"Daikyoji Mukashi-Goyomi(大経師昔暦)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident.
Mohei(茂兵衛) and Osan(おさん) who committed adultery were crucified and Tama(玉) who helped their illicit affair was beheaded after being dragged around the town in 1683. Osan's husband was Daikyoji Ishun(大経師以春) and Mohei was one of Ishun's top apprentices.
Daikyoji family line was forced to cease to exist in the 12th month in 1684 because Ishun asked the magistrate's office in Edo to have an exclusive right to issue calendars without permission from the competent authorities.
The play was premiered in 1715 corresponding to 32 years after their death.
Daikyoji was an excellent scroll mounter(picture framer) under the patronage of the Imperial Court and was entitled to issue calendars.
The play starts at Ishun's house in Kyoto on the 1st day of the 11th month in the lunar calendar(corresponding to December 7th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1684.
Ishun brings new calendars to the members of the imperial family from early in the morning and is served with sake at each stop. Ishun's apprentices pack new calendars to send to Edo and Osaka, arrange for selling in Kyoto and prepare to give a great feast with his relatives.
Osan consults with Mohei to help her father in serious economic trouble. Although Mohei tries to come up with the money for her father without telling Ishun, another apprentice indicts his illegal actions. Mohei maintains secrecy about her father under torture. Tama, who is a apprentice and loves him, takes the rap although he brushed off her advances. Ishun is incensed by her conduct.
That night Osan goes to Tama's room to thank her, and Osan learns that Ishun comes in Tama's room to hit on her every night. Tama says that she loves Mohei although he doesn't requite her love. Ishun was outraged because Tama dismissed him with a laugh and stood up for Mohei. Osan switch places with Tama to put down and punish her husband.
However, it is Mohei who steals into Tama's room. He comes to her to return her love. Mohei and Osan are unaware of getting the wrong person. They notice their catastrophic mistake and run away from home.
They go to her parents' home. Although taking a harsh attitude to her, her father gives money to her by pretending to drop his wallet. Chikamatsu describes the feelings of aging parents very well.
Moonlight silhouettes them and two poles against the wall. Their silhouettes lap over ones of the poles as if they are crucified upon a cross.
Tama is taken to her uncle and is resigned to die for her master. She frets about Mohei and Osan. Her uncle puts a crime upon her and cuts her head off to save them.
It doesn't make sense to me.
His unwise behavior precludes the possibility of taking testimony from the only witness. They are captured, but a Buddhist monk her father knows saves them on the way to a venue for public executions. Unlike the true story, this play has a happy ending.
She misses her husband who is her childhood friend during her life on the run. However, most of the audience think Mohei is more attractive than her husband and Mohei and Osan are a good match. Didn't they really have romantic feelings for each other?
The movie named The Crucified Lovers (近松物語, Chikamatsu Monogatari) in 1954 and the TV drama named Osan no Koi(おさんの恋:Osan's love) in 1985 depict the love of them.
There are some scroll mounters in Tokyo that was given the title of "Daikyoji" as an excellent scroll mounter by the Edo Shogunate.
They had the right to bear a surname and to wear a sword during the Edo period. They had access to the Edo Castle. Most commoners were not allowed to have a surname in the Edo Period.
Showing posts with label BUNRAKU_chikamatsu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BUNRAKU_chikamatsu. Show all posts
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Shinju ten no Amijima
"Shinju ten no Amijima(心中天網島:The Love Suicides at Amijima)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門). It's thought to be based on an actual incident that occurred at Daicho-ji Temple in Amijima on the 14th or 15th day of the 10th month in the lunar calendar (November 13th or 14th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1720.
Under a full moon, the 28-year-old paper merchant named Jihei(治兵衛) and the 19-year-old courtesan named Koharu(小春) head for Daicho-ji to commit suicide together while taking a side glance at several familiar bridges.
He stabs her to death to the sound of Buddhist chants and hangs himself shortly after the chants end.
He has a wife and children, but he is wrapped up in Koharu. They come to love each other. He has to make a substantial payment to buy the freedom of Koharu. However he can't raise the necessary money. He is obsessed with committing suicide together.
His wife Osan sends Koharu a letter saying she asks Koharu to split up with him for the sake of saving his life. Koharu pretends to be disgusted at him, but he can't perceive her true feelings. He hears another man intends to buy the freedom of Koharu, and that makes him feel animosity against Koharu.
Hearing that from him, Osan perceives Koharu to be resolved to kill herself. Osan tries to come up with the money to save Koharu's life and encourages him to buy the freedom of Koharu. However, Osan's father interrupts her.
Jihei and Koharu prepare to die.
Daicho-ji Temple belongs to Jodo shu which is one of Japanese traditional Buddhist sects. Buddhist monks belonging to Jodo shu used to spend night and day chanting sutras from the night of the 5th day to the morning of the 15th day in the 10th month in the lunar calendar.
They commit suicide on the early morning of the 15th day when the ritual ends.
This ritual derives from Shinshogokuraku-ji Temple(真正極楽寺) known as Shinnyo-do (真如堂) in Kyoto. Now it is held at many temples belonging to Jodo shu in October or November.
Chikamatsu writes up their death agony. The killing scenes in his plays are so real.
She thrashes about with pain because his knife missed her vital organs. He finishes her off by thrusting a knife into her again. He writhes and kicks after hanging up. Without feeling, Chikamatsu says it's like a calabash swaying in the wind.
Koharu(小春) is an another name for the 10th month in the lunar calendar. Chikamatsu says the lovers break up in the 10th month due to the absence of the Japanese gods.
It is said that the Japanese gods gather at Izumo Taisha Shrine and have a meeting to make a good match between people in the month.
