Omi Hakkei-no Uchi (Eight Views of Omi )

Ando Hiroshige (circa 1834) 歌舞伎

Evening Snow on Mount Hira (Hira no Bosetsu)

Night Rain on Karasaki (Karahashi no Yau)

Kasane
Autumn Moon on Ishiyama Temple (Ishiyama no Shugetsu)
か
さ
Evening Bell, Mii Temple (Mii no Bansho)
ね
Returning Boats at Yabase (Yabase no Kihan)

Descending Geese at Katata (Katata no Rakugan)

Fuji Musume
Evening Glow at Seta (Seta no Sekisho)
藤
Clearing Storm at Awazu (Awazu no Seiran)
娘
 Kasane
Actor as the Ghost of Kasane from the
series "Mitate sanjurokkasen no uchi”
(half-length portraits of actors matched
with classical poets)
Utagawa Kunisada (1786 - 1864)
1852
Yoemon
Ichikawa Ebizô XI (Jûichidaime)
Guild (Yago) – Naritaya
Kasane
Ichikawa Kamejirô II (Nidaime)
Guild (Yago) - Omodokaya
Ichikawa Ebizo XI in a tachiyaku (male) role
Notes
Ichikawa family are particularly associated with aragoto – bravado
roles. Their mon, or emblem, is of three rice measures, each one inside
the other
Hanamichi (the Flower Path) – walkway from the rear of the
auditorium to the stage. Also a space for acting, bringing the audience
into the actors’ space.
Kakegoe callers from the audience will applaud at pivotal points in the
performances using the actors’ generation and guild
 Ichikawa Ebizô XI – ‘Jûichidaime!’ (11th generation!) ‘Naritaya!’ –
guild name (yago)
 Ichikawa Kamejirô II – ‘Nidaime!’ (2nd generation!), ‘Omodokaya!’ –
guild name (yago)
Ki – wooden clappers sounded with a double clack 10-15 times to
signal (nichou) the start of the performance
Mie – dramatic pose accompanied by nirami (a glare made by dramatic
aragoto - bravado roles) and kirami (a look made by female and male
lover roles) usually accompanied by the beat of tsuke, wooden
clappers.
Shichisan – literally ‘seven three’, a point on the hanamichi 7 tenths of
the way to the main stage. Speeches and mie poses are made at this
point
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Scene Three (Fuji Ondo - Wisteria Song)
Plays an innocent girl in love drinking sake and trying to prevent the man from
returning home (lyrics - the old word for pine, tokaeri is a pun on the word kaeri,
return)
One of the best Kabuki shosagoto (dance-drama) called Kesakake Matsu
Narita no Riken, famous for its kiyomoto musical accompaniment (a narrative
style of music famed for its beauty)
Kasane is the michiyuki, a dance interlude of the Kabuki drama Iro Moyô
Chotto Karimame. A michiyuki generally depicts two young lovers on the way to
commit suicide or two travelling characters with a romantic implication attached
to their journey. Some famous michiyuki are frequently performed
independently from their drama ("Yoshinoyama"). Others are the only surviving
scene of a forgotten drama ("Kasane").

Synopsis - Yoemon is fleeing from his lord's anger after having lost a valuable
heirloom that was entrusted to him. He meets his love, Kasane, at the river. And
she begs him to let her die with him. At last he consents to her plea. But when
they are saying farewell to the world, a skull with a sickle stuck in the eye
Scene Four (Matsu Zukushi - Catalogue of Pines) socket floats by. Seeing the sickle, Yoemon recognizes it as the very one with
which he long ago slayed a man called Suke. Unknown to Yoemon, Kasane is
the daughter of his former sweetheart and her husband, Suke the man he
Mimes planting pine tree saplings killed. All of a sudden two policemen leap out of nowhere and try to arrest
Lyrics – the pledges of the courtesans at Arima last forever, like the pine Yoemon. He drives them off, but he finds a public notice proclaiming him to be
Symbolism – pine > eternity Suke's murderer. Meanwhile Suke's vengeful spirit has entered Kasane,
disfiguring her with the same wounds Yoemon had inflicted on him years earlier.
When Kasane runs up and clings to Yoemon, he suddenly realizes her
connection with his victim, and in trying to escape, he wounds her with the
Temple bells sounds sickle. Finally he makes her look in a mirror as he confesses his crime and
Lyrics – eternal bonds between the wisteria and the pine (Kyoto-Osaka and explain that they can never, even in death, be happy together. Kasane, now
Edo) completely possessed by her father's spirit, is pursued by Yoemon. He kills her
with the sickle and then tries to flee. But her ghost beckons, then drags him
End back to the scene of this crime, where his dead love lays ghostly her hands on
him.
 Scene One (Setting - Late spring on the shores of Lake Biwa,Omi Province,
east of Kyoto)

Opening lyrics – spring recedes, ebbing with the white capped waves, who
knows where? By the bay of Niyo there is hardly a breeze…

Symbolism – Union of wisteria > Osaka in the west, and purple > Edo (present
day Tokyo). The dance was devised by the actor Seki Sanjuro II for his farewell
performance in Edo in 1826 on the occasion of his return to Osaka and
symbolises the union of Kyoto-Osaka and Edo as a happy one.

Scene Two (kudoku – entreaty)

The maiden expresses love for a man with a fickle heart. There are eight puns
on the famous eight sights of Omi Province (Omi Hakkei):
Fuji Musme
Torii, Kotondo/Kiyotada V 1 – Lyrics: the man promised not to meet other women. ‘Not to meet’, awazu;
Circa 1954 evoking the place of that name and clearing skies after a storm
Fuji Musume 2 – ‘promise’, kanegoto; evokes the evening bell a Mii Temple
3 – ties together hat ribbons symbolising union of love. Lyrics: vows of love as
Ichikawa Ebizô firm as rock, ‘rock’, ishi; evokes an autumn moon over Ishi Yama (Rock
Jûichidaime (XI) Mountain)
Guild (Yago) - Naritaya 4 – Lyrics: life as empty as an insect’s shell. ‘empty, ‘kara’; night rain at Kara-
saki
Ichikawa Ebizô XI in an onnagata (female) role 5 – Mimes resting head on pillow suggesting the many nights waiting for him
and that his feelings had cooled, suggesting the cold evening snow at Mt Hira
Based on ôtsue, popular paintings made in the city of Ôtsu (close to Kyôto). In 6 – lifts hand as if to strike her lover, then mimes grinding ink to write a letter as
this supernatural version, the maiden becomes the spirit of the Wisteria tree. fooled by his lying tongue she wrote may letters declaring her undying love. The
The musical accompaniment is nagauta - literally "long song". One of the most word for ‘tongue’, shita, sounds like ‘seta’, a place famous for its sunsets
important schools of traditional music inspired by the music of roaming 7 – Lyrics: however the letters were one sided, ‘katata-yori’, evokes the sight of
shamizen players of old and the yôkyoku, vocal music of the Nô theatre. descending geese at Katata
8 – Lyrics: she became resentful of his runaway heart, the word for runaway
‘yabase’ is also a place where fishing boats could be seen returning at the end
of day
Musical Interlude