The art of Kabuki
1988. VHS (36 min.)
Call#: PN2924.5.K3 A66 1988
Summary: Provides an introduction to the 400-year-old tradition of Kabuki, explaining its origins and purposes, its literary sources, and the meaning of its symbolism.
Ennosuke sūpā kabuki no tanoshimi (猿之助スーパー歌舞伎の楽しみ)
1991. VHS (50 min.)
Call#: PN2924.5.K3 E55 1991
Ise ondo koi no netaba (伊勢音頭恋寝刃)
2004. DVD (109 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 I824 2004
Summary: Based on an actual multiple murder in the Aburaya Tea House, this play is one of the most popular in the Kabuki repertoire, combining action, intrigue and murder. This play is a staple of summer Kabuki performances in the belief that the audience will be cooled as they shiver with fear through the horrific killing scene.
Kagamijishi (鏡獅子)
1992. DVD (89 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 4
Summary: "[Lion Dances] features a young castle maid who is ordered to perform with a wooden lion head that she holds in one hand" -- Container.
Kanjinchō (勧進帳)
2004. DVD (78 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 K32 2004
Summary: Performance of a kabuki play set in the 12th century, an age of civil war, when two military clans battle for political supremacy.
Kumagai jinya = Kumagai's battle camp (一谷嫩軍記. 熊谷陣屋)
2002. DVD (86 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 I35 2002
Summary: One of the classics of the jidaimono or historical plays, this famous act chronicles a dramatic incident during the Battle of Ichinotani, during the long war between Genji and the Heike Clans. General Kumagai is, like many Kabuki tragic heroes, a victim of the medieval Japanese code of honor. Confronted with the prospect of having to kill the Emperor's son, he beheads his own son instead. Released from further duty, he spends his last days as a wandering priest.
Kyōkanoko musume Dōjōji (京鹿子娘道成寺)
2003. DVD (70 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 1
Summary: The maiden falls in love with a young Buddhist monk of the Dōjōji temple and later kills him.
Nagauta : the heart of Kabuki music
Eugene Enrico
1993. VHS (30 min.)
Call#: video ML340 .N33 1993
Summary: Presents the Nagauta version of the piece Sue hirogari = The folding fan by Kineya Rokuzaemon X. Performed on a practice stage by students at the National University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo. Examines the instruments and techniques used in the performing of Nagauta music.
Nihon no dentō bunka. Kabuki = Traditional Japanese culture. Kabuki (日本の伝統文化. 歌舞伎)
1999. DVD (ca. 20 min.)
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 N54 1999
Summary: "The history of kabuki goes back four centuries. This programme offers a very basic introduction to this fascinating, complex tradition." -- NHK International’s catalog.
Nō Dōjōji = Noh Dojoji (能道成寺)
2001. 2 DVDs (143 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.N6 N528 2001
Summary: Presents highlights of the Noh play "Dōjōji" performed by three different schools of Noh performers and discusses the origins of the play, the staging of Noh plays and designs of masks and costumes.
On to eizō ni yoru Nihon koten geinō taikei (音と映像による日本古典芸能大系)
1992. 25 VHSs
Call#: PN2920 .O68 1992
Summary: Examples of classical Japanese entertainment forms with background history, general remarks, and commentary.
Onatsu kyōran (お夏狂乱)
1993. DVD (119 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 5
Summary: Kabuki dances that represent early 20th century Kabuki reform. Musical style is Tomei School, established by Hiraoka Ginshu and featuring the voice and three-stringed shamisen.
Portrait of an Onnagata
1992. VHS (30 min.)
Call#: PN2924.5.K3 P67 1992
Summary: Examines the role of the Onnagata in Kabuki theater, the male actor who plays a female role, who exemplifies ideal and ultimate womanhood. Because Kabuki theater is played entirely by men, the role of the Onnagata is very important.
Sagi-musume (鷺娘)
2003. DVD. All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 2
Summary: Presents performances of five works of Bando Tamasaburo's brilliant Kabuki dance.
Theater in Japan
Philip Day
1999. VHS (53 min.)
Call#: PN2924 .T517 1989
Summary: This program explores the cultural debate within Japan regarding traditional forms of theater and more contemporary theater and avant-garde performing arts. Interviews with many of Japan's leading playwrights intercut with generous portions of theater performances, presents an encompassing and engrossing overview of the traditional and modern Japanese theater scene.
Togitatsu no utare (研辰の討たれ)
2004. DVD (112 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 T64 2004
Summary: First staged in 1925, this version has been updated by noted director Noda Hideki. A comic drama, inspired by a real life event from 1827, this piece takes the age-old theme of samurai honor and revenge presenting it in a refreshingly modern light with touches of irony.
Yōkihi (楊貴妃)
1992. DVD (108 min.) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 3
Summary: Tamasaburō Bandō, Kabuki's famous performer of female roles, appears in five Kabuki dance stories. The dance Yōkihi, featuring the character well known in China and the West as Yang Guifei, is a modern creation written and choreographed especially for Tamasaburō Bandō. It is a fusion of Kabuki dance and Peking opera with extra modern elements. Lyrics by the well-known contemporary author Yumemakura Baku. Takao is the name of a great courtesan. The dance is performed with Ogie-bushi style of music, designed for intimate surroundings of a private pleasure house. Orochi is based on the final act of a long puppet play written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Yūgiri is the name of a high ranking courtesan. Based on an older work from 18th century this version in Kiyomoto style was first performed in 1863. Kane ga Misaki was first performed by Nakamura Tomijuro I in 1759 as a version of the Kabuki dance "Kyōganoko musume Dōjōji."
Yoshitsune senbonzakura (義経千本桜)
2004. DVD (99 min) All region
Call#: DVD PN2924.5.K3 Y674 2004
Summary: Kawatsura Hōgen yakata no ba -- Okuniwa no ba -- Zaōdōhanayagura no ba
Zangiku monogatari = The story of the last chrysanthemum (残菊物語)
Kenji Mizoguchi
1938. VHS (115 min.)
Call#: PN1997 .Z362 1939
Summary: When Kikunosuke, a mediocre actor from a famous Kabuki family, falls in love with a maid, he is cast out. The faithful Otoku supports her husband as he struggles to perfect his art. In the end, she is quite ill, yet willing to leave her husband so that he may take his rightful place at the head of the Kabuki community.
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