Under a full moon, the 28-year-old paper merchant named Jihei(治兵衛) and the 19-year-old courtesan named Koharu(小春) head for Daicho-ji to commit suicide together while taking a side glance at several familiar bridges.
He stabs her to death to the sound of Buddhist chants and hangs himself shortly after the chants end.
He has a wife and children, but he is wrapped up in Koharu. They come to love each other. He has to make a substantial payment to buy the freedom of Koharu. However he can't raise the necessary money. He is obsessed with committing suicide together.
His wife Osan sends Koharu a letter saying she asks Koharu to split up with him for the sake of saving his life. Koharu pretends to be disgusted at him, but he can't perceive her true feelings. He hears another man intends to buy the freedom of Koharu, and that makes him feel animosity against Koharu.
Hearing that from him, Osan perceives Koharu to be resolved to kill herself. Osan tries to come up with the money to save Koharu's life and encourages him to buy the freedom of Koharu. However, Osan's father interrupts her.
Jihei and Koharu prepare to die.
Daicho-ji Temple belongs to Jodo shu which is one of Japanese traditional Buddhist sects. Buddhist monks belonging to Jodo shu used to spend night and day chanting sutras from the night of the 5th day to the morning of the 15th day in the 10th month in the lunar calendar.
They commit suicide on the early morning of the 15th day when the ritual ends.
This ritual derives from Shinshogokuraku-ji Temple(真正極楽寺) known as Shinnyo-do (真如堂) in Kyoto. Now it is held at many temples belonging to Jodo shu in October or November.
Chikamatsu writes up their death agony. The killing scenes in his plays are so real.
She thrashes about with pain because his knife missed her vital organs. He finishes her off by thrusting a knife into her again. He writhes and kicks after hanging up. Without feeling, Chikamatsu says it's like a calabash swaying in the wind.
Koharu(小春) is an another name for the 10th month in the lunar calendar. Chikamatsu says the lovers break up in the 10th month due to the absence of the Japanese gods.
It is said that the Japanese gods gather at Izumo Taisha Shrine and have a meeting to make a good match between people in the month.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Shinshu Kawanakajima Gassen and Honcho Nijushi Kou
It is said that Yamamoto Kansuke (山本勘助) served Takeda Shingen(武田信玄, 1521-1573) as a military strategist. Shingen was a warlord of Kai Province (now Nagano Prefecture) and is known for the battles of Kawanakajima (川中島の戦い) with Uesugi Kenshin(上杉謙信, 1530-1578) of Echigo Province (now Niigata Prefecture). The five major battles took place in 1553, 1555, 1557, 1561 and 1564.
According to the Kouyou Gunkan (甲陽軍鑑, a record of the military exploits of the Takeda family), Yamamoto Kansuke was blind in one eye and didn't have full use of his one leg, started out on a training journey, was employed at a high salary by Shingen and was killed during the battle of Kawanakajima in 1561.
Only the Kouyou Gunkan incorporates the life story of Yamamoto Kansuke, so most people inferred from it that he was not a real person. In recent decades, several correspondences that confirms the existence of him were found. He was thought to be an aide close to Shingen, but his real life remains a mystery.
"Shinshu Kawanakajima Gassen(信州川中島合戦)"is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on the battle. It was premiered in the 8th month in 1721.
The monologue of Kansuke's mother(fictional character) hit me in my mind.
She was born in Owari, grew up in Suruga, married into a family in Mikawa, lived with her son who was masterless samurai in Shinano and lived with her son who served Shingen in Kai. She was going to live out her last days there and never thought she would die in Echigo. She could not find a place where she can live in peace to the end.
For the first time after age 70, she finds out her permanent home called the Pure Land in the West(西方浄土) where people are relieved from suffering, by dying.
There is a common saying that woman has no home of her own in the three worlds(女三界に家なし). It means that woman can't get places in this world. It was once thought that woman had to obey her parents when she was a child, to become a trailing spouse after marriage and to obey her children when she was old. It shows woman's low status of that time in society.
In addition, she lived at a time of war and turmoil. She chose suicide to prevent her son from submitting to negotiations in return for freeing her held hostage. Death would have relieved many people from suffering.
Kenshin changed his name several times. His names include Nagao Kagetora (長尾景虎), Uesugi Masatora (上杉政虎) and Uesugi Terutora (上杉輝虎). Naoe Yamashiro-no-kami(直江山城守) in the above play indicates Naoe Kanetsugu (直江兼続,1560-1620) who was a chief retainer of Uesugi clan. His life was featured in a NHK TV drama in 2009.
Kenshin was both a fearsome warlord and a priest who believed particularly in Vaisravana (毘沙門天, guardian god of Buddhism). I have an image of Kenshin as the leader of a religious cult. He was a unique individual. Meanwhile, Shingen sat in the seat of power by purging his father from Kai Province. They tried to put Zenkoji temple(善光寺) in Nagano City under the care of them. Now their mortuary tablets lay alongside at the temple.
Both of Shingen and Kenshin died not in battle but of disease. After their death, their sons, Uesugi Kagekatsu(上杉景勝) and Takeda Katsuyori(武田勝頼) built an military alliance against massive military forces of Oda Nobunaga(織田信長), and Shingen's daughter Kikuhime(菊姫)was given in marriage to Kagekatsu.
Although Kagekatsu delivered reinforcements, Takeda family went to ruin before its arrival because of the late arrival due to dialogue discrepancy between Kagekatsu and commander of the reinforcement. Kagekatsu made his retainer search for Katsuyori and his son after its destruction.
