TEATRUL DE PPUI N JAPONIA

Constituie o zon ndelung studiat justificat de fascinaia pe care o

strnete arta extrem oriental. Publicul romnesc are facilitat accesul la
informaii privitoare la aceast art prin intermediul a dou lucrri:
- Lumea teatrului japonez Octavian Simu,
- Actorul pe calea fr urm George Banu.
Informaii pertinente ne sunt oferite i de Antoine Vitez sau Jaques
Chesnais. Toate sursele menionate accept ideea structurrii teatrului de
ppui din Japonia sub influena artei de acelai tip din China. Modul de
asimilare al acestor influene a generat ns forme noi care, ulterior, au
schimbat lumea teatrului de animaie din ntreaga lume.

I. Principalele etape de structurare:

1. Originile sunt legate de relaia dintre teatrul de ppui i practicile
religioase. n secolul VII se pare c vin primele trupe ambulante de
ppuari din zona continental.

2. Secolul al XI-lea Eseu despre ppuarii Kairai

- ppuarii erau, n fapt, cresctori de animale, nomazi;
- ppuile lor erau mici, rudimentare, animate de un singur ppuar.

3. Secolul al XIII-lea laicizarea treptat a spectacolului

- atestat prin prezena ppuilor n festivaluri organizate cu prilejul
unor srbtori diverse;
- conflicte simple lipsite de structuri dramatice clare;
- este consemnat fixarea ppuarilor n localiti cu o anumit
prosperitate, fapt ce ne duce cu gndul la necesitatea finanrii
unor astfel de spectacole dar i n preajma unor situri religioase
(temple budiste) ajutnd la rspndirea doctrinelor respective;
- ppua principal, de regul, reprezenta zeitatea care patrona
sanctuarul exemplu: sanctuarul Nishi no Miga era nchinat zeului
Ebisu-gami stpn al marelui zvor al fericirii i al fabricrii
banilor iar ppuarul care semna se numea Ebisu-mawashi
mnuitor de Ebisu.
4. Secolele XV - doua jumtate a secolului al XVI-lea
- s-a mbuntit att tehnica de animare ct i modul de structurare
al conflictului i caracterelor dramatice;
- primete influene din partea teatrului No i a comediilor de tip
Kyogen;
- consemnat ntr-o cronic faptul c ppuarii au fost invitai la
curtea imperial pentru a-i demonstra miestria ceea ce dovedete
c arta lor se bucura de o mare preuire.
- n aceast etap apar premisele care au permis dezvoltarea unui
nou tip de spectacol JORURI prin combinarea a trei elemente:
marioneta, arta recitatorilor (aa numii joruri termenul trimite
direct la o balad foarte apreciat despre prinesa Joruri i viteazul
Yoshitsune, erou emblematic al cavaleriei japoneze), miestria
cntreilor la instrumentul Shamisen (samisen). Menestrelii i
ritmau cntecele cu scurte lovituri de evantai; shamisen-ul a aprut
ca urmare a producerii unor modificri a unui instrument importat
din China jamisen-ul un fel de chitar cu 3 corzi . Joruri erau
cntece dramatizate, ppuile avnd rolul de a ajuta spectatorul s
vizualizeze ntmplrile povestite;
- jruri, in Japanese literature and music, a type of chanted
recitative that came to be used as a script in bunraku puppet drama.
Its name derives from the Jrurihime monogatari, a 15th-century
romantic tale, the leading character of which is Lady Jruri. At first
it was chanted to the accompaniment of the four-
string biwa (Japanese lute); with the introduction of the three-
stringed, plucked samisen (or shamisen) from the Ryky Islands
in the 16th century, both the music and the scripts became more
complex. When puppets were added at the end of the 16th century,
the jruri expanded to add a dramatic quality not present in the
first simple recitatives. Themes of loyalty, vengeance, filial piety,
love, and religious miracles were included; dialogue and
descriptive commentary took an increasingly large role. The
chanter was at first more important than the writer of the script,
until the appearance of one of Japans greatest
playwrights, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, in the late 17th and early
18th centuries. A 30-year collaboration between Chikamatsu and
the chanter Takemoto Giday (16511714) raised the puppet
theatre to a high art. Giday himself became so famous that his
 style, giday-bushi(Giday music), became nearly synonymous
with jruri.
- Jruri are performed by one or more chanters (tay). One of the
worlds most highly developed forms of narrative music, jruri is
still popular as music, even when separated from the stage.

