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ART AND ARCHITECTURE |
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In the mid-nineteenth century an exotic array of pictures, crafts
and curios came flooding out of Japan as this virtually unknown country
re-established trade with the outside world. Western collectors eagerly
snapped up exquisite ink-painted landscapes, boldly colourful ukiyo-e (pictures
of the floating world), samurai swords, porcelain, inlaid lacquerware,
bamboo utensils and ivory carvings - even artists such as van Gogh and
Whistler were influenced by the contemporary vogue for things Japanese.
From these collections came our first detailed knowledge of the
diversity of Japanese arts, ranging from expressions of the most refined
spiritual sensibilities to the bric-a-brac of ordinary life.
This enormous wealth of artistic expression reflects the wide variety of
sources of inspiration and patronage over the centuries. Periods of
aristocratic rule, military supremacy and merchant wealth all left their
mark on Japanese arts, building on a rich legacy of religious art, folk
traditions and the assimilated cultural influences of China and Korea.
More recently, the West became a model for artists seeking to join the
ranks of the avant-garde. Today it's difficult to speak of prevailing
tendencies, as Japanese artists both draw on traditional sources and
take their place amongst international trends.
What does span the centuries, however, is a love of nature, respect for
the highest standards of craftsmanship and the potential for finding
beauty in the simplest of things. These qualities pervade the visual
arts of Japan but are also reflected in aspects of the performing arts
where the actor's craft, costume and make-up combine with the stage
setting to unique dramatic effect. The official designation of valued
objects and individuals as "National Treasures" and "Living National
Treasures" acknowledges the extent to which the arts and artists of
Japan are revered.
One of the joys of visiting Japan, however, is in experiencing the
ordinary ways in which the Japanese aesthetic enters into everyday life.
The presentation of food, a window display or the simplest flower
arrangement can convey, beyond the walls of any museum, the essential
nature of Japanese art.
Marie Conte-Helm
The beginnings
The earliest artefacts excavated in Japan date back to 10,000 BC when
the Jomon culture (10,000-300 BC), a society of hunters, fishers and
gatherers, inhabited small settlements throughout the country. The name
Jomon, meaning "cord pattern", refers to the impression made by twisted
cord on the surface of clay. Early Jomon pots were built up from coils
of clay pressed together, to which cord markings were applied as a form
of decoration, and shells added for further embellishment. Increasingly
elaborate variations in the size and type of Jomon pottery suggest its
religious or ceremonial significance. Certainly, by the Middle Jomon,
the production of female pottery figurines and stone phalli point to the
association of such items with basic fertility rites. Fired-clay dogu
are typical of Late Jomon sculpture; these stiffly posed figures with
female attributes, staring out of large oval eyes, mainly occur in sites
in eastern Japan.
The more sophisticated Yayoi culture (300 BC-300 AD), which displaced
the Jomon, is characterized by a finer-quality, reddish-brown wheel-turned
pottery, which was first discovered at Yayoi, near today's Tokyo. Their
pots were more diverse in shape and function but simpler in decoration,
with the incision of straight, curved and zigzagged lines and combed
wave patterns. Yayoi also saw the introduction of iron and bronze to
Japan, which led to the production of iron tools, while bronze was
reserved for ritual objects. The most distinctive Yayoi bronze objects
are the dotaku or straight-sided bells which have been linked with
agricultural rituals and burial practices.
The following Kofun era (300-710 AD) is defined by the number of huge
burial mounds ( kofun ) built during the period. The tombs were
generally bordered by a series of low-fired clay cylinders, or haniwa ,
topped with delightful representations of animals, people, boats and
houses. Though probably related to ancient Chinese burial practices, the
haniwa show a distinctively Japanese artistic form.
The religious influence
Shinto and Buddhism, Japan's two core religions, have both made vital
contributions to the art and architecture of Japan. In the case of
Shinto , the influence is extremely subtle and difficult to define, but
is apparent in the Japanese love of simplicity, understatement and a
deep affinity with the natural environment. The architecture of Shinto
shrines captures the essence of these ideals, as well as expressing the
sense of awe and mystery which is central to the religion. Their plain
wooden surfaces, together with their very human scale, gradually evolved
into a native approach to architectural design in which buildings, even
important religious edifices, strove to be in harmony with their
surroundings.
