Born in Sapporo, Japan
Lives and works in Tokyo and Sapporo, Japan
RANSHOU FUJIMA (藤間蘭翔) is a Japanese dancer and choreographer of kabuki dance (歌舞伎舞踊). She began training in the classical art at the age of four and started an apprenticeship at the age of nine under the two grandmasters Rankei Fujima and Rankoh Fujima of the Daichi company. Daichi was founded by Kanpachi Fujima as a branch of the Fujima Kan’emon school, the oldest school in kabuki dance, and it was inherited by Fujiko Fujima (the first woman in the field of kabuki to be named a Living National Treasure) and her legitimate descendants Rankei and Rankoh. Ranshou was granted the stage name “Fujima” by Rankei and the Kan’emon school in 2002, and subsequently, she received her certification as a shihan (grandmaster) in 2009. Inheriting the spirit and techniques of Daichi, Ranshou particularly excels in onnagata (female forms), a type of performance first developed by male Kabuki actors in the 17th century to portray female characters in theater or dance.
In more recent project Contemporary Onnagata (female forms), Ranshou expertly draws on traditional techniques and styles of onnagata―including those originated by 18th-century grandmasters like Segawa Kikunojō and Nakamura Tomijūrō―while simultaneously imbuing her performances of classical female characters with contemporary themes. Ranshou’s own personal memories, emotions, places and sense of identity converge in her work, encompassing everything from optimism to sorrow, tenderness to violence, beauty to chaos―a peculiar mix, yet nonetheless true to the artist herself. The objective of such pursuits is to investigate the history of effacement that pervades the treatment of female figures in classical narratives, ultimately allowing Ranshou to render her own feminine beauty.
舞踊家・振付師。藤間流勘右衛門派師範。江戸期の古典・歌舞伎舞踊、特に女形を得意演目とする。藤間流家元・二世藤間勘右衛門の一番弟子であった藤間勘八、藤間藤子(人間国宝・重要無形文化財「歌舞伎舞踊」保持者)・蘭景・蘭黄と江戸時代から続く「代地」の一門。蘭翔は、4歳から古典舞踊をはじめ、9歳より蘭景師・蘭黄師に師事する。2002年に名取となり「藤間蘭翔」の名を許されたのち、2009年に師範資格を取得。近年は、現代における女形のあり方を自身の体験や記憶を通して考察する「現代女形考」（→）を主宰。浮世絵のアーカイヴなど舞踊に関する歴史資料の収集・保全にもつとめる（→）。
東京藝術大学音楽学部邦楽科卒業。主な受賞歴に「舞踊批評家協会新人賞」（2019）
EDUCATION / QUALIFICATION
1993
- Named an apprentice under Rankei Fujima and Rankoh Fujima
(藤間蘭景師・蘭黄師に師事)
2007
- BFA Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo, Japan (major in nihon-buyo (traditional style of Japanese dance))
(東京藝術大学音楽学部邦楽科 卒業)
2009
- Received a certification of the grand master (Shihan) by Fujima Kan’emon school
(藤間流勘右衛門派師範資格 取得)
SELECTED AWARDS
2019
- New Talent Award, Dance Critics Society of Japan (舞踊批評家協会新人賞)
REPERTOIRE (classical)
ー * Performed at National Theatre, Tokyo or Kabukiza Theatre
Solo & Leading Role Performances (selected)
- Accumulating Love and Snow at the Mountain Gate (Tsumori koi yuki no Sekinoto | 積恋雪関扉）*
- Kyokanoko Musume Dōjōji | 京鹿子娘道成寺 *
- Takiyasha: The Witch Princess (Shinobi Yoru Koi wa Kusemono – Masakado | 忍夜恋曲者 将門)
- Snow Heron with the Returning Spirit of a Girl (Sagi musume | 鷺娘）*
- Wisteria with the Returning Spirit of a Girl (Fuji musume | 藤娘）*
- Takao: Returning Spirit of a Woman with Reminiscence (Takao sange | 高尾懺悔）*
- Oshichi: Girl on the Fire Lookout Tower (Yagura no Oshichi | 櫓のお七) *
- The Lion, obsessed (Shūchaku shishi | 執着獅子）*
- The Twenty-Four Paragons of Filial Piety in Japan (Honchō Niju shikō | 本朝廿四孝) *
