Local Theatre - Jisibai

It is also called Jikyogen, Kusa-shibai, or Inaka-shibai. In a broad sense, it refers to all Kabuki performances in villages (mura-shibai), but in a narrow sense, it often refers to Kabuki performed by amateur local farmers, as opposed to Kabuki or Uke-shibai, which are village plays that hire professional actors. It was at the center of village performing arts for a long time from the mid-Edo period to the mid-Meiji period, and influenced the preceding forms of Kagura and Shishimai, but today it only remains as a local performing art in a few places, such as Kuromori (Yamagata Prefecture), Hinoe-mata (Fukushima Prefecture), and Shodoshima (Kagawa Prefecture).

Kabuki, which was cultivated in large central cities, began to spread to rural areas around the Genroku period (1688-1704) through the touring activities of Kabuki troupes that emerged in regional cities and groups of performers based in villages called actor villages. It was initially accepted by townspeople in castle towns and rural towns, who gave rise to the trend of performing Kabuki as amateur plays at festivals and other events. Examples that still exist include the "Yamaage" festival in Nasukarasuyama City (Tochigi Prefecture), which began in the Genroku period, and the "Hikiyama Kyogen" festival in Nagahama City (Shiga Prefecture), which dates back to the Horeki period (1751-64). Around the same time, farmers began to perform Kabuki at festivals in some rural areas, and from the mid-18th century onwards, it spread rapidly throughout the country. It was especially popular in the mountainous areas from northern Kanto to the Chubu and Chugoku regions, overlapping with areas where rural industries such as sericulture and silk-reeling flourished, suggesting that the popularity of local theater was a phenomenon supported by such economic development. Kabuki performed in rural areas was held as a village community event at the festival of the village's guardian deity, and was combined with traditional ritual customs such as rain-making and prayer, creating a unique world of local theater that differed from that of urban commercial theaters. There is no doubt that the establishment of local theater was based on the growing desire for urban entertainment in rural areas at the time, as the repertoire was the same as that of urban Kabuki, and furthermore, the popularity of period pieces from Maruhon Kyogen, with their flashy costumes and props, was concentrated. Nevertheless, the historical character of the local theater can be seen in the form of expressions that were markedly rural and folkloric.

The popularity of local theater eventually gave rise to stages for such purposes (today known as rural kabuki stages), which were created by modifying existing shrine architecture (and occasionally temple architecture) that served as village facilities and venues for ceremonies, and gradually took on a form suitable for kabuki performances. Currently, over 2,000 rural kabuki stages have been identified, both existing and extinct, over a wide area stretching from the Tohoku region to the Kyushu region, suggesting that local theaters were popular throughout the country. The fact that most of them were built between the Kasei period (1804-1830) and the mid-Meiji period, and that they are most prevalent in the Kanto and Chubu regions, all of which faithfully reflect the historical trends of local theaters.

The popularity of these local plays brought a trend towards extravagance to rural areas, and in fact, some villagers practically fled their villages in the middle of the night, unable to bear the enormous expenses. As a result, the shogunate and feudal domains (and later the Meiji government) often banned local plays as part of their agricultural promotion policies, and numerous bans were issued. Most of these were nominal, but they were strictly enforced during the shogunate reforms, and there were cases where people were actually punished, which led to many illegal performances such as "hidden theaters." Local plays continued to thrive even after the Meiji era, but since they were originally a form of entertainment with a strong entertainment value, they fulfilled their mission and declined with the emergence of new forms of entertainment such as motion pictures (film). There were some temporary revivals after the Second World War, when there was a shortage of rural entertainment, but with the rapid urbanization and diversification of entertainment that followed, it can be said that they have almost disappeared today.