The introduction of Buddhism into Japan from China in the sixth century
had a profound effect on Japanese arts. The process of transmitting this
foreign religion to Japan led to the copying of Buddhist sutras, the
construction of temples as places of worship and of study, and the
production of Buddhist paintings and sculptures. The temples themselves,
with their red-lacquered exteriors, tiled roofs supported by elaborate
bracketing and tall pagodas, were in stark stylistic contrast to the
architecture of Shinto. They represented visually the superimposition
upon Japan's native traditions of a different set of beliefs and values.
Some of Japan's earliest Buddhist sculptures can be found at Horyu-ji (near
Nara) and take their inspiration from Chinese and Korean sculpture of an
earlier period. Though many statues have been moved to Tokyo's National
Museum, the temple is still a magnificent museum of early Buddhist art.
Its bronze Shaka (the Historic Buddha) Triad by Tori Bushii, a Korean-Chinese
immigrant, dates back to 623 and reflects the stiff frontal poses,
archaic smiles and waterfall drapery patterns of fourth-century Chinese
sculpture. At the same time, Horyu-ji's standing wooden Kudara Kannon,
depicting the most compassionate of the bodhisattvas, is delicately and
sensitively carved to emphasize its spirituality. Another contemporary
example of Buddhist sculpture, possibly also by a Korean immigrant, is
the seated Miroku Bosatsu (Future Buddha) at Chugu-ji, within the Horyp-ji
complex. With one leg crossed and his head resting pensively on one hand,
it is a model of the grace and serenity associated with Asuka-era
(552-650) sculpture.
As with Christian art, Buddhist iconography draws on a wealth of
historic and symbolic references. The legends associated with Buddhism
and the attributes of buddhahood are represented in the mudra , the hand
gestures of the Buddha, his poses and in the objects he holds. Similarly,
as with the heightened spirituality of the bodhisattvas which often
flank the Buddha and the exaggerated realism of the fearsome-looking
guardian figures at the entrance to the temple compound, the style in
which such sculptures are rendered is frequently an aspect of their
function. While the sweetness and calm of the bodhisattvas may direct
thoughts "heaven"-wards, the bulging eyes, tensed muscles and aggressive
poses of the guardian figures are intended to ward off evil and to
protect both the Buddha and the temple.
During the early years of Buddhism in Japan and the periods of closest
contact with China (the seventh to tenth centuries), Japanese styles of
Buddhist art mimicked those current in China or from her recent past.
However, a gradual process of assimilation took place in both painting
and sculpture until during the Kamakura era the adaptation of a
distinctly Japanese model can be observed in Buddhist art.
The Heian era 794-1185
In 794 the Japanese capital was moved from Nara to Heian-kyo (present-day
Kyoto), heralding the start of the Heian era . A more significant
transitional date, however, is 898 when the Japanese stopped sending
embassies to the Chinese T'ang court. The abrupt ending of centuries of
close relations with China was to have a significant impact upon
artistic developments in Japan. Gradually the cloistered and leisured
lifestyle of the Heian aristocracy, combined with a diminishing Chinese
influence, spawned a uniquely Japanese cultural identity.
Court life in Heian Japan revolved around worldly pleasures and
aesthetic pastimes, and the period is renowned for its artistic and
cultural innovation. Kana , or the phonetic syllabary, was developed
during this time and was employed in the composition of one of Japan's
greatest literary masterpieces, The Tale of Genji , or Genji Monogatari
. Lady Murasaki's portrayal of the effeteness and insularity of the
Heian-court nobility eloquently described the artistic pursuits which
dominated their daily life. The poetry and incense competitions, the
arts of painting, calligraphy and gardening, and the elaborate rituals
of court dress were all aspects of Heian aesthetic refinement.
A new painting format, the emaki or picture scroll , also evolved during
the Heian era. The narrative hand-scroll allowed for the picture and
story to unfold as the viewer unrolled and observed its contents. Emaki
depicted romances, legends and historical tales, of which the most
famous is an illustrated edition of The Tale of Genji , published around
1130. The painting technique used, known as Yamato-e , employs flat
blocks of colour with a strong linear focus and boldness of style which
was uniquely Japanese. At the same time, the decorative arts reached a
similarly high level of sophistication. Inlaid lacquerware, using the
maki-e technique (sprinkling the surface with gold or silver powder) and
finely crafted bronze mirrors employed surface designs to equally
dramatic effect.
