Japanese Theater Week 8a-b Short youtube history of Japan (clean edition) I. Historical development of Modern Theater A. The fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the “restoration”
of the Meiji Emperor (r. 1868-1912)
B. Reform of Kabuki: 1. Experience of Japanese delegation to Europe (October of 1872) 2. 1878, Kabuki actors Danjurô and Kikugorô and theater owner Morita Kan’ya meet with Prime Minister Itô Hirobumi. a. Result: 3. April 1887, Meiji Emperor and Empress view Kabuki a. Long Lasting Results: 1) effect on Kabuki actors' class status 2) Kabuki becomes sedate (until 1970s-80s) 3) whereas before Kabuki and government were in tension, now Kabuki is moving towards becoming "traditional" theater form that represents national identity b. Temporary Result: Kabuki staging became more "realistic" 1) lifting of censorship on contemporary events: restaging of plays like Chushingura with names of real people, no kumadori makeup etc. 2) But these plays were REALLY boring, and so not very popular with audience. Soon went back to older "presentational" acting and staging style a) eg. got rid of hanamichi runway for a short time, then brought it back because audience demanded it II. Politics and Modern Japanese Theater A. Examples of Shimpa (New Kabuki), Shingeki (Modern Theater), Post-Shingeki (angura = underground) and Butoh
III. Shimpa (or Shinpa/Shinpageki: literally, “New School Theater” but usually translated New Kabuki or Neo Kabuki), from 1888 onward A. Develops in Hybrid form 1. Like Kabuki: a. staging: b. acting: 2. Modern elements: 3. Izumi Kyoka: his novels become very popular Shinpa melodramas; his plays are not popular at the time, but in the postwar period their pastiche quality is appealing. VIDEOS: Shinpa style Taisho Yotsuya Kaidan part 1, part 2 (2002 Bunkamura performance, in Japanese with no subtitles) This is not Kabuki (female actors and modern Japanese in Shinpa style) but intentionally includes many kabuki-like effects, including showing the hand-driven revolving and stage-tricks such as the board gettting pulled out of the river (part 2 at 17:00), Oiwa coming out of the lantern. It is a full performance of the Yotsuya Kaidan story; most modern kabuki performances eliminate the secondary story of Oiwa's sister and simply concentrate on Oiwa's transformation and haunting of Iemon, but that secondary story is fully included here. It eliminates the idyllic dream vision from Kabuki. THESE NUMBERS ARE WRONG? @88:30 Oiwa drinks poison; @102:30 Takuetsu sees her face @105:30 Iemon's speech about revenge; @1:18 Oiwa sees her face; @1:23 tooth blackening and hair combing; @1:27:30 reveals her face; @1:42 kills Oume and her father; PART 2 @17:45 canal scene
Watching video: What is Kabuki? What is modern? B. Politics of the 1880s: 1. 1884 dissolution of opposition party 2. 1889: Meiji constitution C. Sudô Sadanori (1867-1907) 1. Osaka 1888: 2. Realism of content: a. “political” novels: b. political events and scandals. 3. Amateurish: 4. Introduction of actresses (1888); first
performance Nov. 1891
a. both onnagata and female actors on stage
D. Kawakami Otojirô (1864-1911) and his wife Sadayakko (1871-1946) images
1. began as left-wing, almost "agitprop" in response to government shut down of opposition party 2. first play was the re-enactment of the attempted assassination of the opposition politician Itagaki Taisuke in 1882. 3. After 1889 a. Sino-Japanese war (1894) b. Sôzetsu kaizetsu Nisshin sensô (The Sublime, Exhilarating, Sino-Japanese War). c. Kawakami Otojirô Reporting from the Battlefield, 1894 4. Visits to United States, Paris, Russia
(1899-1901), performing “Kabuki”
a. Influence on Western Theater practioners who were interested in developing a new non-realistic, expressive theater:
1) Vsevolod E. Meyerhold (1874-1943) in Russia
wikipedia: "a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre." see also "Russian Symbolism" and "Constructivism" 2) In Europe and Russia Sadayakko compared to Sarah Bernhardt; Pablo
Picasso made three sketches of her
b. Influence on Japanese Theater:
1) performed Othello, the court scene of Merchant
of Venice, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet
2) The interest of avant-garde western theater practioners in traditional Japanese theater encourages post-war avant-garde in Japan to use traditional techniques again (Double Suicide example of use of kurogo/Bunraku manipulators) 5. First school for actresses (1908) led by Sadayakko
6. Move away from plays based on contemporary political events toward melodrama a. relation to Kabuki sewamono (domestic
drama)
b. often adapted female-centered novels, including those by Izumi Kyôka Eg. of Yotsuya kaidan performed Shinpa-Style
IV. Development of Shingeki (Modern Theater)
Main figures: Tsubouchi Shôyô, Osanai Kaoru and Hijikata Yoshi (1898-1959) Sept 1, 1923: Great Kanto Earthquake