- Atragerea publicului era determinat i de includerea unor subiecte

noi: legende populare, evenimente istorice, mai vechi sau mai noi
(faptele samurailor), rzboaie pentru succesiunea la tronul
imperial, aspecte religioase budiste sau shinto-iste (practici sacre).

5. Secolul al XVII-lea recitalurile de tip joruri cunosc o puternic

dezvoltare; ncepe s se manifeste ca o form de divertisment cu
ppui; ningyo-joruri.
- 1616 este consemnat la EDO un teatru stabil de ppui/marionete;
- 1625 1690 este o perioad de evoluie i perfecionare
permanent, de diversificare a tehnicilor de animare i construcie
a marionetelor; noi stiluri i coli;
- 1657 un mare incendiu la EDO este distrus teatrul de marionete
i foarte muli ppuari pleac n zona Kansai-Kyoto i Osaka. Ca
urmare Osaka devine capitala acestei arte.
- Apar zone de concentrare a ppuarilor - asistm la
profesionalizarea definitiv a cestei meserii;
- Preluarea miestriei animrii este garantat de relaiile maiestru-
ucenic;

6. Din secolul al XVIII lea istoria culturii japoneze ncepe s

consemneze numele a numeroi ppuari japonezi dar i a
numeroi dramaturgi de profil. Dezvoltarea a nceput n vest i s-a
desvrit n EDO (Tokio de astzi);
- un moment important n istoria acestei forme de spectacol este
marcat de anul 1734 cnd YOSHIDO BUNZABURO a iniiat
animarea ppuilor n trei persoane, simultan; pn atunci ppuile
erau mnuite de o persoan, maxim dou, dar aveau sistem de
animare interior (ochi, sprncene micate);
- a doua jumtate a secolului al XVIII-lea, totui, un declin al
spectacolului de gen n Osaka dar concentraia Kabuki devine mai
puternic;
- necesar perfecionarea ppuilor i astfel, apare BUNRAKU care
pune pe prim-plan prezena ppuii marcat de:
 - rigoare tehnic,
- expresivitatea ppuii,
- trecerea rolului textului n plan secund.

7 BUNRAKU

- Denumirea acestui tip de ppu este dat de numele unui

ntreprinztor proprietar de teatru din Osaka UEMURA
BUNRAKU KEN 1737-1810 trupa sa fiind singura care a
supravieuit dezintegrrii teatrelor de marionete din acea perioad.
n scop strict comercial, el reia cteva piese de ppui mai vechi iar
succesul l determin s continue;
- Dup prabuirea teatrelor de ppui Takemoto-za si Toyotake-za,
un mic local a fost deschis langa Podul Kozu din Osaka si in 1811
a fost inclus in interiorul altarului Inari. Proprietarul era un om
numit Uemura Bunrakuken si in 1872, dupa ce a fost relocalizat la
Matsushima, localul a devenit oficial cunoscut ca Bunraku-za, n
cartierul vesel.

- Imediat dup, in 1884, Hikoroku-za a fost fondat in interiorul

altarului Inari, devenind rivalul lui Bunraku-za, care se mutase in
aria Goryo din Osaka. Ca si in zilele bune ale erei Chikuho, teatrul
de papusi a devenit foarte popular. Desi Hikoroku-za a fost inchis
in 1893, Goryo Bunraku-za a prosperat ca reprezentantul principal
al teatrului de papusi. Apoi, de la numele teatrului, arta a devenit
cunoscuta sub numele de Bunraku.

