Shin Kabuki (new kabuki) (新歌舞伎)
Shin Kabuki refers to kabuki plays written by authors independent from theaters after the Meiji period. It is typified by Kido OKAMOTO's works.
Scripts of kabuki were originally written by authors working in the theater, exclusively for actors belonging to the same theater. Mokuami KAWATAKE's works, incorporating the modes of life after the Meiji period, were not different at all from the traditional kabuki plays in this regard.
In the late Meiji period, when Engeki kairyo undo (theatrical performance improvement movement) was influential, new works were written by literary people who pursued kabuki plays suitable for modern society instead of those with traditional preposterous stories. A series of such kabuki plays, written from the late Meiji period to the beginning of the Showa period, are called Shin Kabuki, starting from "Akugenta" (Wicked Genta) by Shoyo MATSUI (1899) and "Kiri Hitoha" (a single paulownia leaf) by Shoyo TSUBOUCHI (1904).
Major Works
"Kiri Hitoha,""Hototogisu Kojo no Rakugetsu" (The Sinking Moon over the Lonely Castle Where the Cuckoo Cries) and "Onatsu Kyoran" (Onatsu's Madness) written by ShoyoTSUBOUCHI
"Akugenta" and "Mongaku" written by Shoyo MATSUI
"Imayo satsuma uta" (Imayo Satsuma Song) written by Onitaro OKA
"The Tales of Nishiyama" written by Kaoru OSANAI
"Shuzenji Monogatari" (The Tale of Shuzenji), "Toribe Yama Shinju" (Love-Suicides at Toribe-yama Mountain) and "Ban-cho Sarayashiki" (The Dish Mansion in Ban-cho) written by Kido OKAMOTO
"Genroku Chushingura" (The 47 Ronin), "Edojo Sozeme" (General Attack on Edo) and "Yoritomo no Shi" (the death of Yoritomo) written by Seika MAYAMA
"Tojuro no Koi" (Tojuro's Love) written by Kan KIKUCHI
"Okuni to Gohei" (Okuni and Gohei) written by Junichiro TANIZAKI
"Ippongatana Dohyoiri" (Into the Sumo Ring with a Sword) written by Shin HASEGAWA
(Genichiro FUKUCHI's "Kasuga no Tsubone" and "Otokodate Harusame Gasa" (A Chivalrous Commonor and a Spring Rain Umbrella) are not included in Shin Kabuki because they were written for Kabuki-za Theater.)