katakiyaku
敵役
かたきやくthe villain roles of kabuki
INSTANT ANSWER
Katakiyaku are kabuki's villain roles—from scheming court nobles to realistic evildoers—whose menace makes the heroes shine all the brighter.
Katakiyaku are the villain roles who stand against the hero. Kabuki sorts its villains into vivid types: the kugeaku, court nobles who scheme to seize the realm; the jitsuaku, realistic evildoers; and the iroaku, handsome men with a dark heart.
The larger the villain looms, the brighter the hero shines. The row of blue-painted court villains in Shibaraku is a classic example of the type at work.
Katakiyaku, too, has stepped off the stage into everyday Japanese: to "take the katakiyaku" is to accept the thankless part of the person everyone resents. In the Edo period the word was also read tekiyaku; the reading katakiyaku is said to have settled later.
Aragoto, the house art of the Ichikawa Sōke (the head family of the Ichikawa Danjūrō lineage), is a drama of subduing evil, impossible without great villains. Uke in Shibaraku, one of the Kabuki Jūhachiban, is considered a model kugeaku, and the white-bearded Ikyū in Sukeroku is another famous katakiyaku.
Plays Where You Can See It
- ShibarakuShibaraku — Just a Moment!The tyrant Kiyohara no Takehira has seized power and is about to execute a group of innocents who refuse to bow to him.Kabuki JūhachibanView play
- Sukeroku Yukari no Edo ZakuraSukeroku, Flower of Edo (Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura)In the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter of Edo, the dashing street knight Sukeroku—lover of the great courtesan Agemaki—picks fights night after night.Kabuki JūhachibanView play
- NarukamiNarukami — The Thunder GodThe holy priest Narukami, wronged by the imperial court, has sealed the rain-bringing dragon god beneath a waterfall, plunging the land into drought.Kabuki JūhachibanView play
Read this next
These words meet on the same stage. Knowing one makes the next easier to see.
- 立役tachiyakuTachiyaku are the male roles of kabuki—and the actors who specialize in them—forming the counterpart to the onnagata female-role specialists.Read
- 隈取kumadoriKumadori is kabuki's distinctive makeup of bold colored lines that reveals a character's nature—red for heroic passion, blue for villainy or the supernatural.Read
- 隈取の色kumadori no iroThe colours of kumadori makeup tell you who a character is: red for heroic justice, indigo blue for villains and vengeful spirits, brown for demons and the supernatural.Read
- 荒事aragotoAragoto is the bold, larger-than-life acting style—said to have been created by Ichikawa Danjūrō I—in which heroes express superhuman power through striking makeup, oversized costumes, and dramatic poses.Read
Sources & Supervision
- Author
- KABUKI Universe Editorial Team
- Supervision
- Ichikawa Danjūrō
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 9, 2026
Supervision means Ichikawa Danjūrō has reviewed this page's intent and key points. The text is the editorial team's writing, not Ichikawa Danjūrō's own statements. Editorial responsibility rests with the team, which corrects any error. Read the editorial policy