Farce - Chaban

Chaban Kyogen is a type of amateur skit popular in Edo during the Edo period. Chaban was one of the duties of the dressing room at a Kabuki theater, and was the responsibility of the actors in the large room on the third floor. The person on duty had the custom of putting on elaborate scenery. This became known as Chaban Kyogen, which spread to the general public around the Tenmei period (1781-1789) in the mid-Edo period, and there are two types: Tachi-chaban and Kudo-chaban. Tachi-chaban is a clownish play similar to the Niwaka plays of Kyoto and Osaka, but Kudo-chaban involves the performers sitting down and putting out various items, which they then use to tell puns and humorous tales to create a punch line, and was also called Mitate-chaban.

[Yukio Hattori]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代、江戸で流行した素人(しろうと)寸劇、茶番狂言のこと。茶番とは歌舞伎(かぶき)劇場の楽屋の職掌の一つで、三階の大部屋役者の受け持ちであったが、当番にあたった者はくふうを凝らして景物を出す習慣があった。これが江戸中期、天明(てんめい)（1781～89）ごろに民間にも広まったのが茶番狂言で、立茶番と口上茶番の2種ある。立茶番は京坂の俄(にわか)と同類の道化芝居であるが、口上茶番は座ったままいろいろの品物を出し、それを材料にして洒落(しゃれ)や滑稽(こっけい)を述べて落ちをつけるもので、見立(みたて)茶番ともよばれた。

［服部幸雄］

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