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Ehon Gappō ga Tsuji: A Kabuki Drama of Unfettered Evil
- Asian Theatre Journal
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 17, Number 2, Fall 2000
- pp. 149-189
- 10.1353/atj.2000.0015
- Article
- Additional Information
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Early nineteenth-century Japanese theatre was dominated by the kabuki playwright Tsuruya Nanboku IV, who seized on the fascination with evil and the vendetta in contemporary literature to create a new type of kabuki play. This genre—of which Ehon Gappō ga Tsuji is the finest example—focuses on the role types of the handsome young villain (iroaku) and wicked woman (akuba).