Abstract
The term "star system" frequently connotes vulgarity and a sense of the nonartistic. Although kabuki is generally considered as a form of highbrow culture in contemporary Japan, it involves the star system. This paper examines how the highbrow image of kabuki is maintained in spite of negative associations of the "star system. "Many studies have examined the classification of highbrow/lowbrow culture from the viewpoints of the cultures that have been considered lowbrow or popular. Thus, another function of this paper is to reexamine this classification from the perspective of highbrow culture.
The star system of kabuki had been criticized as a non-artistic element since the Meiji era. This tendency almost disappeared in the 1980s. At the same time, the image of kabuki as a highbrow culture gradually became established.
This highbrow image of kabuki is mainly constructed by the people who usually do not come in contact with kabuki. They perceive kabuki as an absolute highbrow culture with a long-established traditional image, and they do not investigate the dramatic properties of kabuki. It means that they do not examine why kabuki is considered highbrow; therefore, the highbrow image of kabuki, which people firmly believe, is actually constructed on imaginary and uncertain grounds shaped by laypersons.
In this condition, the "star system" that kabuki involves is not labeled as lowbrow, even though the star system itself is still generally considered vulgar. Because people affirm the dignity of kabuki as a highbrow culture, without examining the grounds for the highbrow image, they believe that kabuki is a highbrow culture regardless of its dramatic properties. The lowbrow and vulgar image of the "star system" becomes obscured by the highbrow image of kabuki, which is not adequately justified.
