). So, how did onnagata transformed from being male-sex actors whose gender floated between the two basic genders (women and men) to models of womanhood? This is an important question to consider when identifying possible reasons for the unsuccess that women have had in reclaiming their place in Japanese traditional dances, such as Kabuki.

The loophole that was created by the banishment of wakashu Kabuki from the stage began to create a paradox between wakashu and onnagata. Since wakashu shaved their forelocks and continued practicing Kabuki before officially reaching adulthood, it became unclear when would this transition happen. This prompted nascent onnagata, who were former wakashu themselves, to find a way to disassociate from this gender. Since wakashu were inhibited from remaining wakashu by their law of transience, onnagata from the eighteenth century found it imperative to model themselves after another gender, which turned out to be the feminine gender (Morinaga, 2002, p. 255). This was not an easy transition, but eventually, onnagata became portrayals of ideal womanhood. For this to happen, they had to immerse themselves in the feminine culture. According to Morinaga (2002), this was facilitated by two people:

Thanks to some performers from the early eighteenth century, such as Yoshizawa Ayame and Segawa Kikunojō, who achieved the desired shift through rigorous gender training, treatises like “Ayamegusa” (Ayame) and “Onnagata Hiden” (Kikunojō) were available for onnagata to study methods to achieve “womanliness” (p. 257-259).

These treatises played a part in smoothing the transformation that the onnagata intended to have, but they were only a piece of the puzzle. Onnagata have also undergone practical gender training to become better replications of feminity. They have been taught physical actions to help them perform women roles properly, such as pulling back and lowering the shoulders, maintaining the knees together, cupping the fingers into the palms, and wearing straw sandals smaller than their feet (Brandon, 2012, p. 123). Regardless of how simple these actions may seem, they made a difference in the way that onnagata perform. With time, they were able to achieve their goal, and consequently, the term “onnagata” gained a different meaning. Through intensive gender training, onnagata overcame the transient nature of wakashu and solidified the place of the term “onnagata” as a gender, an art, and an ideal picture of womanliness (Morinaga, 2002, p. 255). Although onnagata may have become excellent doers of womanhood, it is important to remember that they are not women. Their representation of womanliness is based on the images that they have created through texts like “Ayamegusa” and “Onnagata Hidden,” and through the training that they have undergone, but sexually, they are men. Despite this reality, it has been hard for women to reattain their position in Japanese traditional dances. It would be good to know why this continues to happen even after centuries of their banishment from the popular stage.

Status of Women Kabuki Performers Today

At one point, there was a legislative change that made it look like women were going to finally be able to reclaim their position in Kabuki. However, this did not happen as it may have been expected. As Brandon (2012) points out:

Despite the repeal of the ban on actresses during the late nineteenth century, some scholars, performers, and culture managers argued that onnagata should continue performing Kabuki for unethical reasons, such as that only male actors can present the essence of women, and that they are the ones who possess the physical strength to wear a heavy wig and various kimonos (p. 122).

These reasons indicate that in Japanese culture, women may be perceived as inferior than men. They also illustrate a laziness and fear to enact real social change. While the Chinese opera has successfully managed to allow women to play female roles, Onnagata actors continue living privileged lives as Kabuki stars (Brandon, 2012, p. 122). Regardless of this resistance, women have found other ways to perform Kabuki. This has been seen in the formation of Kabuki girl troupes. It is pointed out in Brandon (2012) that:

For ten years after World War 2, the Ichikawa Girls’ Kabuki troupe was successfully performing Kabuki classics, and although the tone of the performances seemed gentler than with onnagata ones, the major performing conventions of Kabuki, including the music, dance steps, and script, were conserved. Even men roles were played precisely and strongly (p. 124).

Since women were able to play men roles effectively, there is no doubt that they can play women roles just as well. So, how is it possible that even after their ban was repealed, they are still struggling to become professional Kabuki performers? The answer probably lies in the way that they have been perceived in Japanese culture. It has not being believed that they are physically and mentally strong enough to capture the essence of womanhood and perform it on the popular stage. If this cultural mindset remains intact, being born a woman will continue to be the stronger barrier for women who want to pursue a career in the Japanese performing arts.

Discussion

Since the origins of Kabuki, the basic notions of gender have been transformed in Japan. The sensuality of the dance, along with the unconventionality of having women play men roles, began to attract large audiences at the time. Nonetheless, the success that women were having was cut short by the ban of 1629, which excluded them from traditional dances like Kabuki and Noh to discourage prostitution. As a result, wakashu took full control over the popular stage. Once they were banned from performing, men who had their forelocks cut became the only ones allowed to perform. Consequently, early onnagata were former wakashu. The androgyny that they carried with them after the wakashu “banishment,” along with their transient nature, pushed onnagata to become doers of the feminine gender. This process, which was facilitated by readings and intense practical training, turned onnagata into models of womanhood. They have gained popularity over the years, and they are still a dominating figure, if not the most dominating one, in Kabuki. On the other hand, women have not been able to find their footing in Kabuki even when the mandate that banned them in 1629 was repealed towards the end of the nineteenth century. It has been argued that they do not have the ability to perform women roles as well as the onnagata, which does not make any sense considering that they are women in nature. In addition, it has been shown by groups like the Ichikawa Girls’ Kabuki troupe, that women are able to perform Kabuki and even men roles successfully. Therefore, why is their sex still holding them back in the professional industry of Kabuki? This is a question that should continue to be explored in future research. It seems that the complex history of gender and the androcentric mindset in the Japanese performing arts have created a perfect storm that has kept women out of the professional stage of traditional dances like Kabuki, and if this is not addressed, women will possibly live in a perpetual ban from a dance that they invented in the first place.

References

Brandon, J. R. (2012). Reflections on the Onnagata. Asian Theatre Journal, 29(1), 122–125. https://doi.org/10.1353/atj.2012.0001

Isaka, M. (2016). Geneses of a Maze: Androgyne Fatale. In Onnagata: A Labyrinth of Gendering in Kabuki Theater (pp. 22-32). Seattle; London: University of Washington Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvcwnjxz.6

Leigh Beaman, P. (2018). World dance cultures, From ritual to spectacle. Routledge.

Morinaga, M. (2002). The Gender of Onnagata As the Imitating Imitated: Its Historicity, Performativity, and Involvement in the Circulation of Femininity. Positions, 10(2), 245. https://doi.org/10.1215/10679847-10-2-245

Toita, Y., & Kenny, D. (1970). Kabuki, The popular theater. Weatherhill/Tankosha.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVDUcFOnVKk

Description: This short video presents the solo Kabuki performance of Nakamura Umemaru with which he made his U.S. debut at the Portland Japanese Garden. The video was published in October of 2017.

Giovanni E. Padilla Rios '23

Giovanni E. Padilla Rios is a sophomore at Manhattanville College. He created this work as part of "Dance History I" during the Fall 2020 semester.