- In 1909 titlurile teatrului Bunraku au fost transmise de la familia

Uemura la industria de diverstisment Shochiku. Goryo-Bunraku-za
a ars din temelii in 1926 si in 1930 un nou teatru Bunraku-za a fost
construit lng Yotsubashi. La sfritul celui de-al doilea razboi
mondial, dintre toate teatrele care trebuiau reconstruite dup ce
fuseser tranformate n cenu n raidurile aeriene primul a fost
Yotsubashi Bunraku-za. Aceasta s-a intamplat pentru c se
considera ca Bunraku nu este numai un produs faimos al Osaki,
dar i o art tradiional cu prestigiu mondial care trebuie pastrat.
- De remarcat :
teatrul de ppui nipon se adreseaz adulilor,
repertoriul cuprinde o dramaturgie important,
lipsesc aluziile satirice i umoristice,
 ppuile bunraku au 2/3 sau 3/4 din mrimea natural a unui
actor - msoar ntre 1 i 1,2 metri,
greutatea personajelor masculine - 20 kg (un rzboinic
echipat), a celor feminine 10 kg; personajele principale
mai grele dect cele secundare,
sistemele tehnice au evoluat n timp:
- 1734 s-a umflat abdomenul ppuii i a aprut cel de-al mnuitor
(folosit pentru membrele inferioare),
- 1736 apar degetele articulate,
- 1747 i putea mica i urechile,
sistemele existente n interiorul capului asigur ppuilor o
mimic, senzaia de autenticitate,
figurile masculine sunt construite mai ngrijit dect cele
feminine, pot avea o gam mai larg de expresii, roluri mai
dificile i mai ample;
figurile feminine au doar un sistem pentru micarea ochilor
(putea rde, putea plnge), faa alb, prul negru cu
pieptnturi sofisticate, capul ppuii era finisat cu grij dar
de o singur parte n fa; nu au picioare - senzaia de
plutire, au ntre 60 i 120 pri componente;
costumele apropiate de cele din kabuki: rou, negru,
albastru deschis, galben, cafeniu-tabac.

Astzi nu se mai cunoate tehnica mbinrii celor 120 de componente

i nici formula lacurilor pentru culori; unele ppui utilizate au 200-
300 de ani. Sunt luate msuri speciale sunt nvelite n hrtie de
mtase i inute sub clopote de sticl.

Capetele ppuilor sunt cioplite din lemn i sunt goale pe

dinuntru, fiind puse deasupra unui bt special numit dogushi, care este
plasat, printr-o gaura, ntr-o plac ce reprezint umerii; cu acest b anim
ppuarul ef papua. Bucai de material textil sunt prinse n fa i n
spatele plcii pentru umeri, fiind ataate unor inele de bambus este un
mecanism destul de simplu. Lufe burei sunt atasate la ambele capete ale
plcii umerilor pentru a da iluzia de rotunjime. Braele i picioarele sunt
fiecare atasate separat de placa umerilor cu sfori dar, de regul, ppuile
feminine nu au deloc picioare papuarul de picioare ii pune pumnii n
poala ppuii i face astfel nct s par c are picioare i merge. O armtura
lunga de lemn sashigane este ataata minii stngi a ppuii, prin care
ppuarul de mna stng manipuleaz braul i mna stng ale ppuii.

Capetele kashira papuilor Bunraku sunt imprite n feminine i

masculine, iar apoi clasificate n categorii dup vrst, rang clasa social
i trsturi distinctive ale personalitii date de rolul pe care l portretizeaz,
fiecare dintre ele avnd un nume propriu care le reflect caracteristicile
speciale. Dac piesa este diferit, dar tipul de personaj este acelai, atunci
acelai cap ar putea fi folosit pentru roluri diferite din piese diferite.
Cteodat, pentru a se potrivi personajului mai bine, sunt chiar repictate,
pentru a le da tonul pielii potrivit sau pentru a le schimba peruca n cazul
ppuilor folosite un rol dup altul. De asemenea, exist un numr de capete
specifice anumitor roluri, sunt cateva folosite pentru roluri de copii i multe
altele care sunt ataate ppuilor mnuite de un singur ppuar tsume-
ningyo .

Capetele sunt responsabilitatea maestrului de capete kashira tanto -, care

le pregtete i le repicteaz pentru fiecare punere n scena a unei piese. n
plus, un alt aspect important al responsabilitilor sale este faptul c verific
extrem de atent sforile i manetele care controleaz micarile ochilor i ale
gurii i, dac gaseste vreo problema, o repar cu cea mai mare rapiditate.

Perucile din Bunraku sunt numite kazura, exista intr-un numar de stiluri
fundamentale, depinzand de tipul de personaj care se vrea caracterizat. Este
datoria mestrilor in peruci numiti tokoyama sa coasa si sa creeze o
coafura potrivita keppatsu pentru fiecare rol, bazandu-se pe acele stiluri
fundamentale. De asemenea, tokoyama nu numai creaza perucile; el le si
definitiveaza atasand parul unor placute de cupru. Tipul de par folosit este in
general par uman, dar cateodata, pentru a crea iluzia de volum, mai este
folosit si par de yak. Peruca finisat este apoi pus i ataat cu cea mai mare
grija capului. Cnd se creeaz o coafura deosebit nu se folosete ulei
pentru a nu strica/altera faa, astfel nct stylingul se face numai cu ap i
cear de albine bintsuke.
Costumele ppuilor

