Swordplay - Kengeki

A popular form of theatre that highlights the appeal of swords. It is said to have been a term that arose from a misprinting of kengeki (a sword fight) as kendo (swordplay). It is commonly known as chanbara-geki. The first kendo troupe was Shinsei-geki, which was formed in 1919 (Taisho 8) by Nakata Shozo and others who left Shinkokugeki, a group led by Sawada Shojiro and others that gained popularity in the Taisho period for their realistic swordplay. After that, many kendo troupes were formed all over the country, including those led by Akashi Ushio, Tanaka Kaiji, and Ogawa Takashi, and in the Showa period, a troupe led by Umezawa Noboru (the first generation) and Kanai Osamu rose to prominence, and female kendo also emerged. However, as the war situation became more intense, restrictions were imposed for reasons such as "treating yakuza as righteous people" and "it is absurd to kill many people in a short time," and after the war, it declined in popularity as female kendo and strip shows took over. Swordplays are still performed today by small theater companies that were formerly known as yose-shibai (various theater halls) (now calling themselves popular theater), and they perform in entertainment halls scattered throughout the Keihin, Hanshin, and Kyushu areas, as well as in hot spring centers around the country.

[Soya Mukai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

剣の魅力を売り物にした大衆向けの演劇。剣戟(けんげき)（刀剣をもって斬(き)り合うこと）を剣劇と誤記したことから生まれた用語ともいわれる。俗称ちゃんばら劇。大正期に迫真的な殺陣(たて)を編み出して人気を得た沢田正二郎らの新国劇から1919年（大正8）に脱退した中田正造らが組織した新声劇が剣劇団の最初である。その後、明石潮(うしお)、田中介二、小川隆らの各一座をはじめ、全国各地に数多くの剣劇団が輩出、昭和期には梅沢昇（初代）、金井修らの一座が台頭、また女剣劇も派生した。しかし戦時色が濃厚になるにつれ、「やくざを正義者扱いする」「短時間に多くの人間を斬るのは荒唐無稽(こうとうむけい)」などの理由で制約を受け、また戦後は女剣劇やストリップショーに人気を奪われて衰退した。現在も剣劇を上演しているのは、かつて寄席(よせ)芝居とよばれていた（現在は大衆演劇を自称）小規模の劇団で、京浜、阪神、九州に散在する演芸場や、各地の温泉センターを活躍の場としている。

［向井爽也］

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