JPN 152 Final
kyôgen kigo "wild words, fancy phrases"
Discusses the dangers of flowery language, and talks about the inherently misleading nature of words.
shirabyôshi "white-robed entertainers"
Female entertainers of the Heian and medieval periods who wore male court caps and shira (white) robes, danced to percussion accompaniment, and sang songs, including imayô (popular songs). They helped contribute to the tradition of musical storytelling that led to bunraku.
wagoto "soft style"
A style of kabuki acting associated with the Kansai region (Kyoto-Osaka) and Sakata Tôjûrô. It is characterized by stylish costumes, subdued makeup, and understated gestures.
aragoto "bravura style"
A style of kabuki acting associated with the Kanto region (Tokyo-Yokohama) and Ichikawa Danjûrô. It is characterized by kumadori (bold makeup), elaborate costumes, and grand gestures.
The Tale of Princess Jôruri in 12 Episodes
A sung narrative accompanied by the biwa composed in the sixteenth century, featuring a young Yoshitsune and Princess Jôruri. Later, simple puppets acted out actions of jôruri (narrative recitation), which led to it subsequently lending its name to the puppet theater.
bugaku
A stately, ritualized dance which often, but not always, used masks. It is translated as "dance entertainment," and was a symmetrical dance performed the same way in four directions. Choreographed and synchronized, it represented the state working together harmoniously. Its instrumentation included the imported mouth organ (shô). When the shô was combined with wind and string music in a full orchestra (kangen), it became gagaku, or "elegant court entertainment."
mondô "questions and answers"
A spoken segment of a nô play in the form of a question and answer dialogue, often between the shite and the waki.
shô
A Japanese mouth organ imported from China. It consists of 17 slender bamboo pipes and was used in gagaku ensembles.
giri-ninjô "duty vs. feelings"
A bunraku convention describing the struggle between a character's inner emotions and social convention.
michiyuki "lyric journey"
A bunraku convention describing the transformative moment undergone by characters during travel to the site of their suicide in which they become symbols of pure love.
shinjû "love suicides"
A bunraku genre pattern based on real events surrounding the suicide of a romantic couple. Frequently features townsmen and prostitutes as its protagonists. These plays include the theme of giri-ninjô (duty vs. feelings) and includes a michiyuki (lyric journey).
Takemoto Theater
A bunraku theater in Osaka, founded in 1684 by Takemoto Gidayû. Chikamatsu, Takemoto, and Tachimatsu all performed there.
monotsukushi "exhaustive listing"
A catalog or list of things. A poetic technique adapted in theatrical texts. For example, the list of bells in Miidera.
Sarugaku dangi "Discussion on the Art of Nô"
A collection of miscellaneous notes and advice about nô, probably written by Zeami's son around 1430. Within the notes, it identifies chanting as the most important aspect of nô, followed by dancing.
kabuki jûhachiban "Kabuki 18"
A collection of the 18 most popular kabuki plays, of which Kanjinchô (Subscription List) is one.
Yakusha rongo "The Actor's Analects"
A collection of writings on the practice and aesthetics of acting on the kabuki stage, compiled in the 17th and 18th centuries. In a section called "The Words of Ayame," Fukuoka Yagoshirô outlines pieces of advice, in the structure of "Items," for an onnagata. Among other things, Fukuoka recommends method acting.
monomane "mimesis"
A description of the types of movements employed in nô. The ritualized movements of nô still have to be based on and imitate (mimic) reality, making them the distilled essence of the real, like poetry. It also relates to the idea that imitation delights us precisely because it isn't real; while an angry man is no fun in real life, on stage he becomes quite funny.
kyôgen
A dramatic art form developed in the 13th and 14th centuries and considered the shorter, comic sister to nô. It focuses on folktales and comedy, and while it developed parallel to nô, it does not use any masks. On the contrary, facial expressions are very important. It can stand independently or as part of a nô play. When independent, it can sometimes parody a nô play. It uses vernacular speech, not the Classical Japanese employed by nô. It enjoys repetitive structure, elements of improvisation, and standard but colorful characters.
nô/noh
A dramatic art form developed in the 13th and 14th centuries. Its name means "skill" or "ability," as it combines all the skills of the body. It is characterized by masks (from gigaku), music (from kagura), and dance (from bugaku). It employs few, unrealistic (symbolic) props, and its stage always has a pine tree background. The most important playwright of the genre is Zeami.
kabuki
A dramatic art form developed in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its name is a combination of the characters meaning "song-dance-skill." It features live actors and elaborate costumes. Considered the sister art to bunraku, with which it often shares texts.
