Kabuki Costume by Ruth M. Shaver

Author:Ruth M. Shaver
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0398-6
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

70. Danshichi-gdshi. This white-and-rust textile pattern takes its name from the role of Danshichi Kurobei in Natsu Matsuri Naniwa no Kagami and from the word kōshi, meaning checkered or cross-barred.

71. Doji-goshi. This checkered pattern, almost identical with Danshichi-gdshi, alternates purple and whitesquares.

In every play based on the famous story of how the Soga brothers avenged their father's death, the elder brother Jūrō's costume is patterned with the chidori (plover) and the younger brother Goro's with the chō (butterfly). Legend has it that when the brothers succeeded in avenging their father they wore hitatare emblazoned with these designs.

Danshichi-gdshi, which takes its name from a Kabuki role and from the word koshi, meaning checkered or cross-barred, is a white-and-rust checkered pattern (Fig. 70). It was used in the puppet theater before it was adopted for Kabuki, where it continues to be the pattern of the costume for the role of Danshichi Kurobei in Natsu Matsuri Naniwa no Kagami. An almost identical pattern, the dōji-gōshi that we have noted in Chapter 2 as used by Danjūrō I, alternates purple and white squares (Fig. 71). Benkeigoshi, a black-and-white checkered pattern introduced by Kōshirō V, closely resembles Danshichi-gdshi, but the checks are formed of perpendicular oblongs. Various reasons have been given for the introduction of this new pattern, but it is generally thought that the purpose of using oblongs rather than squares was to make the actor look taller and more sleek. Benkei-gōshi is worn by Igami no Gonta in Yoshitsune Sembon-Zakura.

Kikugorō III created the pattern known as Kikugorō-gōshi: a crossbarred design in which heavier lines form the main squares and lighter lines run through every other vertical and horizontal stripe bounded by the heavier ones, with the characters ki and ro (a play on the name Kikugorō) alternating in the center of the plain squares (Fig. 72). This pattern was a familiar sight on the streets of Edo during the time of Kikugorō III.

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