Nazo des.

The Japanese Tradition. Cha 茶 (green tea).

I’m on a You Tube spree. The other day in art history class, Handlir-san mentioned this video about “the Japanese tradition” of tea. Although it’s in Japanese, the demonstration should be generally understandable. The chasen (the tea whisk) is a riddle (”Nazo des“), and there is an opportunity to relax after it all.

It’s one part of a series of videos on “the Japanese tradition,” some only in Japanese, but many with English subtitles. Some recommendations:

Sushi 鮨 (English),

Shazai 謝罪 (about the appropriate bow, English), and

Summer Vacation 夏休み (only in Japanese).

“Makura-Jido” at Horinji Temple

For those of you who have heard me talk about Noh and about Udaka-sensei, but have never quite understood what it was I was talking about - maybe you simply haven’t seen a Noh performance before - here is a You Tube recording that may show you some of the appeal. This video is of Udaka Michishige-sensei dancing “Makura-jido” at Horenji Temple in 2006 on September 9. I do not know who took it, and there are some shaky spots and a pillar that gets in the way of the view, but I am glad they did. I remember that morning getting a call from Sensei saying he was picking me up to go, but I was already at work and had been unable to get the day off. Seeing the video only makes me regret not having gone even more.

Watching the video, you can see the chorus sitting across from the camera. It was a pleasant surprise when I realized I knew all of them. On the left is Ono-sensei, a professor of environmental biology at Okayama University and student of Udaka-sensei, in the middle is Udaka Tatsushige-sensei, Udaka-sensei’s son, and on the right is Urushigaki-san also a student of Udaka-sensei. To the left are the musicians, and the performance is taking place facing a Buddhist altar inside a temple, which is a very rare setting. I haven’t had another opportunity to see a similar performance.

Die Udaka-kai Europa Tournee: Dresden & Berlin

Im Schauspielhaus Dresden beim Vorlesen der Botschaften der Bürgermeister von Hiroshima und Nagasaki

Nach den im Vergleich gemütlichen Tagen in Paris, sind wir über Frankfurt nach Dresden geflogen für einen langen Abend mit Aufführungen von Han-Nô (nur der zweiten Akt) „Funabenkei“ und „Inori (Gebet)“ ein originelles Stück geschrieben von Meister UDAKA Michishige. Am nächsten Tag ging es am Morgen nach Berlin für Aufführungen von „Aoi-no-Ue“ am gleichen Abend und von „Inori“ am Abend darauf. Die Reaktion im deutschen Publikum war wie erwartet anders als die in Paris, aber was ich nicht gewusst und nicht erwartet habe war daß sogar innerhalb Deutschland die Reaktionen in Dresden und Berlin ganz unterschiedlich waren.

The Udaka-kai European Tour: Paris

Original Noh masks for the play Inori, written by Udaka Michishige

I just returned from an unreal world created in unreal time and space. From November 4 to November 15, I took time off from school to be with a group of actors, musicians, technicians, mask carvers, and general supporters in Paris, Dresden, and Berlin for a tour of Noh performances. In each city, Udaka Michishige made vengeful spirits and tormented souls appear on stage and helped them find enlightenment by telling their stories to the public. Even I got to join in the performance as a light-bringing angel in the original Noh play Inori.

The purpose of the trip was to perform Inori (Prayer), a play by Udaka Michishige about the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also about violence and terror throughout the world, to an international audience for the first time. Before our departure, Sensei went with Nakamura Yuko to Hiroshima to the Peace Memorial to inform the spirits there of the intentions for the tour. As they prayed in front of the arch, facing the A-Bomb Dome in the distance, Sensei closed his eyes and could see only a deep, dark red. Thinking this was strange, he turned his face in another direction and closed his eyes. The red color was gone. He turned back towards the Dome and saw the same oppressive red again. Was this the color of the sky during the atomic bombing? His eyes filled with tears, which he hastily wiped away before he turned around for a newspaper interview.

Okina: Thoughts about Religion and Male Chauvinism in Noh

Okina performance by Udaka Michishige, March 10 at Itsukushima Shrine

Perhaps the most beautiful Noh stage in Japan is located in Hiroshima at Itsukushima Shrine. It is surrounded by water at high tide, drawing a natural division between the material world to which the audience belongs and the world of gods presented onstage. Only men may stand on this stage, and early in the morning on March 10, I saw a performance of Okina by Udaka Michishige-sensei.

