Fuji Musume

Fuji Musume (藤娘, The Wisteria Maiden) is a kabuki dance with lyrics written by Katsui Genpachi, choreography by Fujima Taisuke and music by Kineya Rokusaburô IV, first performed in 1826.

Originally part of a set of five different dances performed as a sequence, Fuji Musume is the only one that has survived. The first time these dances were staged in 1826 at the Nakamura-za in Edo, actor Seki Sanjuro II performed all of them as part of his farewell performance.

One of many revisions to the play, playwright Oka Onitaro and actor Onoe Kikugoro VI created a new, more supernatural version of the dance, staged for the first time in March 1937 at the Kabuki-za. In this version, the maiden becomes the spirit of the wisteria. The next year, performances of the dance by Onoe Baiko VII at the Minami-za in Kyoto and at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, helped popularized the dance.

Fuji Musume remains a popular and famous dance in the kabuki repertoire.