Sakata Tôjûrô
A family of kabuki actors associated with the Kansai region (Kyoto-Osaka). They specialize in the wagoto (soft) acting style and are known for their performances in sewamono (domestic dramas). They wear stylish costumes, subdued makeup, and participate in the tradition of prostitute preview shows.
Ichikawa Danjûrô
A family of kabuki actors associated with the Kanto region (Tokyo-Yokohama). Theirs is the most famous name in kabuki acting. They specialize in the aragoto (rough/bravura) acting style. They wear kumadori (bold makeup), elaborate costumes, and perform with grand gestures.
Takemoto Gidayû
A famous bunraku narrator at the Takemoto Theater in Osaka, 1685. Lived from 1651-1725.
Namiki Sôsuke (Senryû)
A famous bunraku playwright for the Takemoto Theater. Author of Kumagai's Battle Camp and one of three authors of Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees (as well as the other "Three Masterpieces of Bunraku"). Lived from 1695-1751.
Takeda Izumo II
A famous bunraku playwright for the Takemoto Theater. One of three authors of Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees (as well as the other "Three Masterpieces of Bunraku"). Lived from 1691-1756.
Miyoshi Shôryaku
A famous bunraku playwright for the Takemoto Theater. One of three authors of Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees (as well as the other "Three Masterpieces of Bunraku"). Lived from 1696-1775.
Tachimatsu Hachirobei
A famous bunraku puppeteer at the Takemoto Theater in Osaka, 1685.
jôruri
A general term for the puppet theater and for various styles of narrative music for samisen and voice associated with the puppet and kabuki theaters.
bunraku
A general term for the puppet theater, a dramatic art form developed in the 17th and 18th centuries. More appropriate terms are ningyô jôruri (narrative recitation with dolls) and ayatsuri shibai (theater of [puppet] manipulation). It is considered the sister art to kabuki, as it was developed at the same time and often uses the same texts. It is the only genre that tends toward realism.
jidaimono "period pieces"
A genre of bunraku featuring historical events, often battles. However, they focus on the human, rather than the militaristic, aspects of war.
sewamono "domestic dramas"
A genre of bunraku featuring present-day events. Includes the subgenre shinjû (love suicides).
naniwabushi "musical ballads"
A genre of traditional Japanese narrative singing, generally accompanied by a samisen. A precursor in musical storytelling leading to the creation of bunraku.
keren "quick change"
A kabuki stage technique whereby strings are pulled on a character's costume, allowing it to quickly transform into something else; for example, by folding the upper part of the costume down to reveal a different costume underneath. This is used several times in Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees.
onnagata
A male kabuki actor who specializes in female role types.
gigaku
A masked dance derived from Buddhist plays originating in India. It traveled from China via the Korean court to Japan. Its instrumentation included the flute, drums, gongs, and cymbals. It is translated as "skilled entertainment." Often narrative in structure, it depicted the life of Buddha. The masks always featured in the dance were made of paulownia wood, and later painted and lacquered; they are the earliest masks from Japan.
yamabushi "mountain priest"
A mountain priest or ascetic, they roamed the countryside performing austere ascetic practices and were purportedly capable of using mythic powers. In kyôgen, they are most frequently failures.
mie "power poses"
A pose struck by a kabuki actor who has just completed or is about to perform a difficult or straining task. They resemble a type of freeze frame in the middle of a kabuki performance.
Chûshingura "Treasury of Loyal Retainers"
A puppet/kabuki play containing the scene "At the Farmhouse." It is the best-known theatrical work in Japan, composed by the same trio of playwrights responsible for Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy and Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees. In the play, a group of 46 retainers are commanded to commit seppuku after illegally avenging the death of their master.