It is said that Kikuhime was a beautiful and intelligent lady. Kagekatsu and she had no child, but she endeared herself to him and people around him. After Shingen's another son defected to the domain of Kagekatsu, Uesugi clan gave special treatment to him and his descendants as members of a domain lord's family.
It is said that Yaegakihime(八重垣姫) in a bunraku play named "Honcho Nijushi Kou(本朝廿四孝)" is modeled after Kikuhime. It was written by Chikamatsu Hanji(近松半二) and others and was based on Shinshu Kawanakajima Gassen and others. It was premiered on the 14th day of the 1st month in 1766.
The story highlights Yaegakihime's dramatic movement that presents her passionate love. Yaegakihime crosses over the frozen lake with the help of a samurai warrior helmet and foxes to protect her fiance from an assassination attempt by her father. The helmet was given by the god of Suwa Myoujin and the foxes are messengers of the god.
While Yaegakihime takes a drastic action for the love of her fiance, she has a dignified elegance. It's a challenging role for puppeteers, so it's regarded as one of the three major princesses in bunraku plays.
I was absolutely enthralled by Yaegakihime manipulated by puppeteer Yoshida Minosuke.
Nijushi Kou(廿四孝) means the 24 filial exemplars in Confucianism. The title comes from the third act of the play based on one of the exemplars.
According to the Kouyou Gunkan (甲陽軍鑑, a record of the military exploits of the Takeda family), Yamamoto Kansuke was blind in one eye and didn't have full use of his one leg, started out on a training journey, was employed at a high salary by Shingen and was killed during the battle of Kawanakajima in 1561.
Only the Kouyou Gunkan incorporates the life story of Yamamoto Kansuke, so most people inferred from it that he was not a real person. In recent decades, several correspondences that confirms the existence of him were found. He was thought to be an aide close to Shingen, but his real life remains a mystery.
"Shinshu Kawanakajima Gassen(信州川中島合戦)"is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on the battle. It was premiered in the 8th month in 1721.
The monologue of Kansuke's mother(fictional character) hit me in my mind.
She was born in Owari, grew up in Suruga, married into a family in Mikawa, lived with her son who was masterless samurai in Shinano and lived with her son who served Shingen in Kai. She was going to live out her last days there and never thought she would die in Echigo. She could not find a place where she can live in peace to the end.
For the first time after age 70, she finds out her permanent home called the Pure Land in the West(西方浄土) where people are relieved from suffering, by dying.
There is a common saying that woman has no home of her own in the three worlds(女三界に家なし). It means that woman can't get places in this world. It was once thought that woman had to obey her parents when she was a child, to become a trailing spouse after marriage and to obey her children when she was old. It shows woman's low status of that time in society.
In addition, she lived at a time of war and turmoil. She chose suicide to prevent her son from submitting to negotiations in return for freeing her held hostage. Death would have relieved many people from suffering.
Kenshin changed his name several times. His names include Nagao Kagetora (長尾景虎), Uesugi Masatora (上杉政虎) and Uesugi Terutora (上杉輝虎). Naoe Yamashiro-no-kami(直江山城守) in the above play indicates Naoe Kanetsugu (直江兼続,1560-1620) who was a chief retainer of Uesugi clan. His life was featured in a NHK TV drama in 2009.
Kenshin was both a fearsome warlord and a priest who believed particularly in Vaisravana (毘沙門天, guardian god of Buddhism). I have an image of Kenshin as the leader of a religious cult. He was a unique individual. Meanwhile, Shingen sat in the seat of power by purging his father from Kai Province. They tried to put Zenkoji temple(善光寺) in Nagano City under the care of them. Now their mortuary tablets lay alongside at the temple.
Both of Shingen and Kenshin died not in battle but of disease. After their death, their sons, Uesugi Kagekatsu(上杉景勝) and Takeda Katsuyori(武田勝頼) built an military alliance against massive military forces of Oda Nobunaga(織田信長), and Shingen's daughter Kikuhime(菊姫)was given in marriage to Kagekatsu.
Although Kagekatsu delivered reinforcements, Takeda family went to ruin before its arrival because of the late arrival due to dialogue discrepancy between Kagekatsu and commander of the reinforcement. Kagekatsu made his retainer search for Katsuyori and his son after its destruction.
It is said that Kikuhime was a beautiful and intelligent lady. Kagekatsu and she had no child, but she endeared herself to him and people around him. After Shingen's another son defected to the domain of Kagekatsu, Uesugi clan gave special treatment to him and his descendants as members of a domain lord's family.
It is said that Yaegakihime(八重垣姫) in a bunraku play named "Honcho Nijushi Kou(本朝廿四孝)" is modeled after Kikuhime. It was written by Chikamatsu Hanji(近松半二) and others and was based on Shinshu Kawanakajima Gassen and others. It was premiered on the 14th day of the 1st month in 1766.
The story highlights Yaegakihime's dramatic movement that presents her passionate love. Yaegakihime crosses over the frozen lake with the help of a samurai warrior helmet and foxes to protect her fiance from an assassination attempt by her father. The helmet was given by the god of Suwa Myoujin and the foxes are messengers of the god.
While Yaegakihime takes a drastic action for the love of her fiance, she has a dignified elegance. It's a challenging role for puppeteers, so it's regarded as one of the three major princesses in bunraku plays.
I was absolutely enthralled by Yaegakihime manipulated by puppeteer Yoshida Minosuke.
Nijushi Kou(廿四孝) means the 24 filial exemplars in Confucianism. The title comes from the third act of the play based on one of the exemplars.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Yari no Gonza Kasane Katabira
After the typhoon passed, the lowest temperatures became below 25 degrees C for the first time in a month. I got a full night's sleep after so long. It's going to be a boiling hot day and sweltering night tomorrow.
