Journal of Robotics, Networking and Artificial Life, Vol. 4, No. 3 (December 2017) 221–226___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Analyzing Multiple Narrative Structures of Kabuki based on the Frameworks ofNarrative Generation Systems
Takashi Ogata

Department of Software Informatics, Iwate Prefectural University
Takizawa, Iwate, 020-0693, Japan
E-mail: t-ogata@iwate-pu.ac.jp

Abstract
Although kabuki is a genre of, so to speak, traditional performing arts, it also has many of the characteristics of acontemporary genre, including such various elements as narrative, drama, dance, and music. This analysis andstudy will contribute to the design and development of studies on digital-narrative generation. The author has
previously surveyed and analyzed kabuki’s narrative structures from the viewpoint of a multiple narrative structure
model, particularly the generation or production processes involved in its creation and its reception andconsumption processes. Kabuki’s multiple-narrative-structure model means that the entire structure of kabuki isconstructed through multiple usages of related information. For example, in kabuki the element of the “person” isdivided into three: a “character” within a narrative work, an actor with a history of performances and who uses a
stage name, and a real human with a true name. This multiplicity provides the person with multiple and deep
characteristics. In this paper, based on these previous studies, the author discusses a method that bridges this kabuki
analysis with system design and involves the use of two narrative generation systems: an Integrated Narrative
Generation System (INGS) and a Geino Information System (GIS).
Keywords: Kabuki, Multiple narrative structures, Integrated narrative generation system, Geino information system.

compared the non-hierarchical and collective
characteristics of kabuki to a chimera. However, theauthor of this paper would like to use this analogy tosuggest the “multiplicity” of kabuki’s characteristics,
applying the multiple narrative structure model4 that
forms the theoretical basis of the narrative generation
study presented here. In particular, in kabuki, a variety
of forms (“kata”), which means collections of paternal
knowledge relating to various fields, including thedances performed by actors in each kabuki scene,frequently use story patterns, etc., to enable the use of
free combinations of elements to construct multiple
structures in a work.5,6,7
The author has been studying kabuki in order tointroduce the acquired knowledge into two types ofmutually related narrative-generation systems, called
Integrated Narrative Generation System (INGS)8 andGeino Information System (GIS).1 In particular, the

1. Introduction
Examining its history and characteristics1, kabuki,
which originated during the beginning of the Edo era,can be regarded as a synthesized genre of drama thatincorporates a variety of geino genres, such as dance,
Noh, kyogen, and ningyo-joruri (puppet drama), into arich form and also includes various narrative elements.
In the West, the basis of drama and other narrative
forms originates from Aristotle’s opinion2: that the storyor plot (“mythos”) manages the other narrative elements
such as characters and thoughts. In contrast, in kabuki,
the story or plot was originally an element that wasadded to aid comprehension and to help control acollection of performances by an actor or actors. In
kabuki, all narrative elements have equal competence.
According to Kawatake,3 Shoyo Tsubouchi (1859–
1935), who was a Japanese researcher and author,

