The Mirror Lion

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The Mirror Lion

March 1893, Tokyo

A celebrated Kabuki lion dance. Danjuro IX, a renowned actor throughout the Meiji Period, got his hint for the show from watching girls practice a dance called The Pillow Lion. He switched the scene from a pleasure house to the ladies chamber of Edo Castle and created an elegant piece reflecting the new tastes of the theater revolution that occurred in the modern Meiji Period. Danjuro himself performed this piece only once, but it was polished by Kikugoro V under Danjuro’s direct training. It became part of Danjuro’s New Eighteen Select Plays. It is difficult to perform as it involves a young woman in the first half and a dashing male lion in the second. The climax with the shaking of the mane is the highlight and requires a significant amount of energy and physical strength.
The lyricist was a journalist from the samurai class and become known as a war correspondent during civil uprisings in the country. He later became a novelist, playwright and politician. He frequently went overseas as an interpreter, giving him a firsthand look at Western theater. He subsequently translated many dramas into Japanese and had a significant role in the creation of the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo.

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［from left］Spirits of Butterfly（Nakamura Tamataro）、Spirit of Lion（Nakamura Kanzaburo）、Spirits of Butterfly（Kataoka Sennosuke）　January 2009　Kabukiza Theatre

●publication date　March 2015