Costumele ppuilor constau dintr-o rob interioar numita juban, un

kimono de dedesubt numit kitsuke, o jacheta haori sau roba uchikake,
gulerul eri - i un bru obi. Pentru a da corpurilor papuilor senzaia de
moale robele sunt umplute lejer cu bumbac. Mai mult, se face o gaur n
spatele robelor lor pentru a da voie ppuarului s le manipuleze. Pentru
fiecare spectacol meterii/ maetri de costume aleg vestimentaii dintre multe
tipuri de robe n diferite culori i modele, hotrnd ce roba se poate folosi cu
o anume papu. Setul complet de robe pe care l-au ales este apoi trimis
ppuarilor.

Decoruri

Micile decoruri ale Bunraku includ lucruri care sunt purtate n mn sau sunt
ataate de corp, cum ar fi sbii sau un fel de batiste numite tenugui, precum
i obiecte mai mari cum ar fi dulapuri sau echipamente de iluminat. Exist i
un numr deelemente de recuzit consumabil, cum ar fi scrisori care sunt
rupte i apoi aruncate. Toate decorurile de mn sunt foarte mici, pentru a se
potrivi cu marimea ppuilor. Tipurile de evantaie folosite sunt ns de
aceeai mrime ca i cele folosite de oameni, dar aceasta n mod ciudat nu
pare s aib un efect vizual grotesc. Maetrii de decoruri pregtesc toate
micile decoruri care sunt necasare fiecrei piese, le repar pe acelea care
sunt foarte degradate i de asemenea fac altele noi. Cnd ncepe spectacolul
decorurile sunt aduse din camerele de mbrcat ctre scena de ppuari
tineri, care apoi le ofer ppuarilor care manipuleaz ppuile n timpul
piesei.

ANIMAREA

Seful echipei OMO-ZUKAI: anim capul i mna dreapt; este

nclat cu papuci speciali, astfel nct s domine scena;
mbrcmintea nu este complet neagr; el nu este invizibil
spectatorului; are cea mai bogat experien i abilitate, capacitatea de
a susine pn la sfrit rolul; capul este animat cu mna stng, braul
drept cu mna dreapt;
 HIDARI ZUKAI al doilea ppuar: anim mna stng;

ASHI ZUKAI partea inferioar a ppuii: are picioare la brbai,

doar fust la femei.

Pentru a deveni ASHI-ZUKAI sunt necesari 10 ani, nc 10 ani pentru a

deveni HIDARI-ZUKAI i nc 10 pentru a deveni OMO-ZUKAI; n tot
acest timp trebuie s nvee piesele importante din repertoriul teatrului de
ppui. n dreapta scenei st recitatorul TAYU-ul, maestru al stilului recitativ
cu un pupitru n fa pe care este aezat libretul; el susine toate dialogurile,
adaptndu-i vocea , intonaiile i fizionomia caracterului personajului.
Cntreul sau cntreii de shamisen stau n stnga.

Sunt stabilite reguli fixe de micare care s determine sincronizarea

micrilor i s confere naturalee.

n dreapta scenei st recitatorul TAYU-ul, maestru al stilului recitativ cu un

pupitru n fa pe care este aezat libretul; el susine toate dialogurile,
adaptndu-i vocea , intonaiile i fizionomia caracterului personajului.
Cntreul sau cntreii de shamisen stau n stnga. Spaiul prevzut cu o
turnant.

Spaiul de joc este divizat n trei segmente care permit animarea, plasarea
decorurilor i a fundalului, dup reguli bine stabilite. Intre extrema scenei de
sus si extrema scenei de jos exista trei partiii scenice, cunoscute ca
balustrade (tesuri). Aria din spatele celei de a doua partiii este numita
groapa (funazoko, tradus literal ca fund de corabie) i aici stau
manipulatorii. Este cu o treapta mai jos decat scena principala. Cnd
ppuile se mic, picioarele lor se mic de-a lungul balustradelor, crend
iluzia faptului c ele ntr-adevar merg pe jos. Cldirea (yatai) sau fundalul
(kakiwari) sunt ataate partiiei cele mai indeprtate de audien.