Copyright © 2017, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
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author has been studying kabuki from the viewpoint of
the multiple-narrative-structure model. We generally
consider a narrative work, its generation, and its
production process from the viewpoint of its
construction through multiple structures. For example, anarrative’s flow comprises the multiple structures of astory in a semantic flow and a plot in a constructive
flow. A kabuki narrative is a particularly rich object forthe multiple-narrative-structure model. Consequently,
we have analyzed the multiplicity of kabuki regarding
fifteen kinds of elements.1 For instance, the element of a“person” in kabuki can be divided into the following
three aspects: the real “person,” who lives in the actual
world; the “person” as an actor who has a history of
performing roles; and the “person” of the kabuki
character that appears on stage. Each person has theirown history or story. In the course of this study,
knowledge on the analyzed multiple-narrative structuresin kabuki will be introduced into the INGS and GIS.
In the author’s previous research on kabuki, his
studies referred to related books and papers 9,10,11;
however, for concrete application and modeling in the
INGS and GIS, he must perform a more formal andelaborate analysis of kabuki. This paper is the first step
towards attempting a more formal analysis of kabuki,
aiming at the introduction of the performance art into
the INGS and GIS.
Before beginning the main discussion on the above
theme, the author would like to explain why multiplicity
is important, effective, and significant in kabuki: (1)First, the multiplicity in kabuki enables it to interest avariety of receivers through social-distribution
processes. (2) Its narrative values are useful for
effecting a diverse and differential interpretation of theworld through the power of imaginative- and fictionalnarrative production. Multiplicity contributes to thisdiversity and differentiation of world understanding. (3)Multiplicity can enhance the depth of works.
However, the above characteristics may also be
common in other narrative genres. Why then is kabuki
worthy of being included in a study on multiplenarrative structures? A reason for this is that kabuki,
which has a long history and exists in the current society,contains multiplicity in very diverse aspects and is partof a genre that combines performing art and drama.
Kabuki is an embodiment of a very rich multiplicity.
Although, in a previous paper,1 the author
comprehensively researched and analyzed themultiplicity of kabuki, in this paper, the author is
focusing on the concept of the “person” and is
attempting to consider it through concrete modeling byanalyzing it using the INGS and GIS.
In addition, the INGS corresponds to the narrativegeneration-reception process at the personal narrative
level. On the other hand, the GIS corresponds to thenarrative-production-consumption process at the socialdistribution level. Both of these processes construct anentire narrative process or a mechanism as a whole. The
kabuki research and analysis discussed in this paper will
be extended to an entire narrative mechanism that
includes these two processes.
Therefore, we explain the relationships between
kabuki and the narrative in order to avoid causing
misunderstanding and confusion. In kabuki, a narrativemeans the work’s story or plot, which is a wider senseof narrative; it can also encompass the narration
performed by a character on stage, which is a narrower
sense of narrative. In any case, both form partial
elements of an entire kabuki.
However, the concept of narrative discussed here
has wide and comprehensive meanings. It includes alevel of representation or expression in addition tolevels of story or plot. The media for representation or
expression include language, music, image, and further
body. From the author’s viewpoint, the whole of akabuki stage corresponds to a narrative. In this sense,
the narrative generation of kabuki naturally has themeaning of generating the whole of a kabuki
performance.
2. “Person” in kabuki: A Basic Consideration
In kabuki, there are various kinds of “persons,” such as
an “actor” and a “character.” These are temporally andspatially formed and possess multiple existences andrelationships.
First, a person, who is an actor, plays a characteron a kabuki stage. Concurrently, the actor themselves
has a very important and essential value. In kabuki,“actor plays” sometimes carry a more importantmeaning than universal dramas that focus on characters.
Originally, especially during the Edo era, kabuki
scenarios were not written using characters’ names, butusing actors’ names. In other words, many kabuki works
were written by kabuki authors to emphasize andstrengthen their personalities and characteristics.
Further, although the person as an actor is a humanwith a real body, a real person in kabuki is divided into
two parts: the real actor who is represented by his “stage

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performed by adult men only3,9 Real women do notappear on the kabuki stage; however, actors, as onnagata,further exhibit the multiplicity of kabuki byincorporating real men’s sexuality. As onnagata is
considered to be one of the most important elementsthat contribute to the attraction of kabuki, it has been thefocus of essential discussions.
Additionally, concerning “person,” the motif of the“jitsu ha” (actually)12 transformation also plays animportant role. Many characters in kabuki are
multiplexed and they present complex images through amanipulation of the “actually.” In many cases, thetransformation of the “actually” is created bytransforming the character of an unknown commoner
into a famous and historical character, namely a hero.
Two contrasting sub-genres in kabuki, sewa-mono andjidai-mono, are related to this feature. The sewa-mono is
a comparatively real kabuki genre where the characters
are common people. In contrast, the jidai-mono is acomparatively formal and stylistic kabuki genre basedon historical worlds and characters. Concurrently, these
are also used as concepts to show the performancestyles of kabuki actors. The style of sewa sometimes
infuses with the style of jidai, creating a uniqueimpression on a kabuki stage. In jidai-mono, thetransformation of a character through the “actually”
occasionally creates a trigger for moving from a ofsewa-style scene to an original jidai-style scene. Further,
these concepts, sewa-mono and jidai-mono or sewa andjidai, occasionally appear in the micro performances ofa character. For instance, in a sewa-mono, a character oran actor occasionally acts and speaks in the jidai-monostyle. Sewa-mono and jidai-mono or sewa and jidai areconcepts that show two types of kabuki performancestyles, namely realism (sewa) and formalism (jidai). The
multiple rhythm through which the formal style isinserted into the realistic style, and the contrary rhythm
through which the real style is inserted into the formal
style, produces a unique spectacle on the kabuki stage.

