The "Genroku Mie" from Shibaraku (Wait a Moment!)

A major play consisting of an aragoto scene first performed by Ichikawa Danjuro I in which he played the hero who, when certain characters on stage were threatened, shouted "Shibaraku! Shibaraku" (Wait a moment! Wait a moment!) from off stage and then marched on to vanquish the villains and save the victims. The version used today dates from 1895, when it was drafted by Fukuchi Ochi for Danjuro IX. It lasts about fifty minutes, but communicates the esssence of classical Kabuki's colorful theatricality, while also representing the evil-dispelling powers believed in the Edo period to be latent in actors of the Danjuro line.

The scene is set before the precincts of Kamakura's Tsurugaoka Hachiman shrine (the same setting as for the opening scene of Chushingura). The villain, Kiyohara no Takehira has stolen the seals of office, disgracing the governor, Minamoto no Yoriyoshi and his son, Yoshitsuna. And he wants to make Yoshitsuna's fiance, Katsura no Mae, his own. He is now ready to perform a public ceremony announcing his assumption of power, although this is treasonous without the emperor's consent. Yoshitsuna and Katsura no Mae attempt to escape to report events to the Emperor in Kyoto, but Takehira has them stopped and is about to put them to death when Gongoro Kagemasa is heard shouting from the rear of the theater. Gongoro strides onto the hanamichi runway, wearing Kabuki's most spectacular aragoto costume: an oversized suo robe, with long trailing trousers (nagabakama) and large square sleeves adorned with the Danjuro family crest. The sleeves are so large they must be supported with splints and held up by  koken for a mie. He also wears green and white breast plate armor, a "five spoke" wig with large wings of paper inserted behind his court cap; suji guma makeup; a gigantic pair of swords, and foot-high geta clogs that, covered by the trousers, make him tower over everyone else in the play.

In the image above, Gongorô has reached the stage and removed his over-sized sleeves; he does the "Genroku Mie" in preparation for battle with the villains.

Description from Samuel Leiter, ed., New Kabuki Encyclopedia

Image Source: Masakatsu Gunji, Kabuki; photo: Chiaki Yoshida