Okina is the oldest Noh performance piece, more a set of dances than an actual play. It is a piece that women may not perform. The lead actors (shite) who dance Okina are said to become invested with the presence of a god, to literally become the embodiment of a god, during the performance. In preparation, the lead actor will do bekka (a period of ritual purification), during which they are not to eat from the same dishes as women, cannot eat food prepared by women, and are not supposed to communicate directly with women. According to the demanding schedule of an actor and the traditions of their school, actors will practice bekka for a week to a month or (at least in the past) a year in hopes of calling the gods into their performance. Udaka-sensei went through a similar practice for a week before his performance, or so he says since I didn’t see him in that time.

When I explained this all to my father, he commented on the male chauvinism of Noh performance. I had not allowed myself to think about Noh performance as exclusive of women, but wanted to think that the exclusion of women from the professional Noh stage was rather in performances related to particular religious institutions that did not allow women to perform Noh in front of the gods. Yet, although believing male chauvinism exists can also lead to reverse prejudices, this comment prompted me to question women’s role in Noh performance more directly.

On German Radio Again!

In addition to her program about the Origin program, Uta Kodaira made a program about Noh, including an interview of me and sound recordings of Tatsushige-sensei, who happened to be practicing at Iori on the day Frau Kodaira came to Iori for the interviews.

Frau Kodaira asked me about what Noh is, about women and foreigners performing the traditionally male art-form, and about my own studies of Noh.  With this program, Frau Kodaira also began spreading the word in Germany about Udaka-sensei’s Europe tour in November of this year.  At the end of the program is a clip from Genshigumo/Inori, a Noh play written by Udaka-sensei which will be performed in Paris, Dresden, and Berlin on the tour.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/german/index.html

To listen, go to the link above, click on “Wochenübersicht” and then on “So.” The clip should pop up in Realplayer.

Interview with Onozomi.com

And somehow I forgot to mention this online article. I was interviewed by Onozomi, the company who does Iori’s internet support and specializes in other forms of publicity as well. The series of interviews includes various Kyoto personalities, such as Murata Yoshihiro of Kikunoi (the most internationally known kaiseki chef), Randy Channell (a Canadian who is an elite tea master of the Urasenke school of tea ceremony), the owner of Francoise (a popular cafe), a Kyoto University professor, a Doshisha professor, company presidents, etc. To say the least, I am stunned and honored to be listed among such an elite group of people.

On German Radio!

In February, I was interviewed along with Alex Kerr by a wonderful woman, Uta Kodaira, who works for NHK World Radio Germany. She puts together a weekly radio program that’s aired on Sundays about various facets of Japanese culture. Last week was the first program starring Alex Kerr, and this week is the first program in which I speak about the Origin Arts program at work. This radio clip was broadcast over shortwave radio in Germany.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/german/index.html

To listen, go to the link above, click on “Wochenübersicht” and then on “So.” The clip should pop up in Realplayer.

Frau Kodaira’s program will be shut down in September, as NHK focuses more on television instead of radio.

Noh Maskmaking

My mask (on the right) and the model. To the left side of my work space are my tools and to the right are the templates.

I started Noh mask making class in the beginning of February. The mask I’m working on is based on a design by Tatsuemon, a famous mask maker of the Edo period. This was one of his three koomote, or young woman, masks, this one entitled, appropriately enough for me, “Yuki” (Snow).

On the first day, after work and grabbing an extra sweater at home, because I was tippling on the edge of catching a cold, I raced to northern Kyoto to make sure I would have enough time to accomplish something. First, Sensei showed me to a cushion placed before a small Buddhist altar at the edge of his stage and had me meditate to relax in preparation for handling the sharp tools and to prepare myself for working with the mask’s spirit hidden within the wood.

Hagoromo

My second Noh performance

On February 4, I had my second Noh performance. Sensei had rented the Noh stage at Iori, where I work, for a day of private recitals by his professional students - a sort of master’s class, in which Sensei gave feedback following each performance. I was invited to perform the kuse shimai of Hagoromo although I am far from being a professional.