Week 1b Thurs Jan 12: Japanese Shamanism

a) [OL] Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow
"The Bridge" (19-32)
"The Sacred Beings" (34-50)

b) [OL] The Catalpa Bow, "Exorcism" (298-307)

c) [Japanese Tales] Stories about En no Gyoja:
"The Wizard of the Mountain" #88 (127-32)
"The Master" #127 (182-84)

d) Table of Heian/Medieval Japanese Understanding of Ghosts

On Buddhism

a) Pre-recorded lecture 1: Intro to Buddhism (see link at left to lecture and outline)

OPTIONAL READINGS ON BUDDHISM

a. [OL] Robert Ellwood, Japanese Religion
"Japanese Religion in Historical Perspective" (19-50, 56-58)
b. [OL] Buddhism in Asia (Wikipedia article)
See also: Japanese Buddhism and Glossary of Japanese Buddhism

Angry Male Ghosts: Sugawara no Michizane

On Heian period context

a) Pre-recorded lecture 2: Intro to Heian period, the political and social context behind the rise of angry ghosts in Heian Japan (see link to lecture and outline at left)

Readings

a) [OL] Borgen, Sugawara no Michizane
"Michizane as Tenjin" (307-336)
b) [J Tales] "The God of Fire and Thunder" #101 (144-49)
c) Images of Michizane

Optional Supplementary reading: Neil McMullin, "Placating the Gods"

For discussion section: Wikipedia article on writing from a "real world" versus "in-universe" perspective when discussing fiction (and texts that claim to be non-fiction but are actually ficfional).

Week 2b Thurs Jan 19: Onmyôji: Abe no Seimei and Japanese Taoism

ANGRY HEIAN GHOSTS: FEMALE

Week 3a Tues Jan 24: Angry Female Ghosts: Mononoke and Lady Rokujô

 

 

MEDIEVAL JAPANESE GHOSTS

Week 3b Thurs Jan 26 and Week 4a Tues Jan 31: Hungry Ghosts, Blood Pool Hells, and Demons

Kamakura period

1) Online lecture 4: about the transitional Kamakura period, especially its effects on women

Readings

a) [Jpn Tales] Introduction, pp. xix-lvi

Mentioned in class lecture (**for discussion section):
Tales of Hell:
#46 "The Weight of Tradition" (62-63)
#104 "The Catch" (151-52)
#149 "Incorrigible" ( 211-15)
#180 "The Reprieve" (262-63)
#215 "Be Good to Your Mother and Father" (312-13)
**#216 "Hell in Broad Day" (313-14)

Tales of Demons:
#14 "The Bridge" (19-22)
**#28 "Very Kind of Him, No Doubt" (38)
**#97 "A Model Demon" (137-38)
#98 "The River of Snakes" (138-39)
#125 "A Memorable Empress" (178-80)
#148 "The Voice from the Cave" (209-11)
#172 "The Bottomless Sack" (242-44)

The Hundred Demon Parade
#74 "The Invisible Man" (99-101)
#168 "No Night to be Out Courting" (237-39)
#169 "Lump Off, Lump On" (239-41)
#170 "Take Good Look" (241)

**b) [OL] Taiheiki, trans. Helen McCullough
"The Suicide of the Protector of Etchu" (330-333)

c) Images of Hungry Ghosts and Hell

This week you'll be given a chance to form groups for the group presentation assignment due weeks 9b and 10 a-b. See the Google Doc signup sheet under Collaborations on Canvas.

a)[OL] Synopsis and Translation of Kurozuka/ Adachigahara

b)[OL] Aoi no Ue [English only, with introduction to Noh)

See "photo story" for images

Alternate version: [OL] Aoi no Ue [English and Japanese with stage directions; original text on left, translation on right, interspersed with detailed descriptions of music].

c )[J Trad Thtr] Karen Brazell, "Japanese Theater: A Living Tradition" (3-10, 24-39); "The Noh and Kyogen Theater: Elements of Performance" (115-125)

d) [OL] Review: Tale of Genji, "Heartvine" and "The Sacred Tree"
e) [OL] Review: Blacker, Catalpa Bow (19-20, 31, 38-39)

f) Images: Noh Masks

Week 5b Thurs Feb 9: Male Ghosts in Noh

a) [OL] Michele Marra, "The Michizane Legend as Seen in the Noh Drama Raiden" (read intro, but translation by UCI student below is better)

b) [OL] Raiden, trans. Brad Torre

c) [OL] The Taiheiki, trans. Helen McCullough
"The Matter of the Shrine of Sugawara no Michizane" (350-363)

d) Yashima, trans. Royall Tyler

See "photo story" for images

e) Review: [OL] Borgen, Sugawara no Michizane
"Michizane as Tenjin" (307-336)

See images of Michizane story, including Noh

Videos:

Raiden(first act, last couple of minutes, Japanese only)

Raiden (second act; starts from 4:40 Japanese only)

Yashima(15 minute digest in Japanese)

"The Spirit of Noh" with the late Noh actor and mask maker, Udaka Michishige; the performance at the end is Yashima

Week 6a February 14: Kyogen--parodic ghosts, bumbling gods, and ineffectual priests

a) [OL] Asahina
b) [Trad J Thtr] Thunderbolt (Kaminari) (61-67)
c) [Trad J Thtr] The Cicada (Semi) )(284-94)
d) [Trad J Thtr] Mushrooms (Kusabira) (245-254)
e) [OL] Owls (Fukuro Yamabushi)
e) Review: Aoi no Ue for comparison with Mushrooms; Yashima for comparison with The Cicada

Videos: "This is Kyogen"
( includes exerpts from Thunderbolt and Owls)

Week 6b February 16: Kyogen Continued (plus intro to Yokai)

Kyogen

a) [OL] Neck-pulling (Kubihiki)
b. [OL] Yao

Videos: Mushrooms, Asahina, Neck-pulling, Owls

Intro to Yokai (IMAGES)

Videos:

Amabie (a new Noh play, first performed 12/2020)