Fudo (不動)

"Fudo" is one of the best eighteen Kabuki plays. The original was an act in the play "Tsuwamono kongen Soga" in which ICHIKAWA Danjuro II played at Nakamura theater in Edo in 1697. The story is simply that an actor disguised as Fudo myoo appears in the final stage, and this act comes from the belief in Mountain Narita in which ICHIKAWA Danjuro believed.

The present Fudo play was first performed by ICHIKAWA Ebizo II (ICHIKAWA Danjuro II) at Sadoshima theater in Osaka on New Year's in 1742 as the last act of the play "Narukami." ONOE Shoroku II revived it in 1967 in the script by TOBE Ginsaku.

ICHIKAWA Danjuro XII revived "Naritasan funjin fudo" in 1992 but it is different from the original version, it is not included in the best eighteen Kabuki plays.

[Original Japanese]