"Yari no Gonza Kasane Katabira(鑓の権三重帷子)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident that happened on the 17th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar (August 23th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1717.
It was premiered on the 22th day of the 8th month of the same year. 36-year-old Toyo(とよ) left her husband Masai Soumai(正井宗味), who is a tea master of the Matsue clan, and going off with a 24-year-old member of the Matsue clan, who is her daughter's fiance, to Osaka on the 8th day of the 6th month. Soumai and her brother killed them on a bridge on the 17th day of the 7th month. Samurai was allowed to kill his wife who committed adultery.
Yari no Gonza(鑓の権三) was a real person who was a former samurai and became a gangster. There was a popular song about him.
The heroine of the story is Osai(おさゐ). Her husband Asaka Ichinoshin(浅香市之進) is a lowly warrior of the Matsue clan, but he is given an important position as a tea master.
Although tea ceremony is regarded as one of accomplishments for women now, it is incorporated ideas from Zen Buddhism and used to be for members of the warrior or samurai class as a mental discipline.
Especially practicing tea ceremony was essential to survival for the feudal warlords during a period of provincial wars. Most dominant warlords appreciated and often held a tea ceremony.
The host and guests of tea ceremony cherish the encounter in the tea room as a once-in-a-lifetime one. The guests at that time might have met each other again as enemies.
A tea-ceremony house was often used for secret meetings between feudal warlords.
The house creates a closed space and its abnormally-small door prevents visitors wearing a sword from entering it. The guests of a tea ceremony pass around a bowl of tea, so it's impossible to administer poison with intent to kill a hostile warloard.
The house served as the meeting ground for cultural figures in the peaceful Edo Period. In this story, only one member of Asaka's family is initiated into tea master's mysteries. It causes the incident. Sasano Gonza(笹野権三), who is Ichinoshin's disciple, gets engaged to his daughter in order to become his successor although Gonza has a lover.
Gonza visits Osai secretly to read esoteric writing during her husband's absence late at night. She accuse him of infidelity. A man sees two alone together. I suppose her overblown anger shows a feeling of jealousy.
The 47 warriors of the Ako clan killed Kira Kozukenosuke in revenge for their lord's death in 1703. Otaka Tadao(大高 忠雄,1672-1703) was a lowly warrior of the Ako clan, but he was well known as a haiku poet.
Yamada Souhen(山田 宗徧), famous tea master, received Kira's patronage. Otaka Tadao apprenticed himself to Souhen by using his connections with
cultural figures and found out the dates of the tea ceremony at Kira's house.
"Yari no Gonza Kasane Katabira(鑓の権三重帷子)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident that happened on the 17th day of the 7th month in the lunar calendar (August 23th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1717.
It was premiered on the 22th day of the 8th month of the same year. 36-year-old Toyo(とよ) left her husband Masai Soumai(正井宗味), who is a tea master of the Matsue clan, and going off with a 24-year-old member of the Matsue clan, who is her daughter's fiance, to Osaka on the 8th day of the 6th month. Soumai and her brother killed them on a bridge on the 17th day of the 7th month. Samurai was allowed to kill his wife who committed adultery.
Yari no Gonza(鑓の権三) was a real person who was a former samurai and became a gangster. There was a popular song about him.
The heroine of the story is Osai(おさゐ). Her husband Asaka Ichinoshin(浅香市之進) is a lowly warrior of the Matsue clan, but he is given an important position as a tea master.
Although tea ceremony is regarded as one of accomplishments for women now, it is incorporated ideas from Zen Buddhism and used to be for members of the warrior or samurai class as a mental discipline.
Especially practicing tea ceremony was essential to survival for the feudal warlords during a period of provincial wars. Most dominant warlords appreciated and often held a tea ceremony.
The host and guests of tea ceremony cherish the encounter in the tea room as a once-in-a-lifetime one. The guests at that time might have met each other again as enemies.
A tea-ceremony house was often used for secret meetings between feudal warlords.
The house creates a closed space and its abnormally-small door prevents visitors wearing a sword from entering it. The guests of a tea ceremony pass around a bowl of tea, so it's impossible to administer poison with intent to kill a hostile warloard.
The house served as the meeting ground for cultural figures in the peaceful Edo Period. In this story, only one member of Asaka's family is initiated into tea master's mysteries. It causes the incident. Sasano Gonza(笹野権三), who is Ichinoshin's disciple, gets engaged to his daughter in order to become his successor although Gonza has a lover.
Gonza visits Osai secretly to read esoteric writing during her husband's absence late at night. She accuse him of infidelity. A man sees two alone together. I suppose her overblown anger shows a feeling of jealousy.
The 47 warriors of the Ako clan killed Kira Kozukenosuke in revenge for their lord's death in 1703. Otaka Tadao(大高 忠雄,1672-1703) was a lowly warrior of the Ako clan, but he was well known as a haiku poet.
Yamada Souhen(山田 宗徧), famous tea master, received Kira's patronage. Otaka Tadao apprenticed himself to Souhen by using his connections with
cultural figures and found out the dates of the tea ceremony at Kira's house.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
the end of the rainy season and The Gion Festival
The Japan Meteorological Agency announced the end of the rainy season in many areas including Tokyo today. It is predicted that scorching hot days with temperatures near 35
degrees Celsius will continue for a week.
The Gion Festival is being held in Kyoto from July 1st to the 31st. It was originally started to counteract the epidemic spreading across Japan in 869.
The highlight of the festival is the Yamahoko-junko(山鉾巡行), a parade of 32 beautifully decorated floats on the 17th. The floats are decorated with old textiles and paintings by famous painters of the Edo Period, and are sculptured by famous artisans in the Edo Period.