- Oniji Hyōshi-mai | 鬼次拍子舞
- The Spirit of Bird to Avenge Her Killed Lover (Oshidori sugata no Masayume 鴛鴦容姿の正夢) *
- The Two-Face (Hutaomote 双面) *
- The Kurama Lion (Kurama Jishi | 鞍馬獅子) *
- Onatsu: Girl in Madness (Onatsu Kyōran | お夏狂乱) *
- Asazuma: Woman on a Boat in the Lake (Asazuma bune | 浅妻船) *
- A Woman Drawing Sea-water For Salt Making (Shio-kumi | 汐汲) *
- A Young Girl Learning Calligraphy (Tenaraiko | 手習子)
- Homecoming of a Female Servant for a Feudal Lord (Yashiki musume | 屋敷娘) *
- A Female Representative Writing A Love Letter (文売り) *
- Monkey and Bird ー Festival (Saru & Tori - Omatsuri | 申酉 - お祭り)
- The Female Dandy (Onna date | 女伊達)
- The Scattered Chrysanthemum (Rangiku | 乱菊) *
- Kaneno Promontory (Kaneno Misaki | 鐘の岬) *
- Maboroshi Oshichi : Girl on the Fire Lookout Tower (Maboroshi Oshichi | 幻お七) *
- The Heavenly Maiden at Yoshino (Yoshino Tennin | 吉野天人)
- The Divine Dance with Flags (Sarashi Sanbasō | 晒三番叟) *
- The Unidentified Boat (Utsuro-bune | 虚木舟) *
- Spring in the Japanese Apricot (Ume no Haru | 梅の春) *
- The New Musical Drama: Urashima (Shinkyoku Urashima | 新曲浦島)
- The Divine Pine Trees, Spreading (Oimatsu | 老松)
- The Blooming Chrysanthemum (Kikuno sakae | 菊の栄)
- The First times (Chōsei | 長生)
- Eternal Ocean Waves (Seigai ha | 青海波)
- Monkey Showman in Geki Bushi School method (Gekizaru | 外記猿)
- Aesthetic fleet in Preparation For Voyage (Fūryū funazoroe | 風流船揃)
- Your Garden (Kimi no Niwa | 喜三の庭)
Group Performances (selected)
- The Divination & The Three-shrine festival (Sanja Matsuri | 三社祭) *
- A Dance under the Moon (Tsuyama no Tsuki | 津山の月)
- The Crane and Turtle (Tsuru Kame | 鶴亀)
- Hanakurabe shiki no kotobuki ー Mansai (花競四季寿 - 万歳) *
- The Six Jewel Rivers (Mu Tamagawa | 六玉川) *
- The Zen Substitute (Migawari Zazen | 身替座禅) *
Selected Other Activities
- Art Fair: Tokyo Gendai Vernissage at Yokohama Museum of Art
（東京現代 ヴェルニサージュにおけるパフォーマンス及びプロデュース：京鹿子娘道成寺ー横浜美術館）
- Opera: Geisha/Dance teacher, “Madama Butterfly,” in commemoration of Gunma Symphony Orchestra’s 70th anniversary
(群馬交響楽団創立70周年記念オペラ「蝶々夫人」, 芸者・踊り師匠役）
- Lecture Performance: “Dance without Costume: Movement and Meaning” (National Theatre, Tokyo)
(「素踊りの世界」における実演 (主催：国立劇場))
- Lecture Performance: “Rituals and Entertainment in Edo period” (The University of Tokyo / Kandamyoujin)
(「江戸の祭礼と芸能 」における実演 (主催: 東京大学大学院人文社会系研究科文化資源学専攻・神田明神))
- Lecture Performance: “Hachikazuki hime (The Bowl-Bearer Princess)” (The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University) in the commemorative event of 125th anniversary of Waseda University
(「鉢かづき」の実演ー早稲田大学創立125周年企画展「演劇人坪内逍遙」関連舞台 (主催：早稲田演劇博物館))
TEXT/PRESS etc. (selected)
- Jury’s comment from Dance Critics Society of Japan, 2019 PDF
- “Ranshou Fujima: Pursuing the absolute truth in art (藤間蘭翔 : はるか遠い芸の道を歩み続ける),” Quarterly magazine Prowise (vol. 45), 2017 PDF
- “The dance of Ranshou Fujima” by Hiroshi Fujita, the first artistic director (theatrical department) of the New National Theatre, Kabuki critic, writer (e.g., The lineage of Kabuki Female forms) and editor; 2013 PDF
「藤間蘭翔の魅力」, 藤田洋 (新国立劇場 演劇部門 初代芸術監督、歌舞伎・演劇評論家。著書に「女形の系図」「演劇年表」等)
ー
- Featured as a woman living in Tokyo in the exhibition one “1” woman living in Tokyo by Momoko Ando, 2014 (→CINRA, FASHION PRESS)
(安藤桃子写真展「one “1” woman living in Tokyo」）