Momijigari (紅葉狩) or Maple Viewing (English title) is a Japanese folk law narrative, performed as theatre in both kabuki as a shosagoto (dance-focused play) and in Noh versions.
[1] A beautiful woman of seemingly high rank (played by the shite or lead actor), along with her retinue of female attendants (the tsure) are visiting Togakushi-yama, a mountain in Shinano Province, here for the seasonal maple-leaf viewing.
[a][5] The lady has now transformed into a fire-breathing demon in the glow of lightning (the noh masks used are traditionally shikami (顰)[6] but recently hannya has come into use.[7]).
[8] The work was adapted for the jōruri puppet theater by Chikamatsu Monzaemon in 1715, under the title Momijigari Tsurugi no Honji '"Viewing the Autumn Foliage and the True Origin of the Sword").
[9] In 1887, a kabuki dance version of the play was staged, starring the popular actor Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Sarashinahime (demon).
This was a break from tradition as kabuki had customarily been deemed beneath the dignity of viewing by the higher echelons of society.
[14] Danjūrō was originally opposed to appearing in films, dismissing them as foreign but was eventually convinced that his doing so would be a gift to posterity.