name,” and the real human who is symbolized by his“real name.” These correspond to the spatial forms of aperson. Concurrently, a unique point is the fact that a
stage name, in many cases, has a temporal tradition andhistory or a kind of story that is inherited overgenerations. This means that actors who retain the samestage name over multiple performances exist in acurrent temporal point in continuity with other “real”
people. An actor is located in a temporal and historicalcontinuity. Therefore, the existence of various persons
and stories can be multiplied in various ways.
On the other hand, a “person” as a character is not
limited to the range of a single kabuki play. Certain
characters, for example, can occasionally appear inother kabuki plays, other works in other genres, nonfictional histories, etc. Therefore, a character is anexistence that, through its other appearances in thetemporal and spatial situations of a kabuki play,
represents a particular scenario. Concurrently, acharacter also exists as an overlapped representation of
its appearances in other kabuki plays and other genres.
Bando Tamasaburo V is an example of an actor
who has multiple constructions, as can be seen from thefollowing description:
•
•
•
•

•
•
•

•

He is a man, and his real name is Morita Shinichi.
He has a history of acting and he inherited the name“Bando Tamasaburo” from his adoptive father andfurther past persons with the same name.
He is an actor who has performed many different
characters in classical kabuki.
He is something of an innovator who has continued
to introduce new dramas in other kabuki-related
genres, such as “Tenshu Monogatari” (Castle
Tower Story) (1917) by Izumi Kyoka (1873–1939).
He is a director of diverse works in the kabuki
genre.
He is a performer and an artist who transcends theboundaries of various genres such as dance,classical Chinese opera, and reading aloud.
He is a movie director, who, among other works,
directed “Gekashitsu” (Operating Room) (1992),
which is based on “Tenshu Monogatari” (Castle
Tower Story), an 1895 novel by Izumi Kyoka.
In recent years, he has fulfilled the role of an
educator or trainer and has trained many kabuki
actors by performing with them.

3. GIS/INGS models
In the author’s research framework, kabuki narrative
generation is implemented using the GIS and INGS.
Basically, the GIS is a comprehensive systemarchitecture that contains the INGS as one of its parts.
The first two sub-sections in this section describe the
GIS and INGS, and their mutual relationship is
explained in the last sub-section.

Discussing “onnagata” is necessary in order tounderstand the “persons” of kabuki. Although kabuki
originated from yujo (“prostitutes”) kabuki, thetransition from wakashu (“boys”) kabuki to yaro(“adult men”) kabuki transformed it into a drama genre

3.1. GIS: Geino Information System
Fig. 1 shows an overview of the architecture of the GIS.
This architecture corresponds to a narrative production-

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well as their personal information. The life resource
corresponds to the part in the geino-jin resource where
only the life histories or life courses are extracted. The
work resource means that the knowledge relating togeino works is analyzed and processed using various
methods. Comparing this to the context knowledgepresent in the narrative-content-knowledge bases in the
INGS, the work resource in the GIS stores more specificnarrative information. Analyzing and studying kabuki
aims at storing the specific narrative content knowledge
in the GIS.
In addition to human receivers, the receivermechanism also includes reception subjects asmachinery mechanisms. These receiver mechanisms
output, through various methods, information on
reactions based on the reception experiences to a work,a sequence of works, the life history of a geino-jin, etc.
A geino-history is sequentially formed throughcirculative and repetitive interaction between bothmechanisms of the sender and the receiver. The content
of a geino history is classified into geino events andtheir sequence, and life events and their sequence. The
works also include scandals and geino news that focuseson geino-jins’ lives themselves.

consumption mechanism that includes the use of many
INGSs as a narrative generation-reception mechanism.
The GIS is composed of, at its highest level, a sendermechanism, a receiver mechanism, and a geino history.
The first sender mechanism receives external
information, which is mainly traces of information
outputted by the reception mechanism, through the GIS’mechanism of “interpretation strategy” and selects aninterpretation according to an interpretation framework.
Lastly, the sender mechanism generates information
based on the interpretation. However, this process does
not necessarily mean that the GIS simply generates
narratives according to the desires and expectations of
the receivers. The INGS is placed in the central positionof narrative generation by the sender mechanism.
The sequence and repetition by the sendermechanism forms a mechanism for geino histories. In
order to continuously generate geino histories, the GIS
utilizes special knowledge bases called “work resource,”“life resource,” and “geino-jin resource,” which are notpresent in the INGS. Although these are similar to thenarrative content knowledge bases in the INGS, uniquecontent knowledge is contained in the GIS.
By the geino-jin resource we mean a place inwhich to store geino-jin information, which includes
character information on geino performers and actors as

