Annual Events of Theaters in Great Edo: Lit by Lanterns 大江戸しばいねんぢうぎやうじ さし出しかんてら

he Edo Kabuki calendar began in the eleventh lunar month with the Kaomise (“face showing”) ceremony, when theaters announced which actors would appear in their plays in the coming year. Each theater would have two large lanterns, decorated with its crest, on each side of its “full house” sign. Hundreds of small lanterns also decorated each theater’s eaves. The stage itself, however, was surprisingly dark. Until the Meiji period, the only stage lighting was natural lighting. Performances began in the morning and ended in the evening. The use of natural lighting was a fire prevention measure. The Kaomise events, however, began before dawn, making artificial stage lighting essential. Theaters that submitted requests for permission to the magistrate’s office could use lighting equipment for their Kaomise One distinctive type of lighting implement used inside theaters was the sashidashi kantera, a candle attached to a long handle, held by a stage assistant. In this print, we can see two of these candles, one on the left and one on the right of the actor. A square candle stand is attached to the end of the long handle, which is made of two wooden sticks joined together. In a key scene in a play, the stage assistant would swiftly extend the candle to illuminate the actor’s face and nothing more. It worked much as a spotlight does today. It is said that Ichikawa Danzo IV invented this lighting implement to be able to show his face better on stage. In today’s Kabuki, its use remains part of the performance.