Fuji Musume

Fuji Musume
藤娘
Seki Sanjuro II playing the Wisteria Maiden at the Nakamura-za, print by Utagawa Kunisada c. 1826
Written by
CharactersWisteria Maiden
Date premiered1826
Place premieredNakamura-za, Edo
Original languageJapanese
Genreshosagoto

Fuji Musume (藤娘, The Wisteria Maiden) is a kabuki dance with lyrics written by Katsui Genpachi, choreography by Fujima Taisuke and music by Kineya Rokusaburô IV, first performed in 1826.[1]

Originally part of a set of five different dances performed as a sequence, Fuji Musume is the only one that has survived.[2] The first time these dances were staged in 1826 at the Nakamura-za in Edo, actor Seki Sanjuro II performed all of them as part of his farewell performance.

One of many revisions to the play, playwright Oka Onitaro [ja] and actor Onoe Kikugoro VI [ja] created a new, more supernatural version of the dance, staged for the first time in March 1937 at the Kabuki-za. In this version, the maiden becomes the spirit of the wisteria.[1] The next year, performances of the dance by Onoe Baiko VII [ja] at the Minami-za in Kyoto[3] and at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, helped popularized the dance.[4]

Fuji Musume remains a popular and famous dance in the kabuki repertoire.[5]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference kabuki21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference III p166-169 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "ONOE BAIKÔ VII". kabuki21. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  4. ^ ""Fuji Musumè" ( 藤娘 ) or "Wisteria Maiden" shown in flight". Zen Garden. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  5. ^ ""Fuji Musumè" ( 藤娘 ) or "Wisteria Maiden" shown in flight". Zen Garden. Retrieved 2018-01-08.