Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

In Golden Age ningyō-jōruri, Act III forms the emotional core of jidaimono history plays. Focusing on works attributed to Namiki Sōsuke, this paper shows how recognition often arrives too late to enable meaningful action, thereby intensifying rather than resolving the tragic situation.

Paper long abstract

Ningyō-jōruri puppet theatre, the direct ancestor of modern bunraku, also provided a substantial portion of the kabuki repertoire. Its Golden Age, marked by the creation of successive hits, is generally acknowledged to have occurred in the Dōtonbori district of Osaka in the early eighteenth century.

In Golden Age jidaimono history plays, Act III conventionally functions as the emotional and dramaturgical centre of the five-act structure shaped within the Takemoto tradition and exemplified in the works of Chikamatsu Monzaemon. While this act typically culminates in a pathos-driven climax, the operation of tragic recognition within Act III has not been systematically theorised in studies of jōruri tragedy.

Focusing on works attributed to Namiki Sōsuke (1695–1751), this paper introduces the concept of tragic recognition as a tool for analysing Act III in Golden Age jōruri. Drawing on close textual readings, it argues that Sōsuke developed a distinctive dramaturgical mode in which recognition does not lead to moral clarification or restorative resolution, but instead produces a belated awareness of irreversible constraint arising from an earlier misdeed. In these scenes, knowledge arrives too late to enable meaningful action, intensifying rather than resolving the tragic situation, even where characters briefly articulate forms of spiritual acceptance.

Through analysis of Act III episodes from Sōsuke’s early play Seiwa Genji Jūgodan (1727) and the mature work Yoshitsune Senbonzakura (1747), the paper identifies recurrent formal features of this tragic mode, including delayed recognition, retrospective narrative framing, and the ethical ambiguity of substitution and sacrifice. Whereas the Sushi-ya scene from Yoshitsune Senbonzakura remains central to the modern bunraku and kabuki repertoire, the Nemonogatari scene of Seiwa Genji Jūgodan survives only in textual form and is no longer performed.

By foregrounding tragic recognition as an analytic category, this paper clarifies the dramaturgical function of Act III in Golden Age jōruri and Namiki Sōsuke’s substantive contribution to the development of early-modern Japanese tragic form.

Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This paper analyzes waterborne gagaku performance, its sound and impact on ancient court society. Examples are drawn from pictures and diaries of government officers from the eleventh to the fourteenth century, and thus, this paper relies heavily on earlier studies in philological history.

Paper long abstract

Ancient Japanese picture scrolls feature a special pair of boats used for waterborne musical performances, called “dragon and fowl heads” (竜頭鷁首) because of the beautiful sculptures of those imaginary creatures on the bow of each. Focusing on these “dragon and fowl heads,” this paper describes the event, its sound, and its impact on ancient court society. Examples are drawn principally from pictorial materials as well as descriptions in the diaries of executive government officers from the eleventh to fourteenth century.

First, to consider the illustrated scroll “Komakurabe gyōkō emaki” in which characteristic representations of two surviving gagaku performance genres, tōgaku and komagaku, are depicted: the dragon image, musicians in red-colored costume, and left-side location are iconographic of the tōgaku genre, which pairs up with the similar komagaku genre, characterized by the green color, Chinese phoenix, and right-side location that appear on the other, fowl head boat. Separately, though, picture scroll “Nenjūgyōji emaki” and an entry from the diary Taiki—both from the twelfth century—depict a scene in which the dragon head boat only carried dancers and made no music.

Next, an emperor’s visit at the mansion of Fujiwara no Michinaga (966–1028), a very influential statesman, is analyzed. In Michinaga’s diary Midōkanpakuki as well as Shōyūki by Fujiwara no Sanesuke, we see that musicians were situated apart from the dancers in a very different location. While the dancers performed on land, their musical accompaniment was played from a boat on the water. At a nighttime feast, lower ranking performers afloat and higher ranking nobles on land played the same pieces together, yielding various visible and audible effects in a magnificent contrast of art and nature. Considering its social impact, the approach and proximity of music from the boats is highly significant as an artistic device introducing a sense of unity—a rare experience in the highly class-conscious court of the time.

Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This paper traces the origin and historical development of the blind biwa tradition in Japan and examines the relationship between the heike zatō and mōsō groups, with particular attention to Heike-related tales that became a central component of the repertory of blind biwa players in Kyushu.

Paper long abstract

The tradition of performing songs and narrating tales to the accompaniment of lute-like instruments has existed on the Asian continent since ancient times. However, the pathways through which biwa-accompanied storytelling was transmitted to and established in Japan remain unclear. Literary and historical records begin to mention blind biwa players, known as biwa hōshi, only from the Heian period onward, leaving earlier stages of this tradition largely undocumented.

Biwa hōshi were not solely performers who recited narrative works such as Heike Monogatari and Sōga Monogatari; they also fulfilled a wide range of ritual and religious roles. These included fortune-telling, spirit pacification, and practices connected to the veneration of water and earth deities, situating biwa hōshi at the intersection of storytelling, ritual practice, and local belief systems. Over time, two distinct groups of blind biwa players emerged from this broader tradition: heike zatō and jijin mōsō. Biwa hōshi active in urban settings, organized under tōdō-za, a professional guild of blind performers established in Kyoto, increasingly systematized their activities and developed biwa performance into a specialized performing art. In contrast, mōsō, who remained primarily in rural communities, preserved older shamanistic and religious practices and maintained close ties to local ritual contexts.

According to a traditional account, the blind biwa tradition in Kyushu originated in the second year of the Empō era (1674), when Funahashi Kengyō traveled from Kyoto to Kumamoto at the request of Lord Hosokawa. During his stay, he performed Heike recitations and composed several narratives based on local historical events, which he subsequently transmitted to local blind biwa players.

This paper traces the origin and historical development of the blind biwa tradition and examines the relationship between heike zatō and mōsō. Particular attention is given to Heike-related tales, which became an essential component of the repertory of blind biwa players in Kyushu, highlighting how shared narrative materials were adapted to differing social, religious, and performative contexts.

Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

I explore two local genres in Kyoto, related to Buddhist performance culture: nenbutsu kyōgen and rokusai nenbutsu, within the systems of power and representation, demonstrating how the communities on the city's margins have used performance as an identity formation tool and social empowerment.

Paper long abstract

Spanning centuries, the deep-rooted relationship in Asia between political power and performing arts is multifaceted, and Japan is no exception. Kyoto, the political and cultural center for most of history, has developed a complex performance culture, closely interwoven with societal power relations. From the eighth century onwards, the imperial court adopted as its representative art the solemn bugaku dances, introduced from the continent and exhibiting Chinese and Indian influence. From the fourteenth century onwards, the samurai aristocracy similarly developed their own representative form - the noh drama, to display cultural sophistication and aesthetic sensibility, equaling imperial court culture. In the premodern period, kabuki evolved as the prevailing entertainment, representative of the blooming merchant class, whose increasing influence also found expression in the exquisite cultural performance of Gion festival.

Simultaneously, Kyoto was likewise the birth place of several folk genres, created by communities on the city's margins. This paper focuses on two forms, originating in the nenbutsu "Buddhist prayer" performance, conceived as a means to communicate the Buddhist faith to the common people in early medieval time. The first is nenbutsu kyōgen - short comic plays, pantomimes or with spoken lines, staged by troupes associated with three temples: Mibu, Seiryōji, and Senbon Enma-dō. The second is rokusai nenbutsu - dances, accompanied by chanting of prayers that gradually incorporated various performative elements, thus evolving into rokusai geinō. Currently, fourteen troupes are active but many more existed until the early twentieth century when rokusai was very popular in agrarian neighborhoods. It is predominantly staged during Obon in August and frequently includes door-to-door ritual performances, aiming to secure ancestors' protection and bring prosperity for the community. Both nenbutsu kyōgen and rokusai have intentionally referenced stories and acting patterns used in the somber noh dramas and the comic interludes kyōgen in the same playful manner, typical of kabuki. I explore these two genres within the systems of power and representation, arguing that the marginal communities have used performance not only for entertainment but also as an important identity formation tool and social empowerment within the rich cultural milieu of Kyoto.

Key words: performance, empowerment, Kyoto