Japanese puppet theater. Japanese puppet theater bunraku Japanese puppet theater 7 letters

Japan is an original, fabulous country, full of secrets and mysteries. It is known that in the 17th century, Japan was isolated from the rest of the world for a long time. Therefore, the culture and traditions of this country still remain something unusual and unsolved for foreigners.

One of the most ancient types of Japanese art is theater.

The history of Japanese theater dates back several thousand years ago. Theater came to Japan from China, India and Korea.

The first theatrical genres appeared in Japan in the 7th century. This was associated with the theatrical pantomime gigaku and ritual dances bugaku that came from China. The Gigaku pantomime theater deserves special attention. This is a bright, colorful performance in which even the shadow of the actor plays a certain role. The participants of the performance are dressed in beautiful national clothes. A mesmerizing oriental melody sounds. Actors wearing colorful masks perform their magical dance moves on stage. At first, such performances were held only in temples or imperial palaces. Only on major religious holidays and magnificent palace ceremonies. Gradually, the theater became a part of the life of the entire Japanese people.

It is known that all theatrical genres that existed in ancient times have survived to this day. The Japanese sacredly honor and carefully preserve their culture and traditions. Currently, all Japanese dramas, plays and performances are staged according to the same medieval scenarios and principles. Actors carefully pass on their knowledge to the younger generation. As a result, entire dynasties of actors appeared in Japan.

The most common theatrical genres in Japan are nogaku - the theater of the Japanese aristocracy, theatrical performance for the common people and bunkaru - a cheerful puppet theater. Today in Japanese theaters you can listen to modern opera and enjoy magnificent ballet. But, despite this, interest in traditional Japanese theater has not been lost. And tourists who come to this mysterious country strive to attend national theatrical performances, which reflect the spirit, culture and traditions of Japan.

Now, in Japan, there are several varieties of theatrical genres - Noh theater, Kegen theater, shadow theater and Bunkaru theater.

Noh theater appeared in Japan in the 14th century. It arose during the reign of the brave Japanese samurai Tokugawa. This theatrical genre was famous among shoguns and samurai. Theatrical performances were staged for the Japanese aristocracy.

During the performance, the actors are dressed in Japanese national costumes. Colorful masks cover the faces of the heroes. The performance is performed to quiet melodic music (most often it is classical). The acting is accompanied by choral singing. At the center of the performance is the main national character, telling his own story. The duration of the play is 3-5 hours. The same mask can be used in different theatrical performances. Moreover, it may completely not correspond to the internal state of the hero. The musical accompaniment can vary greatly from the movements of the actors. For example, quiet melodic music accompanied by expressive dances of the characters, or vice versa, smooth mesmerizing movements accompanied by fast rhythmic music.

The stage during the performance can be colorfully decorated, or it can be completely empty.

Kegen theater is very different from Noh theater performances. Most often these are funny comedy plays. Kegen is the theater of the crowd. His ideas are quite simple and less sophisticated. This theatrical genre has survived to this day. Currently, the Noh Theater and the Kegen Theater are combined into one theater - Nogaku. Both luxurious plays and simpler performances are performed on the Nogaku stage.

Kabuki is a famous Japanese theater. Here you can enjoy beautiful singing and graceful dancing. Only men take part in such theatrical performances. They are forced to perform both male and female roles.

The famous Japanese puppet theater Bunkaru is a vibrant performance for children and adults. A variety of fairy tales, legends and myths can be seen in the puppet theater. At first, only dolls participated in the performance, but gradually they were joined by actors and musicians. Currently, the theatrical performance of Bunkaru is a colorful musical show.

Japanese shadow theater is of great interest to viewers. This genre came to Japan from Ancient China. Initially, special paper figures were cut out for presentation. On a huge wooden frame covered with snow-white fabric, figures of fairy-tale characters danced and sang. A little later, actors joined the figures. The performances became more and more interesting.

In recent years, the Japanese Ese Theater has become widely known. This is a traditional comedy theater. The history of this theater dates back to the 17th century. The stage of this theater is located in the open air. Here you can see comedic and satirical plays and funny puns.

The largest puppet theater in Japan is Bunraku, which is a joruri puppet theater - a traditional Japanese theatrical genre.

In the 16th century, the ancient folk song tale of joruri was combined with a puppet show and acquired a musical sound. Folk songs have been widespread in Japan since the 10th century. Wandering storytellers narrated their stories in a sing-song voice, to the accompaniment of the folk musical instrument biwa. The plots of the feudal epic, which tells about the history of the large feudal houses of Taira and Minamoto, formed the basis of the story.

Around 1560, a new stringed musical instrument, the jabisen, was brought to Japan. The snake skin with which its resonator was covered was replaced by cheaper cat skin and called shamisen, it quickly gained wide popularity in Japan.

The first puppeteers appeared in Japan in the 7th-8th centuries; this art came to Japan from Central Asia through China. Performances by puppeteers became an integral part of sangaku performances. In the 16th century, troupes of puppeteers began to settle in various areas: near Osaka, on the island of Awaji, in the province of Awa, on the island of Shikoku, which later became centers of Japanese puppet theater art and have preserved it to this day.