The textiles includes tapestries made in 15th-century and 16th-century Belgium, ones in the Ming dynasty(1368-1644) of China, one in Mughal-era Pakistan(1526-1858) and ones in Persia. So the floats are represented as a "moving museum." Replicas of them or new tapestries are also used in place of old ones.
The Kyoto summer is very hot, but people in Kyoto realize that summer has come by the festival.
"Horikawa Nami no Tsuzumi(堀川波鼓)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident that happened on the 7th day of the 6th month in the lunar calendar (July 16th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1706.
A member of the Tottori clan was transferred to Edo far away from his family in the 6th month, 1705. On the 15th day of 5th month in 1706, he came home. On the 27th day of 5th month, he killed his wife because of her adultery. On the 4th day of 6th month, he went to Kyoto with his wife's sister. On the 7th day of 6th month, during the Gion Festival, he killed his wife's secret lover.
Samurai was allowed to kill the man who committed adultery with his wife.
In the play, his wife Tane(たね) is fond of drink and let her drinking take control. It precipitates her ruin.
In the Chikamatsu's early plays, villains entrap lead characters to destruction so that the audience can empathize with them.
However, there are no villains in his late plays. He becomes convinced that he can touches the hearts of the audience by depicting weakness of one's character which cause a fatal mistake.
Hanging his summer clothes out on a sunny day in spring, she think of him. She is eagerly waiting for her husband's return. She covers for her loneliness with playing tsuzumi(traditional handy drum).
Although she makes her koto master drink to stop his mouth, she high-handedly make a pass at him under the influence of drink. It goes against the image of a samurai's wife. She is brutally honest. So today's audience can empathize with her.
degrees Celsius will continue for a week.
The Gion Festival is being held in Kyoto from July 1st to the 31st. It was originally started to counteract the epidemic spreading across Japan in 869.
The highlight of the festival is the Yamahoko-junko(山鉾巡行), a parade of 32 beautifully decorated floats on the 17th. The floats are decorated with old textiles and paintings by famous painters of the Edo Period, and are sculptured by famous artisans in the Edo Period.
The textiles includes tapestries made in 15th-century and 16th-century Belgium, ones in the Ming dynasty(1368-1644) of China, one in Mughal-era Pakistan(1526-1858) and ones in Persia. So the floats are represented as a "moving museum." Replicas of them or new tapestries are also used in place of old ones.
The Kyoto summer is very hot, but people in Kyoto realize that summer has come by the festival.
"Horikawa Nami no Tsuzumi(堀川波鼓)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident that happened on the 7th day of the 6th month in the lunar calendar (July 16th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1706.
A member of the Tottori clan was transferred to Edo far away from his family in the 6th month, 1705. On the 15th day of 5th month in 1706, he came home. On the 27th day of 5th month, he killed his wife because of her adultery. On the 4th day of 6th month, he went to Kyoto with his wife's sister. On the 7th day of 6th month, during the Gion Festival, he killed his wife's secret lover.
Samurai was allowed to kill the man who committed adultery with his wife.
In the play, his wife Tane(たね) is fond of drink and let her drinking take control. It precipitates her ruin.
In the Chikamatsu's early plays, villains entrap lead characters to destruction so that the audience can empathize with them.
However, there are no villains in his late plays. He becomes convinced that he can touches the hearts of the audience by depicting weakness of one's character which cause a fatal mistake.
Hanging his summer clothes out on a sunny day in spring, she think of him. She is eagerly waiting for her husband's return. She covers for her loneliness with playing tsuzumi(traditional handy drum).
Although she makes her koto master drink to stop his mouth, she high-handedly make a pass at him under the influence of drink. It goes against the image of a samurai's wife. She is brutally honest. So today's audience can empathize with her.
Monday, May 31, 2010
What did a dead wife ask her surviving husband?
The 21-year-old Yohei(与兵衛) and the 15-year-old Okame(お亀) committed suicide together on the 17th day of the 5th month in the lunar calender(in the end of June in the Gregorian calendar). The 17th day of every month is a day believed to have a special relation with Kannon. But Only Yohei survived.
Okame was a daughter of an antique shop owner. Yohei who was her cousin married into her family. But he was entrapped by her father's mistress, and they decided to commit suicide together.
"Uzuki no Iroage(卯月の潤色:Redyeing of Uzuki)" starts here.
Yohei, her surviving husband, became a monk about a year after her death. He still sees her in his mind's eye. Her image is as hazy as a half-remembered dream. (Chikamatsu often shows poetic images like a movie.)
When he dozes off remembering her, he hears her voice. "Do you have a Yohei residing with you?" he hears her voice approaching. He gives an answer for joy and steps out of his house. She looks just the way she used to and asks him excitedly, staying on a palanquin, "It's hot... can you get me a glass of water?"
"Where did you go on a palanquin?"
"Today is the 17th day of the 4th month, so I just visited 22 shrines and prayed that you get along with my father." She carries on a pleasant conversation with him.
"I came to you because I wanted to ask you something. My aunt heard that Yohei often seemed to spend the time at adult entertainment shops. This question has bothered me for a long time. Is it true?"
With a happy grin, he turn the stove on to put water on for tea.
However, fire strikes her weak point. She makes herself invisible in front of him.
Through spiritual mediums, she let him know she wanted for him to stay alive and become a monk. Survivors of love suicide supposed to be executed, but he wasn't. Because his parents and relatives desperately begged for his life.
However, he didn't spend years as a ascetic monk, so he is not able to let her rest peacefully in her grave. He realizes that he has her chained to this world as long as he lives.