The lavishness of Heian taste is reflected in Buddhist painting and
sculpture of this period. New sects of Buddhism gave rise to the
diagrammatic mandala , schematic depictions of the Buddhist universe,
while religious sculpture became more graceful and sensual, with gilded,
delicately featured deities marking the transition to an aristocratic
form of Buddhist art. The large, gilded wooden image of Amida in Uji's
Byodo-in (near Kyoto) is a representative example. Here the serene,
seated Buddha is set against a backdrop of elaborate openwork carving
with gilded angels and swirling cloud patterns animating the scene. The
overall effect is one of splendid sumptuousness.
Samurai culture
Japan's medieval age began in 1185 with the establishment of the
Kamakura Shogunate. While Kyoto remained the imperial capital and the
cultural heartland of Japan, the rise to power of a military elite
generated an alternative artistic taste. Bushido , "the way of the
warrior", was the guiding spirit of the samurai class. This spirit gave
rise to a demand for art forms that were more in keeping with the
simplicity, discipline and rigour of the military lifestyle.
This new realism made itself felt in the portrait painting and picture
scrolls of the Kamakura era (1185-1333), most graphically in the
Handbook on Hungry Ghosts , now held in Tokyo's National Museum. Highly
individualized portraits of military figures and Zen masters also became
popular, as did lively narrative tales focusing on the cult of war and
Buddhist legends. Kamakura sculpture similarly combined a high degree of
realism with a dynamic energy, reflecting the emergence of popular
Buddhist sects which appealed more directly to the common people. The
two giant guardian figures at Nara's Todai-ji, fashioned by the
sculptors Unkei and Kaikei in 1203, are outstanding examples of this
vigorous new style.
However, samurai culture had a more direct impact on the development of
the decorative arts. Military armour was made in quantity during the
Kamakura era and the art of the sword became an important area of
artistic production for centuries to follow. The long and short sword of
the samurai , the sword guard ( tsuba ), scabbard and elaborate fittings
and ornaments are all considered achievements of Japanese metalwork
design. While sword production in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
was concentrated in the provinces of Bizen and Mino (today's Okayama and
Gifu), by the Edo era (1600-1868), Edo and Osaka had become leading
centres of sword-making. Sword smiths were noted for their skill in
forging and for the meticulousness of finish which they applied to the
blades. Through the peaceful years of the Edo era, however,
swordfittings came to be associated with the decorative rather than the
practical. Sword furniture from this time might be either simple and
abstract, or draw on representational themes from nature, religion and
everyday life.
The arts of Zen
With the spread of Zen Buddhism in the thirteenth century, the arts of
Japan took on a new focus. Here was a religion which cultivated self-discipline
and austerity as the path to enlightenment. Not surprisingly, it was
taken up with enthusiasm by the samurai class. Meditation is at the
centre of Zen practice and many Zen art forms can be seen as vehicles
for inward reflection or as visualizations of the sudden and spontaneous
nature of enlightenment.
Monochromatic ink painting , known as suiboku-ga or sumi-e , portrayed
meditative landscapes and other subjects in a variety of formats
including screens, hanging scrolls and hand-scrolls, with a free and
expressive style of brushwork that was both speedily and skilfully
rendered. Haboku , or "flung-ink" landscapes, took this technique to its
logical extreme by building up (barely) recognizable imagery from the
arbitrary patterns formed by wet ink splashed onto highly absorbent
paper. Sesshu (1420-1506), a Zen priest, was Japan's foremost
practitioner of this technique.
Zen calligraphy similarly moved beyond the descriptive to emphasize
spontaneity of expression in a style of writing that captured the
essence of its subject matter, frequently based on poems and Zen sayings.
Calligraphy of this type can be so expressively rendered as to be almost
unreadable except to the practised eye. One of the most striking
examples, by the monk Ryokan Daigu (1757-1831), is a hanging scroll with
the intertwined symbols for heaven and earth. Ryokan's bold brushwork
dramatically links the symbols of these two aspects of the cosmos to
portray them as one sweeping and continuous force. Both the symbolism of
this literal union and the unconventionality of the style in which the
characters are rendered encapsulate the spirit of Zen.