A. Changes in form and content 1. Movement toward Realism and subsequently Naturalism (influenced by playwrights like Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekov). Goal was to create an illusion of reality (i.e. representational theater) 2. Employs classical unities of time, character, and place a. Time: b. Character: 1) “Get away from Kabuki. Ignore tradition. Don’t dance, move. Don’t sing, speak.” Osanai Kaoru (1926) "Be Amateurs!" Osanai Kaoru (1926) c. Place:
3. Acting:
B. Various kinds of theater that get left out of this history of the avant garde: 1. Popular hybrid forms: for example, Teriha kyôgen, popular in the 1870s and 1880s, a mixture of Noh, Kabuki, and Kyôgen performed by amateurs. 2. Shitamachi Kabuki: “lower-class” Kabuki, less polished and often more comic, touring troupes played in small theaters and halls. Troupes had both male and female actors, lots of cross-dressing in both directions. Also today, outside of the major urban areas, there are towns and villages that produce their own Kabuki productions. 3. Various kinds of vaudeville-type performance: popular in the Taishô era (1920s). Comic storytelling (rakugo), acrobats, magicians etc. 4. Taishû engeki (Popular Theater): grew out of a boom for historical novels that occurred soon after the Great Kantô Earthquake of 1923. Originally the main subjects were the yakuza gamblers of the Tokugawa period, loners who toured the country offering their services temporarily to different local bosses. Created the romanticized myth of the yakuza moral code (kind of like mafia movies in America). Moved on to do historical dramas of all kinds. In some ways the Taiga historical dramas put on by NHK are a development of Taishû engeki. 5. Shimpa: Izumi Kyôka’s non-melodramatic Shimpa plays are considered to be part of these marginalized, hybrid forms of theater. Although Kyôka’s novels were often produced as plays, the actual plays were rarely performed in his lifetime, and have only gotten attention in the last twenty to thirty years, as his hybrid pastiche style has begun to look more "postmodern" to people. 6. Takarazuka: all female theate
C. Political context of Shinpa and Shingeki (and other kinds of theater): 1. The passage of the General Election or Universal Manhood Suffrage law (passed 1925, came into effect 1928) a. previously (1890) only men over the age of 25 who paid 15 yen could vote (1% of the population!) 2. Peace Preservation Law: series of laws (1894, 1900, 1925) intended to suppress opposition parties (initially progressive and later specifically Marxist, Socialist, and Anarchist) and labor unions.
3. In 1911 the Japanese "Thought Police" (Tokubetsu Kôtô Keibatsu or Tokkô for short) was formed to "investigate and control political groups and ideologies deemed to be a threat to public order."
4. Certain theater groups within shingeki (especially proletariat and naturalist forms of shingeki) were political, and some shingeki actors and directors were black-listed and imprisoned in the 1930s through the end of the war.
V. The Demon Pond (Yashagaike) by Izumi Kyôka (1873-1939, as an
example of SHINPA
A. Basic story: A severe drought has struck in the mountainous area below Demon Pond (Yashagaike). There is an old legend that a female dragon deity has been bound to Demon Pond by the Esoteric Buddhist priest Taichô, who made her promise to stay there as long someone rings the bell three times a day. Akira, a wandering folklorist, has fallen in love with Yuri, who binds him to a promise to ring the bell, thus aligning him with the legend.They believe that by ringing the bell three times a day they are saving the villagers from a devastating flood, which would occur when the dragon deity is released. The villagers, on the other hand, want to use Yuri in a symbolic (perhaps real) sacrifice to the dragon deity because they believe this will bring rain (another old legend). Akira wants to save Yuri from humiliation (and perhaps death) at the villagers’ hands. In the play’s cataclysmic conclusion, Yuri kills herself rather than be taken by the villagers and Akira unleashes the goddess by not ringing the bell. The dragon deity goes off to her true love, leaving behind Akira and Yuri to become the new deities of the pond. B. Characters
1. Akira:
a. Folklorist (based on Yanagita Kunio?): “You know, I set out for the North, hoping to gather stories from up country. The fact is, I’ve turned into one of those stories.” 2. Yuri: a. daughter of a deceased Hachiman Shrine priest
b. Akira about Yuri’s uncle Takuzen: “I shouldn’t say this in front of Yuri but -- he’s not a good sort. He’d thrust his niece on anyone handy-- altogether a bad customer.” c. Arrow with white feathers
3. Gakuen Yamasawa:
a. Academic and Pure Land Priest
4. Yuki:
a. Female dragon deity bound to Demon Pond. In love
with a dragon deity of another pond and wants to leave to join him.