Uzume
A shamanic dancer from the Kojiki, she lures Amaterasu out of her cave by dancing naked in front of a gathering of the gods in what is considered the first kagura (entertainment for the gods).
biwa
A short-necked, five-stringed Japanese lute imported from China. It was used in gagaku ensembles.
riken no ken "distant perspective"
A term used in Zeami's treatise on nô, Kakyō. It refers to the performer's ability to separate themselves from their own body and performance and evaluate their technique objectively.
shakuhachi
A traditional Japanese end-blown flute, originally imported from China and made of bamboo.
samisen
A traditional Japanese three-stringed lute with a square body, played with a large plectrum.
nôkan/yokobue
A traditional Japanese transverse flute.
kagura
A traditional type of Japanese festival dance featured in all matsuri (prayer to summon gods) which take place at the residence of the deity. The three components of a matsuri are 1. Calling out the deity, 2. Entertaining the deity (kagura), and 3. Bidding farewell to the deity. There are four types of kagura: Lion Dance, Folk Dance, Shamanic Dance, and Court Dance. Kagura influenced all later dramatic forms by introducing a journey along a sacred path; the relationships between gods and mortals; raised stage areas and bridgeways; a combination of dance, music, costume, and narrative; and the communal and celebratory aspects associated with the dramatic arts.
hôben "expedient means"
An alternate path to enlightenment.
The Tale of the Heike
An epic account detailing the struggles between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the Genpei War. It is used as source material for many dramatic performances.
Satsuma Jôun
An exciting and passionate reciter of the puppet theater. He pioneered the aragoto (rough style) of acting/narration seen in kabuki and bunraku. He also took charge of the special effects, including beheadings and sword fighting.
Zeami Motokiyo
An important actor, playwright, and theorist, he is the son of nô pioneer Kan'ami. After receiving the patronage of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, he helped the genre to flourish. He is known for the ideal of hana (the flower) and the aesthetic of yûgen (mystery and depth). Lived from 1363-1443.
kurogo "men in black"
Assistant puppeteers, dressed all in black, who assist the lead puppeteer in a bunraku performance. In the 1969 film Double Suicide, they appear as a representation of fate, showing that sometimes events are orchestrated and therefore unavoidable.
haniwa
Clay figurines from the Jōmon and Tomb eras. They suggest a fuzzy line between shamans and dancers, just like Uzume from the Kojiki.
Izanami/Izanagi
Gods from the Kojiki, they beget the world. Their child Awaji Island is thought to be the birthplace of drama. After Izanami is killed giving birth to the fire deity, Izanagi begets more children on his own, including Amaterasu, the ancestor of the Imperial family.
Love Suicides at Sonezaki
Hailed as the first sewamono (contemporary drama) in the puppet theater. Features as its protagonists Tokubei and Ohatsu, and the bad guy Kuheiji. In the play, Tokubei and Ohatsu commit suicide after Tokubei is tricked out of a lot of money by Kuheiji. Tokubei is a townsman and Ohatsu is a prostitute. The play was written in 1703 by Chikamatsu, who rushed production to premier the play only three weeks after the real-life events.
roppô "six-direction swagger"
In a kabuki performance, most frequently seen as an exit along the hanamichi by a powerful character. It is a hopping movement so grand that it represents a giant moving in six directions at once.
kakegoe "calling out"
In a nô play, the vocals performed by players of the percussion instruments. There are three basic types: ya, ha, and yoi. This is how the musicians communicate, as well as provide cues for the actors. They dictate both the meter as well as the speed and strength of the performance.
gidayû
In the puppet theater, refers to the way in which words are recited or to the person who recites them.
hana "the flower"
One of Zeami's theories about acting. Good acting is like a flower blooming on stage; there's attention-grabbing newness, but an expected progression of events. It also describes the relationship between actor and audience, where the actor is meant to react and respond to the audience, emphasizing different things based on the audience's knowledge. Finally, it promotes the maintenance of symbolic realism, where actors must follow the code for what movements mean.
yûgen "mystery and depth"
One of Zeami's theories about playwriting. It describes the allusive quality of a text, relating to the hidden truths in Buddhist teachings that can't be explained in words. It can be described as subtlety, mystery, or perhaps most appropriately, allusion. By alluding to other texts, a playwright gives more depth of meaning to the text in which it is used.
Kinpira jôruri
Jôruri (narrative recitation) recounting, in flamboyant style, the adventures of Sakata Kinpira. The style influenced the later aragoto style of kabuki. It also helped contribute to the tradition of musical storytelling that led to bunraku.
matsubamemono "pine board piece"
Kabuki versions of nô plays. They are performed with a set modeled on the nô stage, which has a matsu (pine tree) painted on the back wall. Kanjinchô (Subscription List) is an example.
