石橋物

Shakkyōmono are the dance pieces derived from the noh play Shakkyō ("The Stone Bridge"), set at a stone bridge leading to the sacred realm of the bodhisattva Monju. Their highlight is the lion spirit frolicking among peonies and whirling its long mane.

Kabuki has produced many shakkyōmono over the centuries; the grand works Renjishi and Kagamijishi took shape in the late Edo and Meiji eras. The delight lies in the transformation—from a delicate opening to the majestic appearance of the lion.

Renjishi distills the genre's delights: it dances the legend of the parent lion that kicks its cub into a deep ravine and raises only the one that climbs back up. Parental tenderness fills the first half; in the second, white-maned parent and red-maned cub whirl their long manes in magnificent unison. Often danced by an actual father and son, the piece lets the handing-down of art itself appear on stage.

Shunkyō Kagami-jishi, a masterpiece of the genre, is said to have been premiered in 1893 by Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and is counted among the Shin (New) Kabuki Jūhachiban—the Ichikawa Sōke's mark on the lion-dance lineage.