Blending Kabuki and Nō: Metatheatrical elements and female voices in Ōmura Kayoko’s Midare Konparu

This paper examines Midare Konparu (Chaos at Konparu Family) by Ōmura Kayoko (1883-1953), one of the earliest female dramatists in Japan to gain recognition in the kabuki genre. A contributor to Seitō (Bluestocking) and a graduate of Japan Women’s University, Ōmura studied under Okamoto Kidō (1871-1939), a leading figure of the shin kabuki (new kabuki) movement. De- spite writing around one hundred plays frequently staged from the late Taishō (1912-1926) to the early Shōwa (1926-1989) periods, Ōmura remains largely overlooked by both Japanese and Western scholarship. This study addresses this gap by analysing one of her most representative works, first performed in 1920 at the Imperial Theatre. Midare Konparu centres on a Noh actor from the es- teemed Konparu school. A key scene features the protagonist and his son rehearsing Aoi no Ue (Lady Aoi), the first Noh adaptation of the Genji Monogatari. By portraying the refined world of Noh through a domestic kabuki framework, Ōmura stages a compelling dialogue between high and popular forms of theatre. The work’s originality also lies in its female authorship and its focus on women’s condition within a traditionally male-dominated genre. Through textual analysis of the play’s structure and themes, this study examines Ōmura’s use of metatheatrical devices, while his- torical contextualization and contemporary criticism situate Midare Konparu within the broader landscape of early twentieth-century Japanese theatre. The study shows how Ōmura employs metatheatrical strategies to question established theatrical forms and to foreground women’s voices, positioning Midare Konparu as a distinctive contribution to the period’s theatrical landscape.