Nikyoku santai "Two Arts, Three Roles"
One of Zeami's treatises, it focuses on chanting and dance as the foundation of nô. It introduces the idea of monomane, or "mimesis." It also introduces the three role types: old person, woman, and warrior.
biwa hôshi "blind minstrels"
Male entertainers, usually blind and tonsured (shaved heads), who recited narratives—particularly of battle tales, like heikyoku (Heike songs)—accompanying themselves on the biwa. They helped contribute to the tradition of musical storytelling that led to bunraku.
Sekine Family
Members of the Kanze School of nô acting, and the subject of the nô acting documentary we saw in class.
Fûshikaden "The Flowering Spirit"
One of Zeami's treatises, written around 1402. It consists of seven chapters on acting and roles, including age-appropriate training, levels of skill, and how to perform various roles. It also comments on play composition, the relationship between words and acting, and the relationship between the actor and the audience. Finally, it includes a brief history of Japanese drama up to his time, beginning with Uzume's dance for Amaterasu.
Shikadô "The True Path to the Flower"
One of Zeami's treatises, written around 1420 when Zeami was 58. It stresses fundamental training in the actor's art, describing the more metaphysical distinctions between levels of accomplishment (poetic equivalents, outward effect), elaborated on in the other treatises.
Sandô "The Three Elements"
One of Zeami's treatises, written around 1423. It talks about the three elements that go into writing a nô play. These are the seed (source material), construction (the formal structure of the play as a whole), and composition (the poetic quality of the lines). The seed is the shite, who must have a noble stature and an artistic ability. The construction refers to the length of the play, when and how music is incorporated; the overall form of the play. The composition focuses on how to incorporate other texts in order to give the play yûgen (mystery and depth).
Kakyô "The Mirror Held to the Flower"
One of Zeami's treatises, written around 1424. It describes the importance of the waki when the waki is named. It also explores the idea of riken no ken (distant perspective) in which an actor is able to view his technique objectively as if watching himself perform.
Kyûi "The Nine Levels"
One of Zeami's treatises, written around 1424. It describes the nine skill levels of acting, couched in the terminology of zen unanswerable questions and poetry.
The House of the Sugawara
One of the three most popular bunraku/kabuki plays along with Treasury of Loyal Retainers and Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees. The play is about the life of the exiled nobleman Sugawara no Michizane.
sô odori "general dance"
Originally referring to dance using leaps and jumps, in contrast to mai (the circling, ground-hugging type of dance used in nô), it now generally refers to kabuki dance.
imayô "popular songs"
Popular songs of the Heian and Kamakura periods, sung professionally by shirabyôshi (white robed female court dancers), but also by aristocrats as elite entertainments. They were longer, narratively descriptive songs. A precursor in musical storytelling leading to the creation of bunraku.
heikyoku "Heike songs"
Recitation of episodes from The Tale of the Heike to biwa accompaniment. They were traditionally performed by biwa hôshi (blind minstrels). A precursor in musical storytelling leading to the creation of bunraku.
Double Suicide
The 1969 film directed by Shinoda Masahiro and based on the bunraku play The Love Suicides at Amijima. It is considered a New Wave or avant garde adaptation that, among other things, features kurogo everywhere.
Sakurada Jisuke
The author of the kabuki version of The Subscription List we watched in class.
"Three Masterpieces of Bunraku"
The collective name for the bunraku plays The House of Sugawara, Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees, and Treasury of Loyal Retainers. All three were written by a playwright team for the Takemoto Theater.
Shinoda Masahiro
The director of the 1969 film Double Suicide, he was a low class assistant director in the 1950s before becoming a fully-fledged "New Wave" director in the 1960s. He is infamous for a scandalous divorce preceding a second marriage to Iwashita Shima, the actress who plays both Osan and Koharu in the film.
hanamichi "bridgeway"
The extended part of the kabuki stage that stretches like a runway from the stage at the front to an exit at the back. Use of the hanamichi contributes to an assimilation of actors and audience and the breakdown of the fourth wall so characteristic of kabuki.
Okuni
The female founder of kabuki. She called herself a priestess, though this was probably a ruse in order that her dance troupe could collect money for its performances. Her troupe was made up of women whose risqué dancing blurred the line between performers and prostitutes. She became a legendary figure whose name was passed on through the generations.
yûjô (onna) kabuki "pleasure woman kabuki"
The first type of kabuki, it featured entirely female dancers and was founded by Okuni. Because the female dancers were thinly-disguised prostitutes exciting the passions of volatile samurai, they were later banned from the stage. This gave rise to wakashu kabuki, the second type.
