Kokuho and the Price of Greatness in the World of Kabuki

When we think of summer movies, we normally think of action extravaganzas with big-name stars or animated features to appeal to children. However, as of July 6, the box office leader in Japan was Kokuho ("National Treasure"), a movie set in the world of kabuki. 

Since its release on June 6, it has been seen by well over 2.5 million moviegoers. It has also generated cumulative box office revenue of nearly ¥4.5 billion JPY ($28.6 million USD). In fact, it is the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film so far this year. 

Kokuho is a complex story whose central character is Kikuo Tachibana (Ryo Yoshizawa), the son of a Nagasaki yakuza whose father was assassinated by a rival gang when he was only 14. The boy was taken in by a famous Osaka kabuki actor named Hanjiro Hanai II, played by veteran actor Ken Watanabe, to train alongside his own son, Shunsuke (Ryusei Yokohama), to become an onnagata.

Onnagata (also called oyama) are males who specialize in female kabuki roles. They are not female impersonators, as they do not seek to mimic women. Instead, they aim to symbolically embody feminine grace and style. 

The onnagata tradition dates back to 1629 when the Tokugawa Shogunate banned women from appearing on stage. To compensate, actors developed a highly stylized approach to portraying female roles. This practice has shaped the aesthetics, principles, and acting styles of onnagata over the centuries.

Rivalry, Identity, and the Cost of Greatness

In the Edo period (1600-1868), the world of kabuki was highly hierarchical, reflecting the general social structure. Professional acting families came to claim certain roles as their own. Shunsuke is an accomplished onnagata and is expected to be named his father's successor. However, Kikuo is by far the more innately talented, and Hanjiro decides to name him as his successor. 

The two boys have been brought up more or less as siblings, and their rivalry is emotionally complex. In the end, it is Kikuo who becomes the supreme onnagata, a national treasure. But to reach that pinnacle, he has sacrificed his family, friends, patrons, and even his own identity for the sake of his art. Perhaps it was less a case of will than fate. 

From Page to Screen

The movie is based on a novel of the same name by Akutagawa Prize-winning author Shuichi Yoshida. A native of Nagasaki, his stories, some of which have been translated into English, are often set in that area. While researching Kokuho, Yoshida immersed himself in the way of kabuki, and the two main actors trained with kabuki veterans for over a year. Many kabuki actors have praised both the novel and the movie for their authenticity. 

The director is Lee Sang-il, born in 1974 in Niigata Prefecture. He previously directed several acclaimed movies, including Hula Girls (2006), which was a big hit, and the 2010 crime noir film Akunin ("Villian"), based on another Yoshida novel.

Besides fine acting, the movie offers dazzling photography that captures the beauty of the gorgeous costumes and elegant dances, as well as the nuances of the performances. The cinematographer is Tunisia-born Sofian El Fani, whose credits include the 2013 film Blue is the Warmest Color (La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2) and Timbuktu (2014).

Tradition, Rebellion, and the Shadows of Death

In some ways, Kokuho bears comparison to the famous 1993 China-Hong Kong film Farewell My Concubine, directed by Chen Kaige, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1993. Both movies span a half-century of modern history, centering on the love-hate relationship between two male actors and the blurred lines between the mundane world and life on stage. 

It is also interesting that in the 1939 film Zangiku Monogatari ("Story of the Last Chrysanthemum"), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, the central character is another onnagata. He is the adopted son of a kabuki master named Kikunosuke. In fact, prior to the 1920s, Japanese filmmakers had followed the kabuki convention of using onnagata.

At first, the connection between kabuki and the yakuza might seem farfetched. However, during the Edo period, both the yakuza and kabuki performers were considered beyond the pale. In fact, kabuki actors were considered outcasts (kawaramono) who were not permitted surnames and were categorized as hinin (non-persons). 

Theaters were geographically isolated from city centers and located near the pleasure quarters. The government regularly issued sumptuary edicts regulating costumes and even dictating which colors could be used. 

Kabuki began as a kind of variety show staged by itinerant entertainers. Even after it became an incredibly popular and sophisticated dramatic form performed in specialized theaters, it retained its spirit of rebellion. 

In kabuki, the bizarre, shocking, sensual, and erotic have always been prized. The results frequently met with the wrath of censors. In many cases, dramatic tension was created by emphasizing conflict between Confucian values such as duty, honor, and filial piety in conflict with human passions. Not surprisingly, like the Noh theater that predated it, Buddhist themes of mujo (impermanence of all things) were also prevalent

Iconic Performances

This is reflected in the kabuki performances in Kokuho. For example, Kikuo and Shunsuke perform the dance Ninin Dojoji together, which is based on a famous Noh play. In the origin story, a jealous woman turns herself into a giant snake, which wraps itself around the temple bell in which her fickle priest-lover has hidden himself. The heat of her jealous passion burns him to death. 

In their final joint appearance on stage, Kikuo and Shunsuke perform the masterpiece Sonezaki Shinju ("Love Suicide at Sonezaki"). Sonezaki Shinju was originally a Bunraku puppet play written by the famous playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. First performed in Osaka in 1703, one month after the actual suicide on which the play was based, the sensational play sparked a wave of love suicides (shinju), which brought a crackdown from the Shogunate. 

Nonetheless, this moving drama enjoyed a great reputation. In fact, it started the sewamono genre of contemporary plays, which dealt with commoners. Although it was revised into kabuki form, the play was seldom performed before World War II. It was revived in 1953.

Sonezaki Shinju tells the tale of Tokubei, an assistant at a soy sauce store who has been swindled out of his master's money, and the prostitute Ohatsu who loves him. The scene in which the lovers depart on their final journey together is extremely moving. 

The Pursuit of Ultimate Beauty

In fact, the specter of death runs throughout Kokuho. During the opening sequence, a New Year's party at a fancy restaurant in Nagasaki hosted by the Tachibana-gumi is suddenly invaded by their enemies. Kikuo watches in horror as his father is murdered in a rock garden, with snow falling around them. Before being mortally wounded, his father, Kengoro Tachibana, defiantly pulls down the shoulder of his kimono to reveal the tattoo of a mimizuku owl. He then turns in Kikuo's direction and shouts, "Watch this well!" This snowy scene becomes indelibly embedded in Kikuo's memory. After the murder, Kikuo has the same kind of tattoo emblazoned on his back. He, too, has symbolically committed himself to the world of darkness. 

The finale of the movie features Kikuo performing the dance Sagimusume ("The Heron Maiden"), considered one of the most challenging kabuki dances. The dance involves several transformations through costume changes. As the performance unfolds, the mood gradually darkens. 

An initially innocent young girl becomes a slave to the passions of love, desire, and betrayal — until she ultimately finds herself literally tormented in hell. She dances frantically to stay alive, but in the end, amidst falling snow, she succumbs, collapsing in death. 

Only the most accomplished onnagata dare perform Sagimusume, as it takes the performer to the boundary of the realm of the "other world" — where ultimate beauty resides beyond the reality we know in our daily lives.

Kokuho is a fascinating movie. And its success shows that the Japanese people still appreciate their traditional culture. Foreigners should, too. 

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Author: John Carroll