名題

Nadai is the senior rank among kabuki actors. The name is said to derive from the Edo-period actors whose names appeared on the theatre's front billboards (nadai kanban); today the ranks of nadai and nadai-shita carry on the distinction.

Promotion follows a set path: passing the nadai qualifying examination, receiving the certificate of eligibility, and then—with the endorsement of senior actors and the theatre world—holding a formal promotion announcement. Nadai-shita actors have specialized work of their own, so the distinction is one of complementary roles as much as of rank.

The culture of the nadai billboard has left its trace in everyday Japanese. Kanban yakusha, a 'billboard actor' who headlines a company, and ichimai kanban, the single name that carries a whole enterprise, are both said to come from the playhouse signboards. The sense that a name on the board was itself proof of rank lives on in the language.

Nadai names an institution shared by all kabuki actors. Among the great names that crown this system is Ichikawa Danjūrō—and kabuki itself stands only because nadai and nadai-shita actors hold up the same stage together.