3.2. INGS: Integrated Narrative Generation
SystemGeino History (Sequence) <Contents><Receiver Mechanism>
Receptionmechanis

Geino
event

Narrativeas image

Life event
sequence

Life
event

Reactionmechanism

Fig. 2 shows an overview of the INGS architecture. At
the macro level, the INGS is divided into the threefollowing generation processes: story, discourse, andrepresentation. Parts corresponding to the mechanisms
in this figure concern the “story-generation mechanism,”“narrative-discourse mechanism,” several “narrativeexpression mechanisms,” and several “control
mechanisms.” On the other hand, parts corresponding to
the content or knowledge in this figure are part of a“state-event transformation knowledge base,” several“conceptual dictionaries,” “several language notation
dictionaries,” and “narrative-content knowledge bases.”
Ogata8 presents a detailed list of all of the modules in
the current INGS.

Geino event
sequenceTrailinformation
Life
work
Interpretation
Strategy(Meta level)

Geino
work

<Narrator>
Integrated narrative
generation system

Generation
mechanismContents
knowledgebaseGeino work
resource
Life work
resource
Geinojinresource

3.3. Relationship between the GIS and INGS
Simply speaking, specific knowledge in kabuki is stored
in the GIS and the other general knowledge required fornarrative generation is stored in the INGS. Althoughnarrative generation by the INGS concerns narrative
generation for each unit of work, narrative generation<Sender> (Author as a whole)Fig. 1. GIS Architecture224

Journal of Robotics, Networking and Artificial Life, Vol. 4, No. 3 (December 2017) 221–226___________________________________________________________________________________________________________(i) A person as an actor, performer, or a player on the
kabuki stage(ii) A person as a real human(iii) A person as a character in a kabuki workby the GIS means narrative generation at a more
complete level, where a sequence of narrative works is
generated by the INGS. The author’s basic idea here isthat the latter type of narrative generation is also
performed by a kind of narrative technique thattranscends a mere accidental sequence.
Ogata1 has surveyed and analyzed the kabuki
themes shown below: (1) real incident, (2) work, (3)genre, (4) material or topic, (5) person, (6) story andplot, (7) actor and place, (8) time (era or age), (9) style(form or pattern), (10) theatre (stage and seating), (11)audience, (12) text, (13) production of scenario (daicho),(14) direction, and (15) stage performance. In thisresearch plan, these surveys and analyses will beformalized for use in the GIS, including the INGS.
In a generation cycle, the INGS receives the above
various knowledge and additional related knowledge
from the GIS and then generates narrative conceptual
structures for a story as well as a narrative discourse
before expressing these structures for narrative
representation. This part of narrative expression or
representation is conducted by the staging mechanism in
the GIS. Furthermore, in the business model, we canconsider a variety of possibilities for the actual
distribution: expressing or representing on the PC andon the stage, developing and distributing second works
through books and other media, etc. However, thesematters exceed this paper’s range.

The person relating to the above (i) has a stage
name. He is defined in the GIS as a part of the geino-jin
resource. This geino-jin resource includes several geinojins who have the same name. These data describe a setof common personalities for actors who have this namein addition to different types of personality each actor
possesses.
(ii) concerns a person who has a real name and isliving as a real human in the real world. In the geino-jin
resource, this type of person is continually represented
with the first type of person.
(iii) relates to a person who should be defined inrelation with a specific kabuki work in order to form anelement of the work resource in the GIS. As this person
can occasionally be used in many kabuki works, it isnecessary to store the person as a specific character, notjust a character who forms a part of a specific work.
To ensure a concrete execution method during the
GIS’ narrative-generation cycle, when the INGS
generates a narrative it receives various information,
including the above three types of person-related
information, to create the basic narrative structure.
Concurrently, general information except for the basic
information on persons is supplied from the INGS side.
Although the GIS provides more specific informationand knowledge, the INGS prepares more general
information.
Further, through the GIS’ narrative productionconsumption cycle, various sides of the person continue
producing or distributing narratives in a wider sense. In
particular, the next narrative production in the cycle canbe executed by triggering all three of the above types of
person. For instance, the kabuki narrative productionconsumption system can create a series of stages for theactor. It can also produce a series of stages where akabuki character continuously appears.
A primary effect for narrative generation involving
the above method is to employ a concrete method with aperson setting to strengthen the impression of thegenerated narratives and upgrade the quality.
Furthermore, this contributes to enlarging the diversity
in the narrative distribution in the GIS, namely thedeviation and evolution of narratives. In particular,
narrative distribution and expansion proceeds from a

