Kawakami Otojiro

Popular Culture emerging out of the People’s Rights Movement

Kawakami Otojirô (1864-1911)

Theater and Enka (connections Popular Rights)• Oppekepe• *Oppekepe, oppekepe• Oppekepeppouppeppoppou

• Kenri koufuku kirai na hito ni• Jiyuutou o banomashitai• *• Katai kamishimo kadotorete• Manteru zubon ni jinrikisha• Iki na sokuhatsu bonnetto• Kinji ni shinshi no idetachi de• Uwabe no kazari wa yokeredomo• Seiji no shisou ga ketsubou da• Tenchi no shinri ga wakaranai• Kokoro ni jiyuu no tane o make.

• *No goodygood, no goodygood• No goodygood good no damn good.• For those [rascals] who hate full

rights• I’d like them to gulp down the drink

of freedom• *• They’ve taken off the stiff samurai

kimono• Put on capes and pants, use

jinrikisha• Fancy hair, fancy bonnets• Done up like ladies and gentlemen• They look good on the surface• But don’t know nothin’ of political

theory• Don’t get the truth of things• Plant the seeds of freedom in their

hearts.

Kawakami troupeOppekepe; Sada Yacco

Otojirô’s accomplishments

• Buddhist monk• College student• Servant• Policeman• Vagabond• “Barker” at political

meetings ;agitator in Tokyo, Keihan

• Rakugo novice• Balladeer in yose

vaudeville

• 1891: formed his own troupe; “new theater” in Tokyo

• 1893 European tour• Apolitical melodrama• 1898 failed run for Diet • 1899-1903: 3 “kabuki”

tours to American and Europe

• 1900’s: introduces Shakespeare performance to Japan: shinpa/shimpa

Kawakami Otojiro’s 1903 productions. Shinpa domestication of Shakespeare-Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet.

Images from James Brandon, “Kabuki and Shakespeare: Balancing Yin and Yang,” TDR 43.2 (Summer 1999): 15-53.