Some Japanese Shakespeare Productions in 2014-15

This essay focuses on some Shakespeare productions in Japan during 2014 and 2015. One is a Bunraku version of Falstaff, for which the writer himself wrote the script. It is an amalgamation of scenes from The Merry Wives of Windsor and those from Henry IV. It was highly reputed and its stage design was awarded a 2014 Yomiuri Theatre Award. Another is a production of Much Ado about Nothing produced by the writer himself in a theatre-in-the-round in his new translation. Another is a production of Macbeth arranged and directed by Mansai Nomura the Kyogen performer. All the characters besides Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were performed by the three witches, suggesting that the whole illusion was produced by the witches. It was highly acclaimed worldwide. Another is a production of Hamlet directed by Yukio Ninagawa, with Tatsuya Fujiwara in the title role. It was brought to the Barbican theatre. There were also many other Shakespeare productions to commemorate the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth

吉田兵次「とやぶれ」

Until the 1920s there was a custom, called toyabure, of calling out a player’s name at a theatre where ningyo-joruri bunraku was preformed. However, there is no one today who knows this custom, even among the elders of the world of bunraku. In bunraku, the story progresses with narrative music called gidayubushi-joruri. Even today, the titles of works to be performed and the names of players are introduced to the audience in kojo, a prologue to joruri performance. Toyabure is a custom similar to kojo and is said to have been made after kojo. The Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo has a collection of recordings of toyabure by YOSHIDA Hyoji (1883_1975). It was made by YASUHARA Senzo, a well-known collector of SP records of gidayubushi, who wished to introduce toyabure of bunraku to later generations. In bunraku, kojo was performed by a puppeteer. YOSHIDA Hyoji was a puppeteer and specialized in kojo from the 1930s. However, since toyabure was not a role assigned to a puppeteer, it seems that he did not actually do toyabure. But it is certain that someone of his time would have known toyabure. Most probably, this recording is the only audio material that shows toyabure of bunraku

Context and change in Japanese music

Although Japan is often portrayed as culturally and ethnically highly homogeneous, its music culture has long been extremely diverse, especially so with modernization and globalization. Thus we begin by problematizing the term ‘Japanese music’. We then aim to provide broad historical, cultural and theoretical contexts within which to understand the subsequent genre-specific chapters, by introducing a range of cross-cutting topics, issues and research perspectives - for example: Japan’s interactions with other cultures throughout history; sociocultural contexts of each genre, including issues of patronage, audiences, class and gender; social structures and mechanisms of transmission; music theory in Japan; aesthetic concepts; and research culture. We conclude with a view into the musical future, considering the impact of educational policies, globalization and so forth

〔聞書き〕人形浄瑠璃文楽の鬘・床山の世界―名越昭司師に聞く―

This paper presents a summary of an interview with NAGOSHI Shoji, a holder of selected conservation techniques for katsura (wig making) and tokoyama (hairdressing) of ningyo-joruri bunraku. NAGOSHI was in charge of wigs and hairdressing of ningyo-joruri for over 50 years and is engaged in transmitting these techniques even after retiring from the National Bunraku Theatre. He has also established Manjian, a small exhibition room of bunraku wigs, at Tennoji-ku in Osaka and is engaged in promoting bunraku. During the interview NAGOSHI spoke about diverse topics: the days of his apprenticeship, including the memories of his master, the transition of the techniques of katsura and tokoyama, materials used for wigs, dyed kerchiefs and combs used to decorate wigs, and the condition of the world of katsura and tokoyama today, including the matter of successors

The Life and Death of Music as East Asian Intangible Cultural Heritage

An exploration of the policies for preserving and promoting music as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Korea and Japan, looking at the emerging distinction between preserved forms and commercial/professional derivatives

〔聞書き〕人形浄瑠璃文楽の裏方―囃子の世界を中心に―吉田簑助師 藤舎秀左久師 望月太明吉師に聞く

This is a summary of an interview with people who support ningyo-joruri bunraku from behind the stage, focusing on performers of hayashi music. The three persons interviewed are: YOSHIDA Minosuke, a Holder of Important Cultural Property for ningyo-joruri bunraku, and TOSHA Shusaku and MOCHIZUKI Tamekichi, members of Mochizuki Tamezo School that is responsible for hayashi music today. YOSHIDA Minosuke spoke about the people who supported ningyo-joruri bunraku from the mid-1930s to the mid-1970s. TOSHA Shusaku and MOCHIZUKI Tamekichi spoke about the first Tamezo who established the School as well as about the changes in hayashi music from the mid-1930s until today and about other members of the School with whom they have had association

Context and change in Japanese music

Although Japan is often portrayed as culturally and ethnically highly homogeneous, its music culture has long been extremely diverse, especially so with modernization and globalization. Thus we begin by problematizing the term ‘Japanese music’. We then aim to provide broad historical, cultural and theoretical contexts within which to understand the subsequent genre-specific chapters, by introducing a range of cross-cutting topics, issues and research perspectives - for example: Japan’s interactions with other cultures throughout history; sociocultural contexts of each genre, including issues of patronage, audiences, class and gender; social structures and mechanisms of transmission; music theory in Japan; aesthetic concepts; and research culture. We conclude with a view into the musical future, considering the impact of educational policies, globalization and so forth