First Days in Iida Pt. II: Meeting the Imada Puppet Troupe

The second set of introductions to be made in our first days in Iida were to the good people of the Imada Puppet Troupe. For the next seven weeks, while we were living Iida, we would be having bi-weekly lessons with troupe members to learn the ancient Japanese performing art of ningyou-joruri, or puppet theatre. (Below is what the Imada Puppet Theatre looked like inside and out. Photo courtesy of Kelly Washatka)

This would serve as the cultural studies portion of our summer program. Our ultimate goal was to perform at the Iida International Puppetry Fest, an annual festival during which performers of various types of puppetry gather from around the world to showcase their talents. Through this festival not only did we get exposed to Japanese culture but also a variety of other countries from Russia to Germany to France.

The main three Imada performers who would be working with us were the head puppet master, whom we called zachou-san, lead puppeteer, Kinoshita-san, and Kinoshita-san’s son, Yukihiko-san, who played the shamisen for our performances. Each performance also had its own tayu, a narrator for the story. (Below is one of the better group photos. Kinoshita-san is the woman on the far left, while her son Yukihiko-san is two people to the right of her [black t-shirt]. On the far left is our tayu, who narrated for both of our performances in the absence of a student. Just to the left of him is Zachou-san, the leader of the puppet troupe.)

Japanese puppets are unique for their size, which requires three people to operate it. In traditional theater, performers wear completely black uniforms,

with a hood to hide the face of its operators. The lead puppeteer, responsible for operating the head, including facial expressions, and the right arm, was called the omozukai. The puppeteer responsible for the left arm and prop control was known as the hidarizukai. Lastly the operator of the puppet’s feet is known as the ashizukai.

The two pieces we would be performing would be “Date Musume Koi no Higanoko,” which we called Oshichi after the main character, and “Hidakagawa Iriai Zakura,” shortened to Hidakagawa. Oshichi is a love story following the character of Oshichi, a young maiden of higher birth who falls in love with a samurai.

The samurai’s master has his sword stolen and so the maiden’s love and his fellow warriors are sent to retrieve the sword. However, the search is not easy and the warriors begin to die off until it is only the maiden’s love who remains. His search still fruitless, the samurai writes Oshichi that he is honor-bound to commit seppuku due to his failure and the death of his comrades. Unbeknownst to the samurai, Oshichi has sent out her servants to search as well, however, they have recovered the master’s blade. Oshichi is attempting to return the sword to the temple in the middle of the city, but the hour grew late and the bell rang out indicating it had reached the hour when the city gates close. Law at that time dictated that the city gates would remain closed after the bell to prevent escaped criminals from leaving, unless there was a city emergency.

The scene we performed followed Oshichi as she monologues her lamentation that she would be too late delivering the sword to the master and her lover would die. The only way for her to open the gates would be to climb a bell tower and sound an alarm for a fire. However, the penalty for issuing a false arson alarm was for the offender to be put to death. Oshichi wrestles with her decision as to save her lover, but it would cost her her life. In the end, Oshichi chooses love over life and rings the signal to open the gates. The scene closes on Oshichi as she awaits retribution for her actions.

Hidakagawa is also a love story but one with a darker twist. It is a story following a prince, Sakuragi, who is on the run from pursuers in a feud over the line of succession. He disguises himself as an ascetic monk, Anchin, to escape and in his travels spends a night in the village of Magano. During his stay, Princess Kiyo, the daughter of the lord, falls hopelessly and obsessively in love with Anchin, not knowing he is a prince.

Anchin does not return Kiyo-hime’s love, and under cover of darkness, tries to escape her oppressive affections to the temple Dojoji. Kiyo-hime discovers the prince has fled and thinking he simply left her behind, chases her love. In order to stop Kiyo-hime’s pursuit, when the prince comes to the River Hidaka, he pays a ferryman, Sendo, to allow him to pass, but to leave Kiyo-hime stranded on the riverbank.

The scene we performed begins as Kiyo-hime reaches the river and attempts to gain passage. Sendo is very brusque and antagonistic in rebuking Kiyo-hime’s attempts at passage, taunting her with the fact that Anchin does not love Kiyo-hime as she thinks. When she finally realizes that what Sendo’s saying is true, her rage consumes her and she transforms into a demon snake, easily swimming the river to pursue Anchin.

Our first day was simply an introduction to our Imada instructors and a brief overview of the stories we would be showcasing. The next day we would be assigned our parts and begin practicing with the puppets.

Useful phrases in this week’s post:

Ningyo Joruri – にんぎょうじょうるり- 人形浄瑠璃

Meaning: Puppet theatre

Zachou – ざちょう – 座長

Meaning: (lit.) Chairman; title for the leader of a puppet troupe

Tayu – たゆう- 太夫

Meaning: high-ranking Noh actor; narrator of a bunraku performance

Omozukai – おもずかい

Meaning: Lead puppeteer on a puppet; controls the head, face and right arm

Hidarizukai – ひだりずかい

Meaning: Secondary puppeteer; responsible for left hand and props

Ashizukai – あしずかい

Meaning: Secondary puppeteer; responsible for feet

Seppuku – せっぷく- 切腹

Meaning: Ritual suicide

Hime – ひめ – 姫

Meaning: name suffix meaning princess (ex. Kiyo-hime = Princess Kiyo)