Selected Pages from Engei shashinchō Volume 4, Number 1, January 1, 1925
IHL Cat. #2774
click on image to enlarge
Engei shashinchō* Volume 4, Number 1
演藝寫真帖 第四卷 第一號
cover art (lithograph):
Nakamura Ganjirō [I] as Kumagai Naozane
中村鴈治郎の熊谷直実
artist: Natori Shunsen 名取春仙 (1886-1960)
signed: 春仙画 Shunsen ga; sealed: no seal
名取春仙筆
published: January 1, Taishō 14 (1925)
publishing company: Engei shunjūsha**
大正十四年一月一日 發行
發賣所 演藝春秋社
* Note revised name
** Note new publisher
overall size: approx. 8 9/16 x 11 7/8 in. (21.8 x 30.1 cm)
謹賀新年
大正十四年元旦
演藝春秋社 同人
編輯部 一同
印刷部 一同
支局 一同
New Year's Greetings
New Year's Day, Taisho 14 (1925)
From all of us at Engei Shunjūsha
Editorial Department
Printing Department
Branch Offices
口繪 三十六家選 (その一)
尾上菊五郞の曽我五郎時致
Frontispiece (color lithograph)
Thirty-Six Selected Actors (No. 1)
Onoe Kikugorō [VI] as Soga Gorō Tokimune
artist: Natori Shunsen 名取春仙 (1886-1960), signed 仙筆 Shunsen with 名 na seal
邦樂座十二月興行
(お七吉三)
吉祥寺本堂の塲
Hōgakuzā [Asakusa, Tokyo] December performance
(Oshichi and Kichiza)
Scene at the Main Hall of Kichijō-ji Temple
長田秀雄氏新作
A new play by Hideo Nagata [1885-1949]
尾上榮三郎 — 八百屋娘お七
Onoe Eizaburō [VII] as Oshichi, the greengrocer’s daughter
市川男女藏 — 寺小姓吉三
Ichikawa Omezō [IV] as Kichiza, the temple page
當世人氣俳優 (そ の 八)
梅島昇氏丈
Contemporary Popular Actors (No. 8) -
Mr. Nakamura Kaisha [1876-1945]
The brief biography below the photo tells us that he made his stage debut at the age of six and that as he matured he performed a wide range of roles, from elderly characters to prominent female roles, demonstrating his versatility and skill.
[Kaisha was to meet a tragic death during the Osaka air raids on March 13-14, 1945, perishing in the air raid shelter at his home while holding his grandson.]
浪花座十二月狂言
December program at the Naniwa-za
(廓文章)
(Kuruwa bunshō - Love letters from the pleasure quarters)
常盤津連中
長唄連中
竹本連中
Tokiwazu Company*, Nagauta Company*, Takemoto Company*
*musical ensembles that accompany the performance
片岡我童 — 藤屋伊左衛門
Kataoka Gadō [IV] as Fujiya Izaemon
中村扇雀 — 扇屋夕霧
Nakamura Senjaku [I] as Ogiya Yūgiri
Summary of Play (left margin)
At the Naniwa-za, the Yoshidaya [Osaka geisha house] takes the spotlight. This piece features the . . . traditional year-end mochi-pounding festivities. In it, Izaemon, dressed in a paper coat, meets [the famed courtesan] Yūgiri, who is suffering due to the affection of Yoshidaya’s proprietor, Kizaemon (Mitsugorō). Their flirtations set the stage for a joyous celebration of the coming spring.
帝劇師走狂言
(賢き馬鹿 [かしこきばか])
December program at the Imperial Theater (Kashikoki baka - The Wise Fool)
太郎冠者氏作
A work by Tarōkaja
[Masuda Tarōkaja 益田太郎冠 1875-1953]
from left to right:
友右衛門 春野文雄
Tomoemon as Haruno Fumio?
[Ōtani Tomoemon VI 大谷友右衛門]
律子 夫人喜美代
Ritsuko as Mrs. Kimiyo
[Mori Ritsuko 森律子 (1890-1961)]
幸四郎 實業家加藤
Kōshirō as the industrialist Katō
[Matsumoto Kōshirō VII 松本幸四郎]
升藏 伯〓中井
Masuzō as Count ? Nakai
[Ichikawa Masuzō IV 市川升蔵 (1897-1985)]
Summary of Play (right margin - edited partial translation)
A typical lighthearted Tarō Kaja-style skit billed as "farcical comedy," [ァーシカル・コメディー] originally scheduled to debut on the night of the Great Earthquake but instead revived a year after the reconstruction as a kind of commemorative performance. They spared no expense on Western music to make it as lively and vibrant as possible, with one highlight being a parody of Madame Pavlova’s Dying Swan, featuring a comically clumsy domesticated duck.
邦樂座十二月興行
(棒しばり) (文七元結)
Hōgaku-za December program
([right] Bō Shibari) ([left] Bunshichi Mottoi)
岡村柿紅氏作 所作事 長唄囃子連中
Dance play (choreography) by
Mr. Okamura Shikō [1881-1925]
Accompanied by Nagauta hayashi musicians
菊五郎 — 次郎冠者
[right] Kikugorō as Jirō Kaja
[Onoe Kikugorō VI 尾上菊五郎]
菊五郎 — 左官長五郎
[left] Kikugorō as Sakan Chōgorō
[Onoe Kikugorō VI 尾上菊五郎]
京都南座師走東西合同大一座興行
(色彩間刈豆)
Kyoto Minamiza December East-West Combined Grand Performance
(Iromoyō Chotto Karimame - Sensual colors, going to cut beans)
清元連中所作劇
[Music] performed by the Kiyomoto renjū
與右衛門 — 市村羽左衛門
Ichimura Uzaemon [XV] as Yoemon
Commentary (left margin - edited partial translation)
Ichimura Uzaemon [XV] is playing Yoemon opposite Onoe Baikō [in the role of Kasane], in the dance scene Kesa Kakematsu Narita no Riken (A surplice-hanging pine and the sharp sword of narita) in the play Iro Moyō Chotto Karimame (Sensual colors, going to cut beans)]. Since this performance is frequently staged in Tokyo, it has often been featured in Engei Shashinchō. When performed in Osaka, it must have stirred great excitement among the people of the region.
演技座の新國劇澤田と其一黨 (荒神山)
The New National Theater [Shinkokugeki] at the Engi-za [Asakusa, Tokyo]: Sawada and His Troupe (Kōjinyama)