Notes on This Edition

Audience

This edition of Kanjincho is intended for anyone who wants to read the Kabuki play in English.

However, I originally intended to create a guide for the 1974 recording of Kanjincho, directed by Andrew T. Tsubaki, in Carleton College Archives. This particular focus remains in the appendix in the demo-edition: Appendix: Tsubaki 1974 Kanjincho.

Texts Used

Griffith, Paul Morris, translator and narrator. “Kanjincho – Part 5.mov.” YouTube, uploaded by dpl1960, 27 June 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.

Gohei III, Namiki. Kanjincho. Translated by Brandon, James R. and Niwa, Tamako. Kabuki Plays, “Kanjincho” and “Migawari Zazen.” Samuel French, 1966.

Gohei III, Namiki. Kanjincho, edited by Kenji Morizumi. Iwanami Shoten, 1941.

Tsubaki, Andrew T., director. Kanjincho. May, 1974. Carleton College Archives. mp4 file.

Danjuro XII, Ichikawa, player (Benkei). “歌舞伎 KANJINCHŌ (勧進帳) 04-28-2005 (京都の醍醐寺で) 市川團十郎 XII, 市川海老蔵, 中村時蔵.” YouTube, uploaded by Mai Duyen-Le, 6 May 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.

Presentation

I present Griffith’s translation (English), Brandon & Niwa’s translation (English), and Morizumi’s edition (Japanese) as three columns of text. Griffith’s translation is accompanied by a corresponding snippet of the audio of Griffith narrating over a production of Kanjincho performed by Ichikawa Danjuro XII (Benkei) and Nakamura Tomijuro V (Togashi). Likewise, Morizumi’s edition is accompanied by a corresponding snippet of the audio of a production of Kanjincho performed by Ichikawa Danjuro XII (Benkei) and Ichikawa Ebizo (Togashi).

In the appendix of the demo-edition, titled Tsubaki 1974 Kanjincho, I present Brandon & Niwa’s translation and the transcription of Tsubaki’s production of Kanjincho as two columns of text. Tsubaki used Brandon & Niwa’s translation verbiatum in many lines but abridged or modified some lines. This appendix, if completed, aims to serve as a supplementary resource for the recording of Kanjincho in Carleton College Archives.

Langauge

Morizumi’s edition is presented in three scripts: kanji, hiragana, and romaji. Kanji script is for those who have a complete literacy in Japanese. Hiragana script is for those who can read hiragana but are not familiar with kanji. Romaji option is for those who prefer transliteration of Japanese. The notes are provided for all three options and they contain the same information, but they are presented in different scripts in the simillar manner as the main text. However, the notes for the romaji option is provided in English.