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Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, 2022 saw bold undertakings in the world of performing arts that pointed the way to a more hopeful future. The dance drama \u201cIro-Moyo Chotto Karimame\u201d (more commonly, and in the rest of this review, referred to as \u201cKasane\u201d), in which kabuki actors and bunraku puppets perform together, is a project that aspires to the evolution of the traditional performing arts. The work was performed as part of kabuki actor Onoe Ukon\u2019s self-produced Ken no Kai series. Kabuki and bunraku, both art forms with long and illustrious histories, continue to experiment with new works, including ones based on Shakespeare\u2019s plays, in keeping with contemporary tastes. In \u201cKasane,\u201d which blurs the boundary between kabuki and bunraku, the classics as a source material brought about a new form of expression. Ukon was born into the renowned Kiyomoto family of kabuki musicians, and has also acted in film and television. The bunraku puppets were handled by Yoshida Minoshiro, while Ukon\u2019s father, Kiyomoto Enjyudayu narrated the puppets\u2019 words, and his brother Saiju played the shamisen.<\/p>\n
The legend of Kasane, a tale of grudges and exorcism, has been told since the Edo period, being adapted to a variety of bunraku and rakugo<\/em> (traditional storytelling) works. Let\u2019s take a look at the plot of \u201cKasane,\u201d one of these works. Kasane, a maid in the household of a samurai lord, falls in love with and becomes pregnant by Yoemon, not knowing that this man murdered her father after having an illicit affair with her mother. Just as the two are about to fulfill their suicide pact by throwing themselves in the Kinugawa River, a skull with a sickle in its eye socket floats by on a grave post. Seeing this, Yoemon realizes that he is being haunted by his victim\u2019s vengeful spirit and points the sickle at Kasane…The gruesome dance drama (penned by Matsui Kozo) was originally an interlude in Tsuruya Nanboku\u2019s kabuki play \u201cKesakakematsu Narita no Riken,\u201d first performed in 1823. Kasane resembles Oiwa, the heroine of \u201cYotsuya Kaidan\u201d (1825) \u2014another work by Nanboku, an author noted for a style that mixes cruelty with humor\u2014in that her face is also disfigured and she becomes a ghost after death.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The spirited exchange between the deformed Kasane (Ukon) and Yoemon (Minoshiro), who harbors a murderous intent. The interplay between actor and puppet conjures up a fear different in kind than that between flesh-and-blood counterparts.\u3000Photo: Masami Taguchi<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ukon alternated in the roles of Kasane and Yoemon from performance to performance, while Minoshiro also handled the puppets for both. The performance I saw had Ukon playing the role of Kasane. His distinctive ability to portray both onnagata<\/em> (female roles) and tachiyaku<\/em> (male roles) was demonstrated by his adept switching between male and female genders and roles. An up-and-coming actor known for taking on contemporary roles in TV dramas and variety shows, Ukon\u2019s range\u2014transforming to and from a beautiful woman in love, an evil woman with scars both physical and mental, a vengeful spirit possessed by delusion, and a likeable boatman named Yokichi\u2014left a vivid impression on the audience.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ukon, who switches between male and female genders and roles, transforms into a dapper boatman at the end of the act.\u3000Photo: Masami Taguchi<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The effect created by the coordination between puppets and actors was the highlight of the performance. For example, when the puppet playing Yoemon attacked Kasane, the sickle in his hand appeared to be enlarged, reminding one of the Grim Reaper. Also thrilling was the process of the dominant side being switched. When Yoemon broke Kasane\u2019s father\u2019s grave post, her leg began to hurt, and when he pulled the sickle from the skull, a bruise appeared around her left eye. The puppet Yoemon dominated in the scene where he holds up a mirror to the suffering Kasane and makes her wail, \u201cIs this what\u2019s become of my face?