Uitndu-te la scen din audien partea dreapta este numita kamite (scena
stnga), iar partea stanga este numita shimote (scena dreapta). Ppuile i
fac apariia i apoi ieirea prin perdelele mici i negre (komaku) i prin
partea stnga, dar i prin cea dreapta a scenei. Camerele ascunse sunt exact
desupra perdelelor mici, avnd jaluzele de bambus instalate, astfel inct
audiena nu poate vedea inauntrul lor.

n camera ascuns de la scena stanga (dreapta audienei) se gsesc cntreii

vocali tineri i cntreii shamisen cu experiena limitat. n partea opus
sunt membrii hayashi - orchestra - care cnta la instrumente cum ar fi
flautul, tobele obinuite, tobele de mna i clopote i chiar induc atmosfera
de pe scena creand sunete asemntoare vntului, ploii sau ipotului unui
ru.

La sfritul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial, dintre toate teatrele care
trebuiau reconstruite dup ce fuseser tranformate n cenu n raidurile
aeriene primul a fost Yotsubashi Bunraku-za. Aceasta s-a intamplat pentru ca
se considera ca Bunraku nu este numai un produs faimos al Osakai, dar si o
arta traditionala cu prestigiu mondial care trebuie pastrata. In 1955 guvernul
a recunoscut arta Bunraku ca fiind o Proprietate Culturala Importanta
Intangibila - juyo mukei bunkazai. In 1963 Bunraku s-a desprit de
controlul Shochiku i a nceput sa functioneze sub auspiciul Asociaiei
Bunraku. In 1966 primul Teatru National a fost construit in aria Miyake-zaka
din Tokyo. Din acel moment piesele Bunraku din Tokyo erau planuite si
regizate de Teatrul National. Politica de baza a Teatrului National de a pune
in scena piese complexe a invitat interesul tineretului, ceea ce a fost crucial
in dezvoltarea unei noi audiente. Mai mult, datorita eforturilor Asociatiei
Bunraku, a orasului si a prefecturii Osaka, precum si a Asociatiei Economice
Kansai, s-a planuit a se construi un Teatru National de Bunraku in Osaka.
Astfel, in 1984, Teatrul National de Bunraku a fost inaugurat. In istoria sa
indelungata Bunraku a infruntat multe pericole care i-au amenintat existenta,
dar de fiecare data a reusit sa depaseasca obstacolele cu ajutorul oamenilor
care il iubeau.

DRAMATURGIA TEATRULUI DE PPUI

teatrul de ppui nipon se adreseaz adulilor,

repertoriul cuprinde o dramaturgie important,
lipsesc aluziile satirice i umoristice,
Prima form bine structurat este aceea de Joruri denumire dat de numele
unei prinese creia i-a fost dedicat o balad n care era prezentat povestea
de iubire dintre aceasta i viteazul Ushiwara Maru. Cercetrile plaseaz
apariia baladei la jumtatea secolului al XV-lea.
Termenul definete, n fapt, cel mai pur lapisazuli.
Aceast balad a permis structurarea genului numit Joruri.
Iniial acest gen era interpretat de rapsozi profani numii KATARI sau de
clugri orbi rtcitori, cu capul ras, KUGUTSU, care se acompaniau de un
instrument muzical biwa (lut), fapt pentru care purtau numele de
clugri biwa.

