Drag in Cinema: Turning Japanese

Tamasaburo Bando as the demonic princess.

Today we take a look at female impersonation in Japanese cinema. The following films used men to portray female characters. Unlike many movies made in the USA the “man in a dress” was not meant to get laughs. The actors were honestly portraying female characters.

Tamasaburo Bando

“Yasha-ga-ike” (“Demon Pond,” ) 1979 is a foreign fantasy film featuring kabuki actor Bando who plays two female characters, a villager and a demonic princess. The film’s performances overall are done in the kabuki style but the cast includes both male and female actors.

Akihiro Miwa (aka Akihiro Maruyama)

Miwa as the mysterious criminal in Black Lizard.

Also from Black Lizard.

Miwa was Japan’s most famous female impersonator in the 1960s. In 1968 he starred as a female criminal in Black Lizard, a campy comedy. Black Rose Mansion followed in 1969. The owner of an exclusive men’s club hires a singer to perform there. She is Black Rose portrayed by Miwa. As men flock to see her perform her old lovers descend on the club and start murdering each other. Despite the part about past lovers killing each other the film is played as an earnest melodrama. Black Lizard was the opposite, a comedy/caper/action film.

Pitâ

Shinnosuke Ikehato

In 1981 Klaus Kinski starred in a film titled Fruits of Passion. His co-star was Shinnosuke Ikehata, credited as Peter but better known as Pitâ. Peter is Ikehata’s stage name. When he was young he often danced at nightclubs wearing tight shirts and pants and his style of dance and his attire prompted people to give him the nickname Peter. They thought he looked like Peter Pan. During his career he often performed in nightclubs in drag and his feminine beauty allowed him to convincingly play female characters.

Tags: drag, featured, impersonation

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