C. Is this a conflict between modern rationalism and premodern faith? D. Dragons and Rain
1. Yashagaike (Demon Pond)
Located on a high ridge between Fukui, Shiga and Gifu prefectures, just below Mikunigatake (Three Province Peak). According to Cody Poulton, it is a spooky place: “My visit there was accompanied by rolling thunder and sudden squalls of cold wind on what had been a clear and hot summer day. The breeze sends ripples across the surface of the pond that resembles scales on a snake.” (p. 168) 2. Dragons as personification of water (Dragon King image) : 3. Legend of Demon Pond (Broken links: Japanese version, English version) a. Dates from first year of reign of Emperor Saga (810). Tells of how, during a drought, a landowner in the province of Minô promised to sacrifice one of his daughters to the dragon god. In gratitude, the rains began to fall again. The same night, the landowner was visited by a young man who, revealing himself to be the god, requested that he make good his promise and hand over the girl. The landowner’s daughter, Yashahime offered herself willingly, dressed in wedding clothes and was presented to the god, still in human form. The god promised the girl’s father that he would look after her, and the two plunged into the river, swimming upstream to its source in Demon Pond. There Yashahime, as wife of the dragon god, became a dragon goddess. Ceremonies for rain are held at the pond, and you can see hair combs and cosmetics in the shallow waters. b. Legend of “Human Pillars” as sacrifices when bridges are built; sacrifices become protective deities (no actual evidence this was ever done) Gakuen: "The very sight of your wife's unearthly beauty makes me think: maybe heaven made Yuri for this village, gave it a bell ringer, too. You and she are the gods, the pillars of this village. To be sure, Yuri's a goddess."
4. Dragons and water in Saint Narukami 5. Bando Tamasaburo in Orochi (Great Serpent) a. Part 1 b. Part 2 c. Part 3
E. Fire-breathing Dragons and the forging of bells 1. Noh Dôjôji story: a. Why are women excluded from dedication
ceremonies for bells?
b. “Marriage” of maiden to dragon deity of forge
F. Two competing legends about pacification of local deities by Buddhist
and Shinto priests
1. Ringing the bell three times a day: Legend of Saint Taicho of Etsu who locked up the dragon goddess in Demon Pond 2. Tying young girl to ox and sacrificing her to the dragon deity to get rain to fall a. competing versions of the story, one positive (Takuzen), one negative (Akira) 3. Which legend does Kyôka seem to favor? Why?
a. Two forms of giri 1) sacrifice of individual for greater communal good
2) obligation that has to be fulfilled because of a promise a) Akira's promise to help Yuri and ring the bell b) Yuki's promise to not destroy the valley if the bell is rung c. ninjo :
G. How might the structure of Demon Pond be like a Mugen Noh? H. Staging:
V. Comparison of Five Versions of Demon Pond
A. Five versions
1. Kabukiza 2008 filmed performance version ("Demon Pond Kabuki") starring Tamasaburo as Yuri. This is the version that is closest to Taisho era Shinpa. (images)
2. The Demon Pond 1979 movie version ("DemonPond"). Director Shinoda Masahiro with Bando Tamasaburo as both Yuri and Yuki. Shinoda also did Love Suicides at Amijima,English title Double Suicide (1969). (images)
3. Hanagumi Shibai and Neo Kabuki (old webpage in English) 1991 filmed performance version ("Demon Pond Hanagumi Shibai part 1") (images)
Kanô Yukikazu (b. 1960)
4. The Demon Pond 2005 filmed performance version ("Demon Pond Miike"). Director Miike Takashi. Miike Takashi's version of the story is set in some undefined post-war period rather than the 1920s or 30s and this political sentiment is further strengthened by reference to Japan's defeat in WW II. (images)
brief excerpt of opening scene on youtube (French subtitles)
5. Opera version: opening scene, scene in which Yuki reads her lover's letter!
B. Questions to consider for each version
1. What time period is it understood to be happening in? How does that effect our understanding of events? Does it make it more political or less?