A love of nature also lies at the very core of Zen. The qualities of
abstraction and suggestion which characterized suiboku-ga were fittingly
applied to the design of Zen gardens . Japanese gardens employ artifice
to create an environment that appears more natural than nature itself.
Trees and bushes are carefully pruned, colour is restricted and water
channelled to convey, in one setting, the essence of the natural
landscape. The word for landscape in Japanese is sansui , meaning "mountain
and water". In Zen-inspired kare-sansui or "dry landscape" gardens, such
as that of Ryoan-ji in Kyoto, these two elements are symbolically
combined. Kare-sansui gardens consist only of carefully selected and
positioned rocks in a bed of sand or gravel which is raked into water-like
patterns. As vehicles for contemplation, such gardens convey the
vastness of nature through the power of suggestion.
Cha-no-yu , or "the way of tea", also evolved out of Zen meditation
techniques, and draws on the love of nature in its architectural setting
and utensils. The spirit of wabi , sometimes described as "rustic
simplicity", pervades the Japanese tea ceremony . The traditional
teahouse is positioned in a suitably understated garden, and naturalness
is emphasized in all aspects of its architecture; in the unpainted
wooden surfaces, the thatched roof, tatami -covered floors and the
sliding-screen doors ( fusuma ) which open directly out onto a rustic
scene. As with the garden itself, colour and ostentation are avoided.
Instead, the corner alcove, or tokonoma , becomes the focal point for a
single object of adornment, a simple flower arrangement or a seasonal
hanging scroll.
Tea ceremony utensils contribute to the mood of this refined ritual.
Raku, Shino and many other varieties of roughcast tea bowls are admired
for the accidental effects produced by the firing of the pottery. Water
containers, tea caddies and bamboo ladles and whisks complement the tea
wares and are themselves much prized for their natural qualities. The
guiding light behind all this mannered simplicity was the great
tea-master Sen no Rikyu (1521-91), whose "worship of the imperfect" had
a long-lasting influence on Japanese artistic tastes.
Feudal arts and architecture
Zen arts flourished during the Muromachi era (1333-1573) and close links
with China once again dominated cultural life. The Ashikaga shoguns, now
headquartered in Kyoto alongside the imperial court, indulged their love
of the arts and landscape gardening in grand style. While many of
Kyoto's Muromachi palaces and temples were destroyed during the late-fifteenth-century
Onin Wars, two magnificent monuments still survive in the Kinkaku-ji and
Gingaku-ji , the Golden and Silver pavilions. Built as country villas
for the shoguns, both these buildings are modest in scale and combine
simplicity of design with luxuriousness of finish - particularly the
gold-leaf exterior of Kinkaku-ji. The Japanese style of domestic
architecture was thus adapted to the requirements and tastes of the
military elite.
Some of the most notable emblems of the power and wealth of the feudal
lords ( daimyo ) were their castles . These reached their apogee in the
sixteenth century as the warlords jockeyed for power. The castles were
large in scale, surrounded by moats and elaborate defence works, and
were constructed of wood on top of monumental stone foundations. Though
obviously built for defence, their uncompromising solidity is offset by
multistorey watchtowers looking like so many layers of an elaborate
wedding cake with their fanciful, multiple roofs. Himeji-jo (White Egret
Castle), west of Osaka, is an outstanding example of Japan's unique
style of castle architecture.
Under the patronage of the feudal hierarchy, Japanese art reached its
most opulent during the Momoyama era (1573-1600). The scale of feudal
architecture created a new demand for decorative screen paintings ,
which were used to adorn every storey and were either fixed on walls,
fusuma or folding screens ( byobu ). From the late sixteenth century,
the Kyoto-based Kano School of artists came to dominate official taste.
Their screens combined the bright colours and decorative boldness of
Yamato-e with the more subtle compositional features of suiboku-ga .
Subjects were mainly drawn from nature and from Japanese history and
legend, while the extensive use of gold leaf added a shimmering
brightness to the dark interior spaces of the great Momoyama castles,
palaces and temples. Kano Eitoku and his grandson, Kano Tan'yu , were
the school's most famous exponents and their works can still be seen in
Kyoto's Daitoku-ji and Nijo-jo . This latter is the only surviving
palace from the Momoyama era. Originally part of a castle complex, its
sweeping roof lines and intricately carved and ornamented gables show a
lavishness and boldness of style appropriate to its subsequent use as
the Tokugawa shoguns' Kyoto base.
