隈取の色

In kumadori, colour itself tells the story. Red lines, suggesting blood coursing with life, stand for justice, courage, youth, and superhuman strength; the bold red suji-guma of the hero of Shibaraku is the classic example.

Indigo blue, by contrast, is the colour of cold blood, used for high-ranking villains and vengeful spirits—beings touched by inhuman power—while brown is reserved for demons, monsters, and other creatures beyond the human. From the moment the curtain opens, the audience can read a character's true nature at a glance.

A kumadori pressed onto silk or cloth straight from the actor's face after a performance is called an oshiguma. Only one can be taken from a single performance—a once-only memento long treasured as a gift to patrons. The colours that told the character's story remain as a work of art in their own right.

Kumadori is said to have been originated by Ichikawa Danjūrō I and refined together with aragoto as the core of the family art. Nowhere does the contrast of red and blue blaze more vividly than in Shibaraku and the other Kabuki Jūhachiban plays.