Hiradoma

"Tokyo meisho sanjyu-roku gisen Saruwakacho"
Artist: 昇斎一景　O-ban, Colour Print
Published: 1872(Meiji 5)
Ritsumeikan Art Research Center (arcUP2927)

This is the picture of the audience seats in the end of Edo period to the beginning of Meiji period. In each Hiradoma masuseki, 4 to 5 people are sitting and enjoying eating and drinking. Today, it is prohibited to eat and drink in a theater, but it was common at that time.
Before Bunka period (around 1810), the nearest space from the stage was called Kiriotoshi, and people can sit there as well, but after then, it became Hiradoma. Besides this, there are also seats called Sajiki, Rakandai, and Yoshino.
Sajiki are the seats placed each side of Hiradoma and straight in the back of the stage and are the level above Hiradoma. The seats can be purchased only in Chaya and regarded as royal seats. Therefore, Chaya was in charge of managing the seats and taking care their guests. Often the guests in Sajiki enjoyed the kabuki performance eating fruits. Sajiki also have two types called Kami sajiki and Shimo sajiki, and Kami sajiki was expenisive than Shimo sajiki. By Bunka period, there were two crossbars in front of Shimo sajiki, and this was called Uzura (quail) because it looked like Uzura kago, basket that Uzura were put, from Doma. It is also because the actors come and go the back aisles of Shimo sajiki, and the guests who are sitting in Shimo sajiki keep watching the actors turning their head like Uzura. On the other hand, the farthest Sajiki seats from the stage was called Tsumbo sajiki and unfortunate guests had to sit there when the theater was full.
Rakandai were placed the back of stage right so the audience can only see the actors from behind. However, they can also see the back stage of performance, and were sort of special seats. Rakandai were the cheapest seats because it was temporary seats when the theater gets full.
The name Rakandai came from 羅漢台に大勢の観客が座っている様子は、まるで天恩羅漢寺の五百羅漢のように見えたためという。
Yoshino were placed right above Rakandai, and 舞台の上部に吊された吊り枝が目の前に見えることから花の名所である「吉野山」にちなみ名付けられた客席である。羅漢台や吉野は、舞台が額縁舞台となり、客席と舞台が完全に切離された時に姿を消す。
Today, although Hiradoma gradually disappeared as chairs come to be used, still it remained in some old theaters, and audience can enjoy the performance from different view. Sajiki has rather become the main seat style for Kabuki theater today.

[Glossary]
"Sajiki","Rakandai","Hiradoma", "Masuseki"