The Edo era 1600-1868
After 1603, the Tokugawa Shogunate was established at Edo (modern-day
Tokyo) where it remained in power for the next 250 years. These were
years of peace and stability in Japan, marked by isolation from the
outside world, the growth of cities, economic development and social
mobility. To begin with, the merchant class were at the bottom of the
feudal social ladder while the samurai remained the ruling elite. As
their wealth increased, however, the position and influence of the
merchants rose accordingly.
Edo-era arts flourished under these new patrons. In painting , while the
Kano school continued to receive official support from the shoguns,
other schools explored different styles and found different masters.
Artists such as Tawaraya Sotatsu (died around 1643) and Ogata Korin
(1658-1716) stand out for reviving aspects of the Yamato-e tradition and
injecting new decorative life into Japanese painting. Sotatsu's famous
golden screen paintings based on The Tale of Genji dramatically adapt
the subject matter and style of Heian-era emaki to this larger format.
Korin's most noted works include the "Irises" screens, now held in
Tokyo's Nezu Museum, which take an episode from a Heian-era novel, The
Tale of Ise , and reduce its content to the striking patterns of flatly
conceived blue irises and green leaves against a shimmering gold
background.
In patronizing the arts, merchants sought not only reflections of their
own affluence but also of their lifestyle. Paintings which depicted the
often bawdy pleasures of city life came into vogue. The lively
entertainment districts of Edo, Osaka and Kyoto, with their brothels,
teahouses and Kabuki theatres, were depicted in painted screens and
scrolls. This new genre of painting, ukiyo-e , or "pictures of the
floating world", devoted itself to the hedonistic pastimes of the new
rich. By the early eighteenth century, ukiyo-e were most commonly
produced as hand-coloured woodblock prints which became gradually more
sophisticated in their subtle use of line and colour as mass-printing
techniques developed.
Catering to popular taste, late-eighteenth-century artists such as
Harunobu, Utamaro and Sharaku portrayed famous beauties of the day and
Kabuki actors in dramatic poses. Explicitly erotic prints known as
shunga (spring pictures), were also big sellers, as were humorous scenes
of daily life ( manga ), the forerunners of today's comics. Hokusai
(1760-1849), perhaps the most internationally famous ukiyo-e artist, was
originally known for his manga, but went on to create one of the most
enduring images of Japan, The Great Wave , as part of his series the
Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji . Followed by the equally popular Fifty-Three
Stages of the Tokaido , by Hiroshige (1797-1858), these later landscape
prints were instantly popular at a time when travel was both difficult
and restricted.
The decorative arts reached new heights of elegance and craftsmanship
during the Edo era. Varieties of Imari- and Kutani-ware porcelain (from
Kyushu and Ishikawa-ken) were made in large quantities for domestic
consumption and later for export. Inlaid lacquerware was executed in
bold and simple designs. Honami Koetsu (1558-1637) and Ogata Korin
(1658-1716) were leading lacquer artists of the period, as well as
celebrated painters and calligraphers - their design skills translated
readily across different materials and craft forms. One of Koetsu's most
famous lacquer works, an inkstone box in the Tokyo National Museum,
reflects these combined talents with its inlaid-lead bridge and silver
calligraphy forming integral parts of the overall design. Korin carried
on this tradition with his own black-lacquer, inkstone box; its jagged,
lead and silver bridge across a bed of inlaid gold and shell irises
translates his earlier "Irises" screens into a three-dimensional format.
Textile production, meanwhile, was centred in the Nishijin district of
Kyoto where silk cloth was made both for the Shogunate and the imperial
court. Luxurious effects were achieved using elaborate embroidery and
weaving techniques, which became works of art in themselves. Paste-resistant
yuzen dyeing developed in Kyoto in the late seventeenth century. This
complicated process involved multiple applications of rice-starch paste
and dyes by hand to capture subtle, multicolour painted effects. The
resulting patterns were often embellished with embroidery or gold and
silver foil. Fine examples of kimono of the period can be seen in
Japan's museums but ukiyo-e provide numerous illustrations of this
aspect of "the floating world".
Western influences
Episodes of Western contact prior to the Edo era resulted in some
specific examples of artistic exchange. The Namban (southern barbarian)
golden-screen paintings of the Momoyama era show Portuguese merchants
and missionaries at Nagasaki before they were expelled. The continued
Dutch presence similarly gave rise to paintings and prints which
portrayed the Dutch settlement at Nagasaki's Dejima. Later, this was
also the route for stylistic change generated by imported Western art.