\u201d But the balance of power was reversed in the final scene of fighting, when Kasane dishevels her hair and obi in her pursuit of Yoemon. Her appearance grew ever more deformed, taking on the air of someone risen from the underworld. When she was finally killed and became a ghost, she began to pull back the man escaping along the hanamichi<\/em> runway, in a display of renribiki <\/em>(a technique in which a \u201cfleeing\u201d actor moves as if he is being pulled back by an invisible thread, usually depicting the supernatural power of a vengeful female ghost over the man who killed her) that radiated the mystique of the netherworld. Here, however, Yoemon\u2014reduced to a weakling being manipulated by the ghost\u2014began to leap like only a puppet can. If only the movement of the man being pulled and spun against his will by the woman\u2019s passion had been made clearer, the bunraku puppet would have matched the actor, with the audience\u2019s imagination surely stirred further.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The puppet representing the graceful Kasane is turned into a vehicle for burning resentment by using a gabu<\/em> (a neck with an elaborate device that causes the mouth to split open in an instant and turn the eyes red). The autumn leaves scattered on the sleeves of the juban <\/em>underwear symbolize splashes of blood.\u3000Photo: Masami Taguchi<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After watching the play, what stuck with me was both fascination with this rare attempt at interdisciplinarity and the difficulty of striking a balance between human and puppet. Due in part to the difference in structure between kabuki and bunraku stages, the puppets floating in the air sometimes looked out of place. At such times, both Yoemon\u2019s charm as an attractive but despicable villain and his deep bond with Kasane were diminished. In order to bring the two closer together, aspects such as the positioning of the characters, the lighting, and stage devices may need to be reconsidered. But provided that this fusion of kabuki and bunraku is refined in the future, it may well attract the interest of viewers across genres and borders. Le\u00a0 Th\u00e9\u00e2tre du Soleil, led by the French director Ariane Mnouchkine (whose \u201cTambours sur la Digue [The Drummers on the Embankment]\u201d by H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Cixous premiered in 1999 and was performed at the New National Theatre in 2001), has also used bunraku and kabuki as creative fodder to foster a new style of performance. Works from Japan, where a variety of traditional performing arts coexist, could also inspire pioneers of expression and audiences around the world. In addition, a richly experimental work such as \u201cKasane\u201d has the potential to broaden interest in the classics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Autumn leaves at Yutenji\u2019s Kasanezuka echoing the pattern of Kasane\u2019s juban<\/em> underwear, which represents bloodshed.\u3000Photo: Mana KATSURA<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Allow me to conclude by introducing Kasanezuka, a stone monument at Yutenji Temple in Meguro, which was founded in 1718, in the mid-Edo period. After a long absence from the stage, \u201cKasane\u201d was performed again in 1920 to great acclaim. Six years later, Ukon\u2019s great-grandfather Enjyudayu V and some kabuki actors erected the Kasanezuka at Yutenji\u2014a temple associated with Yuten Shonin, a high-ranking priest of the Edo period who is said to have appeased the spirit of Kasane so that she could pass into the afterlife. When I visited the Kasanezuka this fall, I was struck by the autumn foliage above me and on the ground. Nestled against the monument was a tree that reminded me of Kasane\u2019s juban<\/em> (underwear worn with kimono), its crimson leaves resembling tides of blood.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The painting on the wall of the reliquary hall, \u201cYuten Shonin Kasane Saido\u201d (\u201cThe Salvation of Kasane by Yuten Shonin,\u201d 1986, by Tsukioka Eiki), depicts Kasane and Yoemon by the river, as well as Yuten Shonin, who liberated Kasane\u2019s vengeful spirit.\u3000Photo: Mana KATSURA<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Translated by Ilmari Saarinen<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Masami Taguchi Kabuki actor Onoe Ukon and bunraku puppets handled by Yoshida Minoshiro co-star i […]","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":7547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[150],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7545"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7641,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7545\/revisions\/7641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/_sys2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/photo01_TG_5482-683x1024.jpg\")
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