And he kills himself on the 17th day of the 4th month in the lunar calender(in the end of May in the Gregorian calendar).
"Uzuki no Iroage(卯月の潤色:Redyeing of Uzuki)" is the sequel to "Uzuki no Momiji(卯月紅葉: Maple leaves in April)". This bunraku play was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門). It's thought to be based on an actual but unidentified incident.
This play has never been performanced according to my best recollection, but it's one of my favorites.
Okame was a daughter of an antique shop owner. Yohei who was her cousin married into her family. But he was entrapped by her father's mistress, and they decided to commit suicide together.
"Uzuki no Iroage(卯月の潤色:Redyeing of Uzuki)" starts here.
Yohei, her surviving husband, became a monk about a year after her death. He still sees her in his mind's eye. Her image is as hazy as a half-remembered dream. (Chikamatsu often shows poetic images like a movie.)
When he dozes off remembering her, he hears her voice. "Do you have a Yohei residing with you?" he hears her voice approaching. He gives an answer for joy and steps out of his house. She looks just the way she used to and asks him excitedly, staying on a palanquin, "It's hot... can you get me a glass of water?"
"Where did you go on a palanquin?"
"Today is the 17th day of the 4th month, so I just visited 22 shrines and prayed that you get along with my father." She carries on a pleasant conversation with him.
"I came to you because I wanted to ask you something. My aunt heard that Yohei often seemed to spend the time at adult entertainment shops. This question has bothered me for a long time. Is it true?"
With a happy grin, he turn the stove on to put water on for tea.
However, fire strikes her weak point. She makes herself invisible in front of him.
Through spiritual mediums, she let him know she wanted for him to stay alive and become a monk. Survivors of love suicide supposed to be executed, but he wasn't. Because his parents and relatives desperately begged for his life.
However, he didn't spend years as a ascetic monk, so he is not able to let her rest peacefully in her grave. He realizes that he has her chained to this world as long as he lives.
And he kills himself on the 17th day of the 4th month in the lunar calender(in the end of May in the Gregorian calendar).
"Uzuki no Iroage(卯月の潤色:Redyeing of Uzuki)" is the sequel to "Uzuki no Momiji(卯月紅葉: Maple leaves in April)". This bunraku play was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門). It's thought to be based on an actual but unidentified incident.
This play has never been performanced according to my best recollection, but it's one of my favorites.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Woman-Killer in Oil Hell
"Onnagoroshi Abura no Jigoku(女殺油地獄:Woman-Killer in Oil Hell )" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門). It's thought to be based on an actual incident that occurred on the 4th day of the 5th month in the lunar calendar (on May 29th in the Gregorian calender) in 1721. But it's not unidentified.
The 23-year-old Yohei(与兵衛) killed the 27-year-old Okichi(お吉) because she rejected his appeal to lend him approximately 200,000 yen in a current value.(It's the same as the average starting salary for university graduates in Japan.)
He says, "I was hell-bent on preventing my father from being accused of a crime. I couldn't care less about the others."
He is a prodigal son and borrows money in the parent's name.
His stepfather succeeded his deceased father, who was his boss, to become a shop owner and married his mother. His stepfather can't reproach Yohei with his misconduct. His mother is very strict with Yohei. Yohei's elder brother serves his apprenticeship in another shop. The family members except Yohei care for each other and refrain from speaking their minds.
Okichi's husband runs a shop selling oil for lamp. They married more than 10 years ago and have some children. Yohei and Okichi are neighbors across the street.
He feels comfortable talking with her but don't have a romantic relationship with her.
He portrays her as a woman like a candy fashioned in animal forms- it's good-looking but tastes bad. He is falling head over heels for a courtesan. So his parents asks her to reprove him for his misconduct and sometimes cares for him. When he becomes muddy while fighting together, she helps to remove traces of soil.
He understands his parents' feelings and decides to pay off his debt in order not to give them further trouble. He asks for a loan to her as his last hope, but she don't comply with his request for a loan.
The highlight of the play is the scene of trying to kill her on oil-slicked floor. Afer her death, he attends a funeral for her with a completely innocent face.
Other bunraku writers cast him as a nefarious villain, but Chikamatsu didn't so. Therefore, his play didn't become a hit. It is said that Yohei resembles today's younger generation who snaps and loses their temper quickly.
After the Meiji period, this play is considered to be his masterpiece and is frequently performanced. It has been made into movies several times. Recent movies focuses on a romantic relationship between Yohei and Okichi. Their relation is open to a variety of interpretation.
The 23-year-old Yohei(与兵衛) killed the 27-year-old Okichi(お吉) because she rejected his appeal to lend him approximately 200,000 yen in a current value.(It's the same as the average starting salary for university graduates in Japan.)
He says, "I was hell-bent on preventing my father from being accused of a crime. I couldn't care less about the others."
He is a prodigal son and borrows money in the parent's name.
His stepfather succeeded his deceased father, who was his boss, to become a shop owner and married his mother. His stepfather can't reproach Yohei with his misconduct. His mother is very strict with Yohei. Yohei's elder brother serves his apprenticeship in another shop. The family members except Yohei care for each other and refrain from speaking their minds.
Okichi's husband runs a shop selling oil for lamp. They married more than 10 years ago and have some children. Yohei and Okichi are neighbors across the street.
He feels comfortable talking with her but don't have a romantic relationship with her.
He portrays her as a woman like a candy fashioned in animal forms- it's good-looking but tastes bad. He is falling head over heels for a courtesan. So his parents asks her to reprove him for his misconduct and sometimes cares for him. When he becomes muddy while fighting together, she helps to remove traces of soil.
