The art of Kabuki in Japanese theater made its way to America in the mid-1900’s, with 1960 bringing the first “authentic” (all-male, professional) performance to New York. It became a tool to reconcile Americans with Japanese culture following the war. “Kabuki was not simply introduced to America; it was promoted as part of a larger, postwar project focusing on American-initiated international reciprocity and exchange (see Klein 2003: 13). This was in stark contrast with the situation that prevailed during the war, when kabuki had been used in condemning Japanese culture” (Thornbury, 2008). Kabuki had existed in America prior to 1960, however, with Tsutsui Tokujirō’s troupe of 23 (9 women included) touring in California in 1930, and later in New York during March of that year. (Tschudin, 2016)
Kabuki’s influence on Western media is notable in the horror genre. Kabuki’s “adauchi kyogen,” revenge plays, often feature a woman who returns from the dead as a yurei, a spirit seeking vengeance, manifesting in a white gown and with long black hair. This imagery has made its way to American horror, most obviously in The Ring, which itself adapted from a Japanese film, Ringu, which was based on the adauchi kyogen. (Mills, 2014)
(Images of the antagonist from ‘Ringu’ ‘The Ring’ and of a yurei)
Famous filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, a pioneer of montage techniques, took inspiration from Kabuki theater, or at the very least, drew parallels between it and his own techniques. “A year after the Kabuki toured Russia, Eisenstein wrote, ‘the most interesting link of the Japanese theatre is, of course, its link with the sound film, which can and must learn its fundamentals from the Japanese-the reduction of physical and aural sensations to a single physiological denominator.’ (The FVlm Form, p. 44) He noticed that sound, movement, space, and voice do not accompany each other but function as elements of equal significance. The example he cites is worth recording because it relates so closely to film technique.”
“To Eisenstein, the Kabuki was an art form that could make its audience hear movements and see sounds, so ingeniously was it able to fuse the aural and the visual. The concept was, of course, extremely important to one experimenting with the sound film.” (Levine, 1969)
Kabuki itself has adapted to Japanese media that’s found popularity among Western audiences. Neil Redfield reflects on his experience watching a 4.5 hour Kabuki production of Naruto: “This was the most fascinating part for me: that this synthesis of two different art forms separated by both era and medium don’t clash. In fact, the result had aesthetic integrity. The world of the show was consistent: [anime] and Kabuki share a broadly heightened style – heightened movement, heightened situation, heightened spectacle. Even structurally, Kabuki’s mie function similarly to the extended action shots that are characteristic of anime.“
As an example of mie in anime, Katie Squires of Northern Arizona University points out the example of Sailor Moon’s signature pose.
(Squires, 2023).
And Kenichi Suzuki, series director for the first season of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures, states that “while there are rules regarding the placement of characters on stage and light sources, we sometimes deviate from them in order to maximize the appeal of Mr. Araki’s best panels. Suddenly, the lighting is changed, or a character is put in the spotlight. It’s like ‘Mie’ in Kabuki.”
An example of “Jojo poses,” a term coined for the notable poses struck by characters in the anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
In other ways, Kabuki storytelling elements make their way into anime. An article from the Liverpool Museum claims that “the Koyoharu Gotouge manga/anime series ’Demon Slayer’ (鬼滅の刃) has embraced the transitional qualities of the art of the Edo/Meiji/Taisho floating world to create a [colorful] story which encompasses all the grandiose elements of the Kabuki mythos: demons, swordsmen, heroes and the ordinary people who are swept up in extraordinary events. It is perhaps the most popular Japanese comic being sold in the west at the moment” (Ashmore).
Whether it’s in the production of film or the stylization of animation, kabuki theater has left its impact on Japanese media and the Western world. As the art of Kabuki adapts to modern times, it’s continued to be received positively by its audiences and continues to pioneer techniques that are still being used in a variety of media.
Sources:
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/stories/kabuki-anime-kunichikas-legacy (Ashmore)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/500196/pdf (Levine, 1969)
https://www.neilredfield.com/post/naruto-and-kabuki-completing-a-cycle (Redfield)
https://journals.openedition.org/cjs/1168 (Tschudin, 2016)
https://nau.edu/ccs/anime-an-old-way-to-tell-new-stories/ (Katie Squires, 2023)
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1165&context=jpur (Mills, 2014)
Sprockets and Springes 