La sfritul secolului al XVI-lea biwa a fost nlocuit de

jamisen/shamisen/samisen.
La nceputul secolului al XVII-lea au fost combinate textul baladei joruri,
sonorietile shamisem-ului i jocul ppuii (cu sau fr fire) i, astfel, a
aprut un nou tip de spectacol ningyo-joruri sau ayatsuri-joruri (teatru de
marionete joruri).
Faptul c istoria acestei arte consemneaz numele a numeroi recitatori din
secolul al XVII-lea ne demonstreaz larga rspndire i recunoaterea de
care se bucurau. Activitatea lor era legat att de viaa tempelor, ct i de cea
a nobililor. Spre exemplu, la mijlocul secolului al XVII-lea, era cunoscut, la
Edo, un ppuar Satsuma Joun care iniiase un nou stil de joc, mai
dinamic, mai adecvat gustului shogunului, fapt pentru care a fost numit
printe al joruri-ul din Edo, stil ce a determinat introducerea, n piesele lor,
a elementului eroic.
Un moment important este reprezentat de creaia lui Chikamatsu
Monzaemon (1653 1725), supranumit Shakespeare al Japoniei.
El rafineaz acest tip de text i l duce n zona cult. Scrie i piese pentru
teatru kabuki. Debutul su este legat de lumea ppuilor, prin piesa Urmaii
lui Soga, compus pentru unul dintre cei mai de seam recitatori ai vremii.
ncepe prin a scrie piese n stil vechi ko-joruri, apoi drame istorice,
inspirate din viaa de la curile nobiliare i din viaa samuraiilor. n ceea de a
treia etap de creaie interpreteaz drame modern, inspirate din viaa
orenilor, negustorilor i ritmul contemporan lui. ve pag. 16 /Teatru
n perioada 1705-1725 a scris, preponderent, pentru spectacolele
de ppui de la teatrul Takemoto-Za, din Osaka. Piesele erau scrise avndu-
se n vedere anumii interprei, ceea ce ne demonstreaz organizarea i
dezvoltarea vieii teatrale din Japonia secolelor XVII-XVII. Prin piesele sale
a susinut cariera unor ppuari ai vremii. ...p17 / Teatru.
p. 173 O Saiu
 Piesele aveau o structur dramatic bine stabilit 3 sau 5 acte
fiecare act fiind scris atfel nct s fie conturat de sine stttor, aspect ce ne
amitete de stilistica dramaturgiei teatrului de ppui din India.
Se presupune c ar fi scris aproximativ 140 de piese pentru
marionete , unele n colaborare. Dintre acestea 51 au fost atribuite, cu
certitudine, lui Chikamatsu.
Tematica abordat cuprinde referiri la:
- valorile morale ale societii p 133, pp.138-139, p 173
- arta timpului i rolul ei n viaa societii p 134-135
- organizarea cetilor i armatei p.167, 176, pag 205, p206, p 212
- viaa cotidian p175
- filozofie i religie 294-295, 300 -302

Cel mai cunoscut succesor al lui Chikamatsu Monzaemon este Takeda

Izumo pag. 174 175./O Simu

Chikamatsu Monzaemon, original name Sugimori Nobumori

(born 1653died Jan. 6, 1725), Japanese playwright, widely regarded as
among the greatest dramatists of that country. He is credited with more than
100 plays, most of which were written as jruri dramas, performed by
puppets. He was the first author of jruri to write works that not only gave
the puppet operator the opportunity to display his skill but also were of
considerable literary merit.
Chikamatsus works fall into two main categories: jidaimono (historical
romances) andsewamono (domestic tragedies). Modern critics generally
prefer the latter plays because they are more realistic and closer to European
conceptions of drama, but the historical romances are more exciting as
puppet plays. Some of Chikamatsus views on the art of the puppet theatre
have been preserved in Naniwa miyage, a work written by a friend in 1738.
There Chikamatsu is reported to have said, Art is something that lies in the
slender margin between the real and the unreal, and in his own works he
endeavoured accordingly to steer between the fantasy that had been the rule
in the puppet theatre and the realism that was coming into vogue.
The characters who populate Chikamatsus domestic tragedies are
merchants, housewives, servants, criminals, prostitutes, and all the other
varieties of people who lived in the saka of his day. Most of his domestic
tragedies were based on actual incidents, such as double suicides of
lovers. Sonezaki shinj (1703; The Love Suicides at Sonezaki), for example,
was written within a fortnight of the actual double suicide on which it is
based. The haste of composition is not at all apparent even in this first
example of Chikamatsus double-suicide plays, the archetype of his other
domestic tragedies.
Chikamatsus most popular work was Kokusenya kassen (1715; The Battles
of Coxinga), a historical melodrama based loosely on events in the life of the
Chinese-Japanese adventurer who attempted to restore the Ming dynasty in
China. Another celebrated work is Shinj ten no Amijima (1720; Double
Suicide at Amijima), still frequently performed. Despite Chikamatsus
eminence, however, the decline in popularity of puppet plays has resulted in
most members of the theatregoing public being unfamiliar with his work,
except in the abridgments and considerably revised versions used
in Kabuki theatre, on film, and elsewhere. Eleven of his best-known plays
appear in Major Plays of Chikamatsu (1961, reissued 1990), translated by
Donald Keene. Mainly historical plays are in Chikamatsu: Five Late
Plays (2001), translated by C. Andrew Gerstle.