The reopening of Japan by Commodore Perry in 1854 and the fall of the
Tokugawa Shogunate in 1867 launched a period of massive social and
cultural change. With the restoration of the emperor Meiji to power and
a new government in place in Tokyo from 1868, a process of modernization
and Westernization was embarked upon which transformed the face of Japan
and of the visual arts.
The opening of the treaty ports furnished a new subject matter for
woodblock print artists who produced marvellous portraits of big-nosed
Westerners in Yokohama and other ports. Meiji modernization provided
additional themes as the opening of the first railway, spinning factory
and many other advances were recorded for posterity. Western advisers
assisted in the design and construction of European-style buildings ,
some of which can still be found scattered around Japanese cities, while
others have been relocated to the Meiji Mura Open-Air Museum near
Nagoya.
In the early years of the Meiji era (1868-1912), traditional Japanese
and Chinese styles of painting were rejected by many artists in favour
of Western styles and techniques. Artists such as Kuroda Seiki
(1866-1924) and Fujishima Takeji (1867-1943) studied in Paris and
returned to become leaders of Western-style painting ( Yoga ) in Japan.
Realism, Impressionism and other Western art movements were directly
transplanted to the Tokyo art scene. More conservative painters, such as
Yokoyama Taikan (1868-1958) worked to establish Nihon-ga , a modern
style of Japanese painting, drawing on a mixture of Chinese, Japanese
and Western techniques.
Western influence on the arts expanded greatly in the Taisho era
(1912-1926) with sculpture , as well as painting, closely following
current trends. In the postwar period, Japanese artists looked again to
Europe and America but more selectively took their inspiration from a
range of avant-garde developments in the West. Art in Japan today can be
seen as a blend of Japanese and international currents. Sources of
tradition can no longer be identified purely with the East or the West.
Mingei: The folk craft tradition
It is in the area of the folk crafts that Japan has maintained a
distinctive tradition and one that delights in the simplicity and
utilitarian aspects of ordinary everyday objects. Mingei really is
"people's art", the works of unknown craftsmen from all regions of Japan
that are revered for their natural and unpretentious qualities.
While Japanese folk crafts flourished during the Edo era, the mass
production techniques of the machine age led to a fall in the quality of
textiles, ceramics, lacquer and other craft forms. The art critic and
philosopher Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961) worked from the 1920s to stem this
tide and to preserve the craft products of the preindustrial age. Yanagi
established the Mingei-kan, or Japanese Folk Crafts Museum, in Tokyo's
Meguro district in 1936 to display Japanese folk crafts of every
description. But the revival of the mingei tradition also celebrated
works by living artist-craftsmen as well as regional differences in
style and technique. The potters Hamada Shoji (1894-1978) and the
Englishman Bernard Leach (1887-1979) were most famously associated with
the mingei movement, as was the woodblock print artist, Munakata Shiko
(1903-1975).
A wide range of traditional handicrafts are still being produced today
all over Japan. Yuzen -style kimono dyeing and kumihimo braid craft are
associated with Kyoto; shuri weaving techniques with Okinawa; Hakata
ningyo , or earthenware dolls, with Fukuoka; and Kumano brushes with
Hiroshima. Pottery, lacquerware, wood, bamboo and handmade paper
products of every description continue to preserve the spirit of mingei
in contemporary Japan.
The performing arts
The traditional theatre arts evolved in the context of broader cultural
developments during different periods of Japan's history. No (or Noh) is
the classic theatre of Japan, a form of masked drama which has its roots
in sacred Shinto dances, but was formalized 600 years ago under the
patronage of the Ashikaga shoguns and the aesthetic influence of Zen.
The bare wooden stage with its painted backdrop of an ancient pine tree,
the actors' stylized robes and the elusive expressions of the finely
crafted masks create an atmosphere that is both understated and refined.
The dramatic contrasts of stillness and sudden rushes of movement, and
of periods of silence punctuated by sound, conjure up the essence of the
Zen aesthetic. The kyogen interludes inject an element of comic relief
into this otherwise stately ceremonial entertainment.
The 240 plays of the No repertoire are divided into five categories.