OutputInput
Entire control
Story
Contents
KB
State-event
Transformati
on KB
Conceptual
Dictionaries

Story
Mechanism

Discourse
Mechanism

Expression
Mechanism

Language
Notation
Dictionaries

Music KB

Image KB

Function call

Data flow

Fig. 2. INGS Architecture

4. Toward Designing the “Person” using the GIS
and INGS
In this section we show a design plan of the “person” inkabuki using the GIS and INGS. The main aspects of aperson in kabuki are as follows:

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2. Aristotle, The Poetics of Aristotle (trans. S. H.
Butcher, Macmillan, London, UK, 1895). Retrieved
fromhttps://archive.org/details/poeticstranslate00arisuoft
3. T. Kawatake, Kabuki: Baroque Fusion of the Arts,trans. Connel Hoff, F. and J. (The International
House of Japan, Tokyo, Japan, 2003).
4. T. Ogata and A. Kanai, An introduction to
Informatics of Narratology: Towards the Thoughts
and Technologies of Narrative Generation(Gakubunsha, Tokyo, Japan, 2010).
5. S. Sugiyama, Joruri Shiroto Koshaku I, II [Joruri
Amateur Lecture I, II] eds. M. Uchiyama and H.
Sakurai (Iwanamishoten, Tokyo, Japan, 2004).
6. T. Miki, Kangeki Guhyo [Reviews on Theater
Plays] ed. T. Watanabe (Iwanamishoten, Tokyo,
Japan, 2004).
7. T. Watanabe, Kabuki–Kajo naru Kigo no Mori
[Kabuki: The Forest of Excessive Signs] (Shinyosha,
Tokyo, Japan, 1989).
8. T. Ogata, Computational and cognitive approaches
to narratology from the perspective of narrative
generation, in Computational and Cognitive
Approaches to Narratology, eds. T. Ogata and T.
Akimoto (IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA,2016), pp. 1-73.
9. T. Kawatake, Kabuki: Its Beauty and Tradition,trans. C. Holmes (Japan Arts Council, Tokyo, Japan,
1992).
10. T. Imao, Kabuki wo Miru Hito no Tameni [ForPeople Viewing Kabuki] (Tamagawa University
Press, Tokyo, Japan, 1979).
11. T. Watanabe, Kabuki no Mikata [Kabuki’s
Viewpoints] (Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan, Tokyo,
Japan, 2009).
12. T. Imao, Henshin no Shiso [The Theory of
Metamorphosis] (Hosei University Press, Tokyo,
Japan, 1970).

variety of narrative parts or sides, including the wholeof a narrative and narratives. The above method
produces diverse possibilities and provides relatively
thick profile information on each character that provides
concreteness and depth in the development.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, the author focused on the narrative
multiplicity in kabuki as a means of considering future
directions of expansion for narrative-generation
research. This examination was based on the systemdevelopment of two mutually related systems: INGS
and GIS. In particular, this paper showed the various
types of person involved in kabuki towards discussing
kabuki’s conceptual design using the INGS and GIS. In
the future, the author plans to elaborate on designing theperson and other elements of kabuki in order toapproachanexperimental
implementation
using/involving the INGS and GIS.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the JSPS KAKENHI Grant
Number 26330258, Support Center for Advanced
Telecommunications Technologies Research Grant(2015-2017),
andKayamoriFoundationofInformational Science Advancement Research Grant(2017).
References
1. T. Ogata, Kabuki as multiple narrative structures, inComputational and Cognitive Approaches toNarratology, eds. T. Ogata and T. Akimoto (IGI
Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 2016), pp. 400-431.

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