2. How do the different directors cut scenes or otherwise change the original script? How does this effect our understanding of the play?
a. For example, Shinoda Masahiro and Hanagumi Shibai cut the intiial scene between Akira and Yuri; the Kabuki and Miike Tadashi versions include it.
3. How is the play staged? Where is the bell? The house? In which space do the supernatural and natural interact? What influence can you see from traditional theater staging practices?
a. Eg. How is the last act, in which the villagers are killed by a giant wave of water and transformed into fish, staged?
4. Costuming: how does the costuming for Akira, Yuri etc. reflect the time period chosen? How are the supernatural characters portrayed? What influences from Noh, Kyogen, and Kabuki can you see?
5. Music: pay attention to how the musical accompaniment influences our response to the story. What kind of music is chosen for the most important moments?
a. Shinoda's film version (Tomita Isao, using lots of theramin for the supernatural)
b. Hanagumi Shibai: mixture of original and western music -- 3 main themes (original music: Yuri-Akira theme, Yuki-court theme, Yuri's lullaby theme)
c. Miike Takashi: music by Endo Koji
C All videos on google docs under Demon Pond
Demon Pond (1979 film version directed by Shinoda Masahiro with Bando Tamasaburo playing both Yuri and Yuki (recently restored and re-released at Cannes) 2 begins with Gakuen on train 16:45 takes a long time to reveal Bando Tamasaburo 1:00 catfish priest bringing letter to Yuki 1:06 Yuki reads letter Yuki being scolded about leaving pond 1:36 Yuri surrounded by crowd and tied to ox Demon Pond Hanagumi Shibai (Note that this was recorded incorrectly. To watch you have to start at 1:00-to the end and then go back to the beginning) 1:00:00 play begins with raising of bell and entrance of Gakuen Disc starts with catfish part 6:40 letter reading(p. 143) and admonishment by Lady Myriad 10:30 audience brought down 18: "what do I know of Gods and Buddhas" (p. 147) and Yuri enters to lullaby 22: everyone sings lullaby (audience enouraged as well) 23:34 group photo and short intermission/interview with director Kano Yukikazu 28 villagers capture Yuri 31 speech p. 149 about trussing Yuri up 34 tie Yuri to back of ox, parading her around 46:30 Kozo gives "a woman's a woman" speech (p. 154) 53: final fight, slow motion at 53:50 57:30 cuts bell rope
Demon Pond Miike (Film version by Miike Takashi)
1:16 Yuki reading letter p. 143 1:52:12 Assemblyman says you should do it for your country p. 154 Sumo wrestler tries to stop the attack on Akira and Yuri (so one villager in this version switches sides) 1:57 Yuri dies 2:04 Yuki arrives and in the end Yuri and Akira are brought back to life Demon Pond Kabuki (with Bando Tamasaburo as Yuri only; the most Shinpa-like version)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Is there a political message to Demon Pond? For example, can you see a political message in the standoff between the villagers on the one hand and Akira/Yuri/Gakuen on the other? How might it correlate with the historical situation in 1911 (rise of nationalism with the successful Sino-Japan and Russian-Japan wars, creation of the Thought Police to suppress radical intellectuals and artists). Provide concrete examples of dialogue to support your position. Why do you think so many directors feel that the story is relevant to contemporary issues?
p. 154: Kôzô: “Friends, Friends! Let’s be sensible. Stop all
this tomfoolery. A woman’s a woman. How d’ye think she takes a bath? Bah, what
nonsense. Listen, like it or not, it’s the duty of any man worth his salt, if
it be for his country, to stick his wife* and go off to war. That, my friend, is
the spirit of our fatherland--Bushidô [Way of the Warrior], in other
words. You too would be willing to lay down your life for your fellow man to
save your village, ‘cuz it’s all for the state, our fatherland. Compared to
that, what’s so hard about letting the missus ride an ox for the night? I’ve
got an open mind, I’ll tolerate a sniveler or two, but someone with a quick
temper’d take you for traitors.”
*Movie translation: "kill your wife before going off to war so as to not be distracted"
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