Waki-no (or kami-no ) depict deities in stories of rejoicing; shura-mono
portray famous warriors in tales of suffering and torment; and
kazura-mono depict young and beautiful women in a gentle setting. The
fourth group comprises kyojo-mono (mad-women pieces) and genzai-mono ,
depicting mad men or obsessed women. In the final category, kiri-no are
fast-paced plays featuring supernatural beings, gods or demons. Though a
traditional programme contains a selection from each group, with three
or four kyogen interludes, most programmes nowadays consist of only two
No plays and one kyogen .
The principal character in No plays is known as the shite , and may be
either a ghost, mad person, or a superhuman or animal creature. The
secondary character, the waki , on the other hand always represents
people living in the present. Shite characters generally wear a mask, of
male, female or demon type, which conceals the actor's presence and
allows the characterization to dominate. The actor's skill lies in
transcending the conventions of archaic language, mask and formalized
costume to convey the dramatic tensions inherent in the play. Dance
elements and musical effects aid directly in this process and draw on
the folk entertainment tradition from which No is derived. Famously
inaccessible to some, No is capable of achieving tremendously subtle and
evocative effects.
By comparison, the kyogen interludes primarily aim at amusement and
providing a counterpoint to the No drama. As with No, kyogen performers
are all male and assume a variety of roles, some of which are completely
independent of the No play, while others comment on the development of
the main story. The language used is colloquial (though of
sixteenth-century origin) and compared to the esoteric poetry of No, far
more accessible to a contemporary audience. There is a greater emphasis
on realistic portrayal in kogen and the actors only occasionally wear
masks. Humour is achieved through exaggerated speech and formalized
acting techniques and movements. Essentially a dialogue play between two
characters or groups of actors, kyogen makes use of wit and satire to
balance the mood of No.
While No is classical and restrained, Kabuki , Japan's popular theatre,
is colourful, exuberant and full of larger-than-life characters, a
highly stylized theatrical form which delights in flamboyant gestures
and elaborate costumes, make-up and staging effects. While the language
may still be incomprehensible, the plots themselves deal with easily
understandable, often tragic themes of love and betrayal, commonly taken
from famous historical episodes.
Kabuki originated in the early 1600s as rather risqué dances performed
by all-female troupes. The shogun eventually banned women because of
Kabuki's association with prostitution, but their replacement - young
men - was no more successful and in the end Kabuki actors were
predominantly older men, some of whom specialize in female roles. It
developed as a more serious form of theatre in the late sixteenth
century when Kabuki was cultivated chiefly by the merchant class. It
gave theatrical expression to the vitality of city life and to the class
tensions between samurai , merchants and peasants which informed the
plots of so many plays. As an indication of the popularity of Kabuki,
powerful images of famous actors were a favourite theme of Edo-era
ukiyo-e prints.
Bunraku , Japan's puppet theatre, was another product of Edo-era culture
and exerted a strong influence on Kabuki, even providing many of its
plots. Bunraku developed out of the joruri storytelling tradition, in
which travelling minstrels recited popular tales of famous heroes and
legends, accompanied by the biwa (Japanese lute) or shamisen
(three-stringed guitar). Adapted to the stage in the early seventeenth
century, Bunraku made use of stylized puppets, one-half to one-third the
size of humans, to enact the various roles. The great Osaka playwright
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724), often referred to as "the Shakespeare
of Japan", is responsible for around one hundred Bunraku plays, many of
which are still performed in Japan today. The most famous plays in the
Bunraku repertoire include Chikamatsu's Sonezaki Shinju (The Love
Suicides at Sonezaki), based on a true story, and Kokusen'ya Kassen (The
Battles of Coxinga), about a legendary pirate.
Three operators take part in a Bunraku performance , while a chanter,
using a varied vocal range, tells the story to the accompaniment of
shamisen music . The main puppeteer is in full view of the audience and
uses his left hand to manipulate the face and head, with his right
controlling the puppet's right arm. One assistant operates the left arm
while another moves the puppet's legs; both dressed in black, these
moving shadows simply disappear into the background. The skill of the
puppeteers - the result of lengthy apprenticeships - contributes to the
high degree of realism in the performance, and the stylized movements
can result in great drama. Indeed, Kabuki actors employed some
puppet-like gestures from Bunraku to enhance and enliven their own
acting techniques.
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