Chapter 4--Renaissance--CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON (1653-1725)

We are still in Kyoto, where Japanese literature has been from its
beginnings a thousand years earlier, but now in a much more stable
environment than Chomei's, as we enter "The Floating World" of Tokugawa
Japan (1600-1868). I choose Chikamatsu because he is the greatest
dramatist of this Tokugawa Period, probably of Japanese literature--and
that's where the literary action is in this period. Chikamatsu is even
sometimes called the "Japanese Shakespeare," though he is certainly not
that. He has nothing of the range through comedy, tragedy, and history of
Shakespeare, or of Shakespeare's language complexity (but, then, neither
does anyone else in world literature). No, once the Japanese discovered
Shakespeare in the late 19th century, Shakespeare himself became the
Japanese Shakespeare, so that you can no doubt see as much Shakespeare in
Tokyo as in London or New York any given year (certainly more
Shakespeare than Chikamatsu). But, Chikamatsu did write 130 plays (to
Shakespeare's 37), and, as Shakespeare is the quintessential Elizabethan,
Chikamatsu may be seen as the quintessential representative of the Genroku
period (1688-1703), the Japanese Renaissance period which comes about
100 years later than the Elizabethan period in England, and has much the
same character, as Tokugawa Ieyasu, after his victory at the Battle of
Sekigahara in 1600, established the Tokugawa bakufu, absolute political
control, much as Henry Tudor did in England after his victory at Bosworth
Field in 1485. In each case, the period of civil war was over and a strong
royal (shoganate) family was clearly in control, so that, after this period of
stability had been in place about a hundred years, it generated, in each case,
a middle-class urban environment in which the arts, particularly literature,
and particularly dramatic literature, began to flourish.
And flourish they did. Chikamatsu's contemporaries include Ihara
Saikaku (1642-1693), an important writer of middle-class fiction, and
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) the great haiku poet (judged by most to be
Japan's greatest poet), and, since the Tokugawa bakufu endured longer than
the Tudor monarchy did, lasted for 268 years, it finally included such writers
as the great comic novelist, Jippensha Ikku (1766-1831),
whose Hizakurige has been called the Japanese Huckleberry Finn-- with its
rascally Edoites traveling down, not the Mississippi River, but the Tokaido
Road from Edo to Kyoto, living by their wits--and it culminates in the high
Edo period, just before Perry arrives in the "black ships" and opens up
Japan, which some lovers of things Japanese see as the period of high
vitality and values in the life in Tokyo (Edo), particularly in the pleasure
quarters, the world that Kafu gives such a realistic picture of in his largely
autobiographical fiction, the most charming Japanese "world" of them all--
Japan just before it is transformed by the West.