Genroku Era
The flowering of urban culture in the Edo period. It was characterized by kabuki plays being written specifically for the kabuki stage (as opposed to being borrowed from nô, kyôgen, or bunraku), as well as the development of regional stylistic differences between the different kabuki theaters.
jo-ha-kyû
The governing principle in all aspects of nô. jo - slow introduction ha - development/exposition kyû - rapid finale
Chikamatsu Monzaemon
The greatest playwright for the puppet theater. He authored over 100 plays, as well as adapted stories for kabuki including historical pieces (jidaimono), contemporary dramas (sewamono), and shinjû (love suicides). Lived from 1653-1725, associated with the Takemoto Theater in Osaka, 1685.
kumadori
The makeup worn by kabuki actors. The most characteristic type is that associated with the aragoto style. This includes red, black, brown, and indigo lines on the face, with different patterns representing different characters. For example, red lines from the eyes to the forehead represent beauty, while indigo lines mean treachery and betrayal. Kabuki actors apply their own makeup before a performance.
mugen noh
The most representative type of nô play. It features a two-part structure (seen especially in warrior plays), the appearance of a ghost figure, and the re-enactment of the past which gives the play two layers of time. Izutsu is an example.
Takemitsu Tôru
The musical composer for the 1969 film Double Suicide.
waki noh
The name for a god/deity nô play performed first in a full set of plays. It is celebratory in nature.
yagô "stage name"
The name shouted by knowledgeable audience members at a kabuki actor in place of clapping for him. This is an unpublished nickname, or "house name," different from the actor's birth name or performance name.
Kojiki
The oldest written document in Japan, describing its mythical beginnings. Translated as "Record of Ancient Matters," it was written around 712. It features the first kagura and stresses the importance of community. The scene with the "heavenly pillar" suggests a mixture of rites for human as well as agrarian fertility.
Kanze School
The original nô school founded by Kan'ami in the 1300s. The school received the support of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and later boasted the leading style and strength of the four major schools in the Edo period. It is characterized by its beauty and elegance.
shite/waki/tsure
The role types of a nô performance. shite - principal character waki - secondary character/deuteragonist tsure - attendant kokata - child role
wakashu kabuki "young man kabuki"
The second type of kabuki, it featured young men taking on the roles of the women who had held them before. Although the use of young men pushed kabuki toward the realm of actual performance, it still devolved into prostitution. It, also, was banned from the stage.
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
The shogun who gave patronage to Zeami and therefore helped the genre of nô to flourish. His patronage established nô as an art form, with cultural implications for the rest of Japan's history. Lived from 1358-1408.
suppon "trap door"
The small stage trap at the seven-three spot on the hanamichi. It is used for the entrances of ghosts, sorcerers, and other unusual characters in kabuki.
Amaterasu
The sun goddess and daughter of Izanagi, she is the ancestor of the Imperial lineage. When she hides in a cave and causes an eclipse, the instructions to draw her out take on ritualistic aspects seen in matsuri.
yarô kabuki "kabuki of men"
The third type of kabuki and the one still practiced today, it features entirely adult male actors. Because audience members no longer paid for services after the show, the show itself became more interesting. The actors themselves became more popular, and male actors specializing in female role types, onnagata, were created.
saibara "folksongs"
This is music by which to ready the horses (horse-readying music). The lyrics have survived to us, but not the music. They are repetitive and often meaningless, for example "powerless frog, powerless frog, boneless worm, boneless worm." A precursor in musical storytelling leading to the creation of bunraku.
dengaku
Translated as "field entertainment," it is associated with agrarian rites.
sarugaku
Translated as "monkey music," it is associated with acrobatics. Kan'ami was a member of a troupe before founding nô, giving early nô its name (sarugaku nô).
Tarô Kaja/Jirô Kaja
Two stock kyôgen characters, their names translate as "first servant" and "second servant." Sometimes these characters are smart enough to outwit their master, other times their ignorance is what drives the plot.
Kanze Nobumitsu
Zeami's grandson and a playwright for the nô theater. Dôjôji is often attributed to him, as is Ataka, the nô play on which the kabuki Kanjinchô (Subscription List) is based.
