Yoshizawa Ayame I

Who was Yoshizawa Ayame I?

Yoshizawa Ayame I was an early Kabuki actor, and the most celebrated onnagata of his time. His thoughts on acting, and on onnagata acting in particular, are recorded in Ayamegusa, one section of the famous treatise on Kabuki acting, Yakusha Rongo.

A.C. Scott wrote that "Yoshizawa Ayame I was regarded as the greatest onnagata or female impersonator of his time and was an artist of ability, who developed the unique technique which was to be a model for the actors of the future. His ideas and secrets were written down in a book called 'Ayamegusa', which was afterwards regarded as the Bible of the female impersonator."

Ayame is famous for advocating that onnagata behave as women in all their interactions, both onstage and off. In Ayamegusa, he is quoted as saying that "if [an actor] does not live his normal life as if he was a woman, it will not be possible for him to be called a skillful onnagata." Following his own advice, Ayame cultivated his femininity throughout his offstage life, and was often treated as a woman by his fellow actors. His mentor, Arashi San'emon, and others are said to have praised him on many occasions for his devotion to his art.