He understands his parents' feelings and decides to pay off his debt in order not to give them further trouble. He asks for a loan to her as his last hope, but she don't comply with his request for a loan.
The highlight of the play is the scene of trying to kill her on oil-slicked floor. Afer her death, he attends a funeral for her with a completely innocent face.
Other bunraku writers cast him as a nefarious villain, but Chikamatsu didn't so. Therefore, his play didn't become a hit. It is said that Yohei resembles today's younger generation who snaps and loses their temper quickly.
After the Meiji period, this play is considered to be his masterpiece and is frequently performanced. It has been made into movies several times. Recent movies focuses on a romantic relationship between Yohei and Okichi. Their relation is open to a variety of interpretation.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sonezaki Shinjuu
Sonezaki-shinjuu(曽根崎心中: Love Suicides at Sonezaki)
この上は徳様も死なねばならぬしななるが。死ぬる覚悟が聞きたいと、独言になぞらへて。足で問へば、うちうなづき。足首とつて、喉笛なで。自害すると知らせける。
"Toku-sama can only die. Is he prepared to die?" She confirms his willingness by poking him with her foot while pretending to talk to herself. He expresses his intent to die by holding her ankle against his windpipe.
どうで徳様、一所に死ぬる、わしも一所に死ぬるぞやいのと。足にて突けば、縁の下には涙を流し。足を取つて、おし戴き。膝に抱付き、焦れ泣き、女も色につつみかね。互いに物は言はねども。肝と胆とに応えつつ、しめり。
"I will die with Toku-sama no matter what." She conveys her decision to him by poking him with her foot. Under the porch floor, he sheds tears while enveloping her knees in his arms. She also weeps in sympathy. They communicate their feelings to each other without words.
"Sonezaki Shinjuu (曽根崎心中:The Love Suicides at Sonezaki)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident that Tokubei(徳兵衛), then a 25-year-old sales clerk, and Ohatsu(お初), then a 21-year-old courtesan, commited suicide together in the forest of Sonezaki.
It happened on the 7th day of the 4th month in the lunar calendar (May 22th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1703, and the play was premiered on the 7th day of the 5th month in the lunar calendar in the same year.
engawa(縁側):
A veranda-like(or wood deck-like) porch called engawa has the space under its floor. Ohatsu hides him under the porch floor.
He remains there while Kuheiji, who put Tokubei in the deep financial hole, is making advances to her sitting on the end of the floor.
"Toku-sama" is Tokubei's nickname.
In general female puppets have no legs, but it looks as if they have legs by foot puppeteer's handling.
Japanese women's legs were wrapped with kimono. So this play must have shocked audience with the scene he was holding her legs.
In the scene of the lovers' suicide trip, the following first sentence is proverbial one.
この世のなごり 夜もなごり 死にに行く身をたとふれば、
あだしが原の道の霜 一足づつに消えて行く 夢の夢こそあはれなれ
あれ数ふれば暁の 七つの時が六つ鳴りて 残る一つが今生の
鐘の響きの聞き納め 寂滅為楽と響くなり
In the forest of Sonezaki, Ohatsu is frightened to see will-o'-the-wisp. Tokubei tells her, "Two will-o'-the-wisp floating side by side are our souls." She says, "Then we've been already dead..."
Chikamatsu depicts gory details in his plays. I wondered why the killing scenes in his plays were so real.
Because there was a superstition that a person who die a painful death can get to heaven. I heard it in a study session. I guess the superstition partly comforted deceased family members.
この上は徳様も死なねばならぬしななるが。死ぬる覚悟が聞きたいと、独言になぞらへて。足で問へば、うちうなづき。足首とつて、喉笛なで。自害すると知らせける。
"Toku-sama can only die. Is he prepared to die?" She confirms his willingness by poking him with her foot while pretending to talk to herself. He expresses his intent to die by holding her ankle against his windpipe.
どうで徳様、一所に死ぬる、わしも一所に死ぬるぞやいのと。足にて突けば、縁の下には涙を流し。足を取つて、おし戴き。膝に抱付き、焦れ泣き、女も色につつみかね。互いに物は言はねども。肝と胆とに応えつつ、しめり。
"I will die with Toku-sama no matter what." She conveys her decision to him by poking him with her foot. Under the porch floor, he sheds tears while enveloping her knees in his arms. She also weeps in sympathy. They communicate their feelings to each other without words.
"Sonezaki Shinjuu (曽根崎心中:The Love Suicides at Sonezaki)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident that Tokubei(徳兵衛), then a 25-year-old sales clerk, and Ohatsu(お初), then a 21-year-old courtesan, commited suicide together in the forest of Sonezaki.
It happened on the 7th day of the 4th month in the lunar calendar (May 22th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1703, and the play was premiered on the 7th day of the 5th month in the lunar calendar in the same year.
engawa(縁側):
A veranda-like(or wood deck-like) porch called engawa has the space under its floor. Ohatsu hides him under the porch floor.
He remains there while Kuheiji, who put Tokubei in the deep financial hole, is making advances to her sitting on the end of the floor.
"Toku-sama" is Tokubei's nickname.
In general female puppets have no legs, but it looks as if they have legs by foot puppeteer's handling.
Japanese women's legs were wrapped with kimono. So this play must have shocked audience with the scene he was holding her legs.
In the scene of the lovers' suicide trip, the following first sentence is proverbial one.
この世のなごり 夜もなごり 死にに行く身をたとふれば、
あだしが原の道の霜 一足づつに消えて行く 夢の夢こそあはれなれ
あれ数ふれば暁の 七つの時が六つ鳴りて 残る一つが今生の
鐘の響きの聞き納め 寂滅為楽と響くなり
In the forest of Sonezaki, Ohatsu is frightened to see will-o'-the-wisp. Tokubei tells her, "Two will-o'-the-wisp floating side by side are our souls." She says, "Then we've been already dead..."
