Origins/status
Kakubeejishi or kakubeijishi (pronounced kakubeh eh jishi not “bee” like the insect) were another subgenre of lion dance, similar to the daikagura. They are thought to have originated in Echigo province, Niigata prefecture.
The origins of the name are unclear.
One theory is that someone called Kakubei carved the original lion masks.
Another is that a farmer called Kakubei who was born in Tsukigata in Echigo province invented a variety of acrobatic feats in which he trained the young children of his village from 1394. He took them out of the Echigo province and this proved so successful that more than 200 children went from Tsukigata to tour the country.
“It is claimed however, that Kakubei adopted his feats from some of the ancient Indian plays or even that they had their origin in the pre-historic age of Japan.” (We Japanese, Fujiya Hotel Ltd, 1950, p342)
Another theory is “that a man called Kakubei was once killed but bit off his murderers’ toe during the fight. The killer escaped unidentified and so the children of Kakubei came up with a plan to find the man who killed their father, by searching for someone with a missing toe. They invented the Kakubeijishi practice that included a lot of handstand routines, so they could look at peoples toes without drawing any suspicion.” Mapping Contortion in Japan 3
“Another theory is that children who had lost their families were trained to become actors of the Kakubeijishi troupe in order to gain money and support the village that was suffering from annual floods of the nearby river, which caused the loss of the harvest. Therefore, the children traveled around the country all year round to perform and to earn money.”
Performances can be seen in Echigo to this day at the Tsukigata festival in June and September. https://www.shironekankou.jp/performing_arts/
Utagawa Hiroshige II
They never established an officially endorsed Edo-based organization but claimed legitimacy from their Echigo roots and that shishi dancing began in India and China and was a part of Japanese religious life. They started to appear in Edo festivals from the late 18th century.
Act
After the shishi dances, the acrobats would climb to the top of a tall bamboo pole and then descend just using the feet. They also performed contortionist and tumbling tricks – usually by young boys or girls of 12 or 13 to as young as 7.
Training started at the age of 7 and retirement was around 14 or 15. The children of unrelated families were contracted for a stint of 3 to 5 years. The training was so harsh, children in Niigata were threatened with being given away to a shishi troupe if they did not behave.
In 1874 the Meiji government proclaimed that all children purchased for the Echigo-jishi troupes were liberated but their use continued.
In 1919 a writer lamented that kakubee-jishi troupes were no longer based in Echigo but instead were Tokyo youngsters who had been given away as babies by impoverished parents.
In Britain
It seems likely that the younger children in troupes (“five boy contortionists”) such as the Royal Tycoon’s Private Troupe were recruited as kakubeejishi and not actually related to older troupe members.
Umekichi (Toyokichi stage name, b 1849) and Fujimatsu (b 1857, stage name Fujikichi) within Risley’s Imperial Troupe were kakubeejishi, with Sadakichi as the understander/bottom man. Rinzo’s “children” brought to Edo from Echigo by their father when younger. Apprenticed to Kikujiro. Presumably they are the same people as Sentarō/Shintharo and Yonekichi (who are recorded in the 1871 England census as born in 1854 and 1853 respectively) who are mentioned in the 1867-9 line up in Britain.
The transformation acrobatics that Tommy the Wolf performed with Tannaker’s troupes, where he turned into a wolf also sound reminiscent of the lion dances and fox transformations.
See pp169 – 75 in Street Performers and Society in Urban Japan 1600 – 1900 : The Beggar’s Gift – Gerald Groemer