[Takeshi Moriya]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

地狂言あるいは草芝居、田舎(いなか)芝居ともいう。広義には村落における歌舞伎(かぶき)上演（村芝居）一般をさすが、狭義には、村芝居のなかでも専門の役者の来演を求めるのを買芝居もしくは請(うけ)芝居というのに対して、とくに素人(しろうと)の地元農民が演じる歌舞伎をいう場合が多い。江戸中期より明治中期にかけての長きにわたって村落芸能の中心を占め、先行の神楽(かぐら)や獅子舞(ししまい)などの芸態にも影響を与えたが、今日では黒森（山形県）、檜枝岐(ひのえまた)（福島県）、小豆(しょうど)島（香川県）などにわずかに郷土芸能として残存するにすぎない。

　中央の大都市で育成された歌舞伎は、ほぼ元禄(げんろく)期（1688～1704）を画期として、そのころ地方都市に生まれた歌舞伎芸団や、役者村とよばれた村々を拠点とする芸能者集団の巡業活動を通じて、地方農村に浸透した。当初これを受け止めたのは、城下町や在郷町の町人であり、その祭礼などに素人芝居として歌舞伎を上演する風を生じた。元禄期に始まる那須烏山(なすからすやま)市（栃木県）の「山揚げ」や、宝暦(ほうれき)期（1751～64）にさかのぼる長浜市（滋賀県）の「曳山(ひきやま)狂言」などが現存する例である。ほぼ同時期に一部の農村でその祭礼に農民による歌舞伎の上演がみられ、18世紀中期以降急速に全国に波及した。ことに盛んであった地域は北関東から中部地方、中国地方にかけての山間部であり、それらは養蚕製糸業に代表される農村産業が隆盛をみた地帯と重なり合っており、地芝居の流行がそうした経済的発展に支えられた現象であったことを示唆している。農村で演じられる歌舞伎は、村の氏神の祭礼に村落共同体の行事として開催され、雨乞(あまご)いや立願をはじめ伝統的な祭式習俗とも結合し、都市商業劇場とは違った地芝居独特の世界を形づくった。地芝居の成立が、当時農村で高まりつつあった都市的な娯楽への志向を基盤にしていたことは、その演目が都市の歌舞伎そのままであったこと、さらに衣装や大道具のはでな丸本狂言の時代物に人気が集中したことなどから推して疑うべくもないが、にもかかわらず形態のうえで著しく農村的、民俗的な色彩を帯びた表現をとったところに歴史的な性格が認められる。

　地芝居の盛行はやがて、そのための舞台（今日、農村歌舞伎舞台とよばれる）を生み出すことになったが、それも村の施設として祭礼の場である従来の神社建築（まれに寺院建築）の一部を改変することにより、しだいに歌舞伎の上演にふさわしい形式を整えたものであった。なお現在、農村歌舞伎舞台は東北地方から九州地方に及ぶ広い範囲に、現存・廃絶を含めて2000以上の所在地が確認されており、地芝居の盛行が全国的なものであったことをうかがわせるとともに、その大半の建築年代が化政(かせい)期（1804～30）から明治中期であること、かつ分布の濃厚な地域が関東・中部地方であることなど、いずれも地芝居の歴史的動向を忠実に反映している。

　こうした地芝居の流行は農村に奢侈(しゃし)的な風潮をもたらす結果となり、事実、多大な出費に耐えかねて夜逃げ同然に村を去った者もいた。したがって幕府・諸藩（のちには明治政府も）は勧農政策の一環としてしばしば地芝居を禁制の対象とし、おびただしい禁令が出された。多くは名目的なものであったが、幕政改革の際などには厳格に実施され、実際に処罰を受けた事例もあって、そのため「かくれ芝居」といった非合法の上演も少なくなかった。地芝居の盛行は明治に入ってもなお持続したが、もともと娯楽性の強い芸能であっただけに、活動写真（映画）など新しい娯楽の出現とともに使命を終えて衰退した。農村娯楽の不足した第二次世界大戦後一時的に復活した所もあったが、その後の急激な都市化と娯楽の多様化の進行で、現在ではほぼ消滅したものとみてよい。

［守屋　毅］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例