Kumadori in Kabuki: The Colors of Heroes and Villains, from Ichikawa Danjuro I to Edo’s Superheroes
The Spirit of the Gods on an Actor's Face: Origins of Kumadori and the Art of the Mie
Bold lines of crimson like blazing flames, or streaks of indigo with a cold, eerie air, run across a face painted white. In kabuki, Japan's traditional theater, the most iconic visual device that instantly captures the audience's attention is kumadori, its stylized makeup. At the climax of a scene, when an actor freezes in a dramatic pose called a mie and the sharp clack of wooden clappers rings out, the audience witnesses not simple human emotion but the descent of the sacred energy of gods and heroes.
Kumadori is not merely decorative stage makeup. It is a unique form of "superhuman expression" in world theater, abstracting and coding the pulsing blood vessels and muscles beneath the skin and the explosion of the soul within.
The history of kumadori began in the Genroku era of the late seventeenth century, together with aragoto, the "rough style" of acting created by Ichikawa Danjuro I (1660-1704). At the time, the main style in the Kamigata region of Kyoto and Osaka was wagoto, a graceful and realistic style of romantic drama led by actors such as Sakata Tojuro.
In Edo, by contrast, a frontier city full of rough and hot-blooded townspeople, audiences passionately wanted stories of overwhelming superheroes who punished evil and saved the weak, rather than realistic everyday dramas.
In 1673, at just fourteen years old, Danjuro I appeared in his own play as Sakata no Kintoki (Kintaro), a hero of legendary strength. He painted dramatic lines of crimson and black on his face, wore a wild, overgrown wig and a hakama made of bamboo sheaths, and performed powerful fight scenes. This is considered the decisive birth of kumadori and aragoto in kabuki.
Behind Danjuro's idea for kumadori are thought to lie several influences: the painted faces of Chinese opera that had come from Ming China, the muscular beauty of temple guardian statues and images of Fudo Myoo, and Shinto rituals of divine possession. In the transition from the medieval to the early modern age, the thirst for vitality felt by the people of the young city of Edo was turned by Danjuro's genius intuition into the intense visual form of kumadori.
The Psychology of Red, Blue, Black and Brown: A Symbolic System of Good and Evil
The most remarkable feature of kabuki kumadori is that the colors themselves strictly define a character's inner nature, whether good or evil, and even their spiritual rank. The moment an actor appears, the audience can tell instantly from the colors alone whether the character is a champion of justice, a cold-hearted villain or an otherworldly being.
The most representative is akaguma, red kumadori. Crimson symbolizes the circulation of blood, the source of life, as well as youth, justice and courage. It expresses veins swelling with fierce anger or righteous indignation and is reserved for the superhuman heroes who star in aragoto, such as Kamakura Gongoro in Shibaraku and Umeomaru in Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami.
Among these, sujiguma, with layered red lines running from the forehead to the cheeks, is the most prestigious pattern, a mark of heroes whose strength can shake the world.
In sharp contrast is aiguma, blue or indigo kumadori. Indigo symbolizes blood drained of warmth, cruelty and ruthlessness, or grudges and death. It is used for great villains who have lost their humanity, traitors scheming to seize the realm, wicked nobles known as kugeaku, and vengeful ghosts burning for revenge after an unjust death. Representative examples include Takechi Mitsuhide, based on Akechi Mitsuhide, in Ehon Taikoki, and Kiyohara no Takehira, the villain of Shibaraku.
Villains in blue kumadori are not merely hateful; they radiate a dreadful dignity and intimidating presence, creating a vivid color contrast with the heroes in red.
In addition, chaguma, brown kumadori in reddish ochre, is used for non-human beings such as evil spirits, yokai and earth spiders, while kuroguma in black ink is used for comic roles and creepy petty villains. From the standpoint of color psychology, the kumadori system skillfully uses the complementary relationship between red, an exciting and advancing color, and blue, a calming and receding one, achieving a very high level of refinement as visual art.
More Than a Hundred Patterns: The Beauty of Sujiguma, Ipponguma, Saruguma and Kaniguma
Beginning in a simple form in the Genroku era, kumadori grew dramatically more varied and refined from the mid to late Edo period through the creativity of actors, especially those of the Ichikawa family. More than a hundred types are said to exist, strictly chosen according to a role's age, status, personality and the tension of the scene.
Besides sujiguma, another representative aragoto pattern is ipponguma, a single thick red line drawn from the center of the forehead down the bridge of the nose or toward the temples, used for young warriors and loyal heroes full of vigor and defiance. Mukimiguma, used for Soga no Goro in Kotobuki Soga no Taimen, adds small touches of red at the corners of the eyes and mouth. This refined pattern delicately expresses youth, dignity and a hidden resolve for revenge.
Designs emphasizing strange powers and inhuman natures also developed: sanbonguma, with three lines, used for roles such as Shunkan in Heike Nyogo no Shima; saruguma, "monkey kumadori," combining animal agility and charm; kaniguma, "crab kumadori," which likens a villain's persistence to a crab's legs; and kumoguma, "spider kumadori," covering the whole face like a spider's web.
When painting kumadori, actors use the pads of their fingers to carefully blur the edges of the pigment, a technique called bokashi. Through the contrast between the strength of sharp lines and soft, melting gradations, kumadori becomes not a fixed mask but a dynamic living painting that ripples like a creature with the subtle movements of the actor's facial muscles.
Oshiguma and the Modern Legacy: Comics, Manga and International Acclaim
Any discussion of the artistic value of kumadori must include oshiguma, a unique culture of appreciation. Right after a fierce aragoto performance, back in the dressing room, while sweat, oil and pigment still mingle on his face, the actor presses a damp piece of pure white silk or Japanese paper against his face and transfers the kumadori directly onto it. The resulting print captures both the three-dimensional bone structure of the actor's face and the intensity and spirit he burned on stage.
Oshiguma have long been treasured as charms against misfortune and for good luck, and today they are so highly valued that museums collect them as independent works of art.
After the Meiji Restoration, even as kabuki became more refined as modern theater, the primal magical power and popular energy of kumadori were never lost. In fact, from the late twentieth century to the present, the visual grammar of kumadori has been rediscovered beyond Japan as a source for global pop culture.
Modern manga, anime and tokusatsu heroes, and even the designs of American comic-book characters, strongly reflect the visual principles that kumadori established: the use of color to show good and evil, and energetic lines that exaggerate the human form. Designers and artists abroad also deeply respect the avant-garde beauty of kumadori and use it as inspiration for contemporary art and fashion.
Carrying the wrath of the gods within the body and striking down evil for the sake of the weak: the red and blue lines of kumadori, born in the theaters of Edo by Danjuro I, cross time and borders and still shine brilliantly as a universal symbol of the unyielding justice and life force the human soul longs for.
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References
- Kawatake Toshio, Kabuki: Bi to Sozo, Iwanami Shinsho, 1979
- Hattori Yukio, Kabuki no Sekai, Iwanami Shinsho, 1996
- Gunji Masakatsu, Kabuki Yoshiki Ron, University of Tokyo Press, 1981
- Ichikawa Danjuro, Ichikawa Danjuro no Kabuki Annai, PHP Shinsho, 2008
- National Theatre of Japan (ed.), Kabuki no Kumadori, Japan Arts Council, 2001
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