Chikamatsu depicts gory details in his plays. I wondered why the killing scenes in his plays were so real.
Because there was a superstition that a person who die a painful death can get to heaven. I heard it in a study session. I guess the superstition partly comforted deceased family members.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Shinjuu Yoigoushin
「百度千度去られても・・・」
"If you were forced to get divorced a hundred or a thousand times, …"
"Shinjuu Yoigoushin(心中宵庚申:love suicides on the night of the day of koushin-machi)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident that happened on the sixth day of the fourth month in the lunar calendar (May 20th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1722.
On the day, a greengrocery and his wife committed suicide together despite she was pregnant. Koushin-machi means Buddhist and Shinto ceremonies that people stay awake all through the night.
Surprisingly, the play was premiered on the 22nd day of the fourth month in the lunar calendar in the same year.
Bunraku writers of that time often dramatized actual incidents as they were happening live. The plays were premiered shortly after the incidents, like yellow papers.
Chiyo, this story's heroine, has bad luck with men.
Her first husband ruined himself and she lost her second husband. In additon, her mother-in-law forced her to get divorced during her third husband's absence, and she has been forced to come back to her parent's home.
Her marriages are arranged ones that were once common in rich families. Her father is a very wealthy farmer. People in those days regarded divorces as a shame of her family through no fault of her own.
He tells Chiyo, "If you were forced to get divorced a hundred or a thousand times..." He feels sorry for his daughter and complains of her third husband earnestly. Finally, He says,"I will marry you off to a much better husband than him."
His words should touch daughters' hearts.
We have an image of women in old times as weak victims, but most women in bunraku plays are pretty tough stuffs.
She is very meek compared to her noisy older sister who runs a family business well with her sister's husband. I guess her mother-in-law don't like her weakness and marital history.
Her third husband, Hanbei(半兵衛), was born into a samurai family but was adopted into a greengrocery's family. So he is not able to protest against his stepmother about being hard on her daughter-in-law. Meahwhile, he promises his wife's father not to leave his wife.
Finally, they decide to commit suicide together.
It is thought that the first act of the play was written to describe Hanbei's personality.
However, the content of the act is startling. The act is not performed at the present day, so few people know the content of this act.
He went to Hamamatsu to attend a Buddhist memorial service for his late father. He visits his brother who is a samurai warrior.
Some warriors try to have his brother's heart and their master encourages retainers to have a homosexual encounter!
Hanbei handles the romance with adeptness.
Actually, samurai warriors and monks were allowed to have a homosexual encounter in the Edo Period. It's a well-known fact that some famous samurai warriors were homosexual.
A Japanese film "Taboo (御法度, Gohatto)" directed by Nagisa Ōshima depects male homosexuality in the Edo Period. Recently, a kabuki play that deals with male homosexuality was performanced for the first time in 100 years.
"If you were forced to get divorced a hundred or a thousand times, …"
"Shinjuu Yoigoushin(心中宵庚申:love suicides on the night of the day of koushin-machi)" is a bunraku play, which was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(近松門左衛門) based on an actual incident that happened on the sixth day of the fourth month in the lunar calendar (May 20th in the Gregorian calendar) in 1722.
On the day, a greengrocery and his wife committed suicide together despite she was pregnant. Koushin-machi means Buddhist and Shinto ceremonies that people stay awake all through the night.
Surprisingly, the play was premiered on the 22nd day of the fourth month in the lunar calendar in the same year.
Bunraku writers of that time often dramatized actual incidents as they were happening live. The plays were premiered shortly after the incidents, like yellow papers.
Chiyo, this story's heroine, has bad luck with men.
Her first husband ruined himself and she lost her second husband. In additon, her mother-in-law forced her to get divorced during her third husband's absence, and she has been forced to come back to her parent's home.
Her marriages are arranged ones that were once common in rich families. Her father is a very wealthy farmer. People in those days regarded divorces as a shame of her family through no fault of her own.
He tells Chiyo, "If you were forced to get divorced a hundred or a thousand times..." He feels sorry for his daughter and complains of her third husband earnestly. Finally, He says,"I will marry you off to a much better husband than him."
His words should touch daughters' hearts.
We have an image of women in old times as weak victims, but most women in bunraku plays are pretty tough stuffs.
She is very meek compared to her noisy older sister who runs a family business well with her sister's husband. I guess her mother-in-law don't like her weakness and marital history.
Her third husband, Hanbei(半兵衛), was born into a samurai family but was adopted into a greengrocery's family. So he is not able to protest against his stepmother about being hard on her daughter-in-law. Meahwhile, he promises his wife's father not to leave his wife.
Finally, they decide to commit suicide together.
It is thought that the first act of the play was written to describe Hanbei's personality.
However, the content of the act is startling. The act is not performed at the present day, so few people know the content of this act.
He went to Hamamatsu to attend a Buddhist memorial service for his late father. He visits his brother who is a samurai warrior.
Some warriors try to have his brother's heart and their master encourages retainers to have a homosexual encounter!
Hanbei handles the romance with adeptness.
Actually, samurai warriors and monks were allowed to have a homosexual encounter in the Edo Period. It's a well-known fact that some famous samurai warriors were homosexual.
A Japanese film "Taboo (御法度, Gohatto)" directed by Nagisa Ōshima depects male homosexuality in the Edo Period. Recently, a kabuki play that deals with male homosexuality was performanced for the first time in 100 years.
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