ABSTRACT
This song may seem difficult to understand, but it forms the core of the short kabuki interlude Warau kado niwaka no shichifuku, written by Sakurada Jisuke III (1802-77) and first performed at the Kawarazaki theatre at Edo on the twelfth of the first month of the year Ko¯ka 4 (1847). The performance by Matsumoto Ko¯shiro¯ VI (also Kinsho¯, 1812-49) as boatman, Ichikawa Kyu¯zo¯ II (1800-71) as manzai dancer and Nakamura Utaemon IV (1798-1852) as bath house servant met with such success that it was played continuously for 95 days. According to the Ko¯gai zeisetsu, which describes manners and customs from 1789 to 1859, ‘This funny ken . . . was so popular, that single-sheet prints were issued, and many variations of the song were made’ (Jinyao¯ 1970: 273). Saito¯ Gesshin in his famous Edo chronology Buko¯ nenpyo¯ states: ‘The spring play at the Kawarazaki theatre brought forward a dance with mushiken, kitsuneken and toraken, and people everywhere imitated it at parties’ (Saito¯ 1968: 111).