But Chikamatsu himself did not live to see any of that--just its
beginnings in Kyoto--for he was a dramatist in the early Tokugawa, or
Genroku, period, when Japanese theatre, mature in the Edo period, was first
being revolutionized. The three great classical forms of Japanese drama are
the Noh, the Kabuki, and the Bunraku. The Noh had been developed as
largely aristocratic theatre, with Buddhist themes, in good part by one family
of actors and playwrights--primarily Kaname, the father, and Zeame, the
son--contemporary with Chomei in the medieval period, and offers an
almost religious theatre experience. But the other two developed as part of
this middle-class, secular Renaissance--this floating world with the geisha
activity, and hedonism, at the center. Chikamatsu wrote plays about middle-
class characters with domestic love problems--a merchant falling in love
with a geisha and ruining his life, until the only way out seems to be a
double suicide--after which the lovers expect to spend eternity on the same
lotus leaf, a strange kind of religious hold-over in this distinctly secular
world. Two of his most famous plays follow this plot, as if coming out of
the daily newspaper--the early The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (1703), and
the late The Love Suicides at Amijima(1721), which are sometimes
compared with Shakespeare's early and late love- suicide playsRomeo and
Juliet (1596) and Antony and Cleopatra (1608), (I did it myself when I took
my first course in Japanese literature in 1973), but the style in Chikamatu is
middle-class realism--in which he and his contemporaries are about a
hundred years ahead of developments of realism in the West, as if the stories
are copied from contemporary domestic experience.
Chikamatsu wrote many of his plays for the kabuki theatre, which had
developed into a substantial enterprise much as the London professional
theatre had in Shakespeare's time, and, as Shakespeare's company built the
Globe theatre based on their success in drawing a paying audience that
would justify the investment, so the kabuki, with its revolving stage,
hanamichi, and highly stylized costume, make-up, and acting conventions
developed a popular base that supported building theatres and training acting
companies in a tradition that still exists today, often in the same places in
those great cities of the period, Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. It, too, was
popular theatre, catering to the groundlings, and, again as Shakespeare's
theatre was, was primarily an actors' theatre (Chikamatsu worked with the
famous kabuki actor, Sakata Tojuro, much as Shakespeare must have worked
with Richard Burbage). But then the last twenty years of his career
Chikamatsu wrote almost entirely for the bunraku, or puppet, theatre, which,
though it had a somewhat longer historical development, now became a
popular theatre in these cities, particularly Osaka, competing with the kabuki
for the same audience and some of the same resources. Chikamatsu's reason
for prefering bunraku was probably that, while the maker of the puppets, and
the trained puppeteers are certainly also important artists involved in the
production of a puppet play, when it comes to the dynamics of performance,
all is in the service of the playwright's script, which is most highly honored.
Though each has its own traditions in music and dance, the plays the two
theatres were doing were often the same plays, but, as Chikamatsu came to
write for the most part for the puppet theatre, he developed a critical theory
for the special qualities of the experience, and has a famous essay setting out
the aesthetic advantages of that theatre. Perhaps nowhere else in the world
has puppet theatre been more important, in fact, as adult theatre, nor, in its
modern variations, more highly developed.
If we take as perhaps his most representative play, at least among those
available in English translation, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki, it is typical
in being a contemporary domestic tragedy. Tokubei, the young hero, is in
love with the prostitute, Ohatsu, and, still single, but in rejecting a wife-to-be
his family has picked, is sacrificing his middle-class, domestic future for
her. In the later play, The Love Suicides at Amijima, on much the same
plot, Jihei is betraying his wife, Osan (who is the most interesting character
in the play--one reason it is seen as a more mature play than The Love
Suicides at Sonezaki). Both heroes promise to reform, but are obviously too
weak--hardly heroes in any sense except their devotion to their love. Death
is the only way out--double suicide with Ohatsu for Tokubei, or, in Jihei's
case, with Koharu--leaving Osan to pick up the pieces. These double-
suicide plays came out of actual double-suicides, but were so popular that
they provoked others, until the Tokugawa government forbid the use
of shinju (double suicide) in the title, for the death itself was romanticized in
highly sentimental terms, the poetry of that passage known as
themichiyuki (lovers' journey). The most famous one is the one in The Love
Suicides at Sonezaki, which Donald Keene calls "one of the loveliest
passages in Japanese literature," a hundred line lyric in a largely prose
drama, as performed by the puppet theatre narrated in good part by a skilled
reader. I will give Ohatsu's closing lines, shortly before the double suicide:

It's strange, this is your unlucky year

Of twenty five, and mine of nineteen.
It's surely proof how deep are our ties
That we who love each other are cursed alike.
All the prayers I have made for this world
To the gods and to the Buddha, I here and now
Direct to the future: in the world to come
May we be reborn on the same lotus!
So, in this mundane world we still have touches of the Heian period
lyric, and medieval Buddhist belief.

[Quote some of his theory on the puppet theatre, back a page.]

[Comment on his other plays, particularly The Battles of Coxinga.]

See Donald Keene, Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu (Columbia University

Press, 1961)
 BUNRAKU

The art only came to be known as "Bunraku" around the end of the
Meiji era (1868-1912); up until that time, the art was known
as ayatsuri joruri shibai ("puppet joruri plays") or ningyo joruri, or
"puppet narrative drama." Now, joruri is a type of shamisen music,
and the name reflects that the puppet plays were performed to
a joruri accompaniment. Bunraku's world renown stems not only
from its high-quality artistic technique, but also from the high level
of its joruri music and the unique nature of manipulating the
puppetseach puppet requires three puppeteers to bring it to life.
Throughout the world there are a number of types of puppet theatre,
and they all treat with simple stories such as myths and legends.
There is no other art that requires a whole day for its long, serious

drama to unfold. Furthermore, in most of the world's puppet
theatres, great pains have been taken to hide the manipulation of the
puppeteers from the audience. There are several methods of
achieving this: suspending the puppet from strings attached to the
ceiling, as with marionettes; placing a hand within the puppet and
moving it with the fingers, as with guignol puppets; and casting
shadows upon a screen, as with the wayan kulit shadow puppets. But
in Bunraku, the manipulators appear openly, in full view of the
audience. These two characteristics, which make it completely
different from the other puppet theatre traditions around the world,
can be said to be the reason that Bunraku is called the most highly
developed puppet theatre art in the world.