The synthesis of the joruri song tale, performed to the accompaniment of shamisen, with a puppet show is the birth of a new genre of Japanese traditional theatrical art, which had a huge influence on the development of Japanese theatrical art. Joruri puppet shows were held in the capital Kyoto in open areas of the drying up Kamo River. At the beginning of the 17th century, puppeteers began giving performances in the new capital of Edo. After the great fire of 1657, which caused great damage to the capital, puppet theaters moved to the Osaka-Kyoto region, where they finally settled. Stationary puppet theaters with well-equipped stages appeared, the structure of which has survived to this day.

The stage of the joruri puppet theater consists of two low fences that partially hide the puppeteers and create a barrier where the puppets move. The first black fence, approximately 50 cm high, is located in front of the stage, on which scenes taking place outside the house are played out. The second fence is located at the back of the stage, where the actions taking place inside the house are played out.

The puppets in the Joruri theater are perfect, three-quarters the height of a person, with moving mouths, eyes and eyebrows, legs, arms and fingers. The torso of the dolls is primitive: it is a shoulder bar to which the arms are attached and the legs are suspended if the doll is a male character. The female characters have no legs because they are not visible from under the long kimono. A complex system of laces allows the puppeteer to control facial expressions. The dolls' heads are created by skilled craftsmen. As in other types of classical Japanese theater, there are historically established types, each of which uses a specific head, wig, and costume. The variety of such heads is distinguished by age, gender, social class, and character. Each head has its own name and origin, each used for specific roles.

To make it easier to coordinate the actions of the puppeteers and keep the doll approximately at the level of human height, the omozukai (chief puppeteer) works in wooden Japanese geta shoes on high stands. The doll's actions must exactly coincide with the text that the guide reads. The precise work of all participants in the performance is achieved through years of hard training and is considered one of the unique features of this art. The storyteller - gidayu plays the roles of all the characters and narrates the story from the author. His reading must be as expressive as possible; he must make the dolls come to life. Voice production, knowledge of the melodic pattern of the text, strict coordination of actions with other participants in the performance require many years of hard training. Training usually takes twenty to thirty years. Sometimes two or even several storytellers take part in the performance. The professions of gidayu and puppeteers in the Joruri theater are hereditary. In traditional Japanese performing arts, stage names, along with the secrets of the craft, are passed down from father to son, from teacher to student.

The most important factor in the emotional impact on the viewer in the joruri puppet theater is the word. The literary and artistic level of joruri texts is very high, which is a great merit of the greatest Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who believed that the word is the most powerful force and that the art of the storyteller and puppeteer can only complement, but not replace it. The name of Chikamatsu is associated with the heyday of the joruri puppet theater, its “golden age”.

Little is known about Chikamatsu's life. His real name is Sugimori Nobumori, he was born in the Kyoto region into a samurai family and received a good education. But service at court did not attract Chikamatsu. From a young age he was interested in theater. Chikamatsu wrote more than thirty plays for the kabuki theater, for the largest and most outstanding kabuki actor of that time, Sakata Tojuro. However, he liked puppet theater. After Sakata Tojuro's death, Chikamatsu moved to Osaka and became a resident playwright at the Takemotoza Theater. From this period until his death, Chikamatsu wrote joruri plays. He created more than a hundred of them, and almost each of them became an event in the theatrical life of Japan at that time. Chikamatsu wrote twenty-four everyday dramas - sevamono and over a hundred historical ones - jidaimono, which can only be called historical only conditionally, since when creating them, Chikamatsu did not adhere to true history. His plots grew from the rich treasury of ancient Japanese literature, and he endowed his characters with the thoughts and feelings of the townspeople of his time. His works show the struggle in the soul of a person trying to follow feelings and not feudal principles. Moral duty almost always wins, and the author’s sympathy is on the side of the vanquished. This is Chikamatsu’s loyalty to the spirit of the times, his humanism and innovation.

In 1685, three outstanding masters - Takemoto Gidayu (joruri storyteller), Takezawa Gonemon (shamisen) and Yoshida Saburobei (puppeteer) - joined forces and created the Takemotoza stationary puppet theater in Osaka. Real success came to this theater when Chikamatsu Monzaemon was involved in their work. In 1686, the first joruri play created by Chikamatsu, Shusse Kagekiyo, was performed at the Takemotoza Theater. The performance was a resounding success, and the art of this theater immediately became noticeable and began to stand out for its level among the arts of puppet theaters of that time. This was the beginning of a fruitful creative collaboration between people who enriched and developed the joruri genre. The next era in the development of this theater was the production of a new play by Joruri Chikamatsu, Sonezaki Shinju in 1689. For the first time, the material for a joruri play was not a historical chronicle or legend, but a well-known scandalous event of that time: the suicide of a courtesan and a young man. They loved each other, but did not have the slightest hope of uniting in this world.

This was a new type of joruri play, which came to be called sevamono (everyday play). Subsequently, many of them appeared. Chikamatsu's historical play Kokusenya Kassen had a record number of performances: it was performed daily for seventeen months in a row. The joruri puppet theater has become one of the most striking phenomena in the cultural life of Japan.

In the 18th century, major playwrights wrote plays for the joruri puppet theater - Takeda Izumo, Namiki Sosuke, Chikamatsu Hanji and others. The theater's repertoire expanded, became more complex, and the puppets were also improved, which more and more resembled living actors. However, complete similarity was still not observed. It is believed that this would lead to a weakening of audience interest in this art and the ruin of many puppet theaters. Moreover, the kabuki theater, which developed in parallel, resorted to borrowings from the joruri puppet theater. All the best - plays, production techniques and even acting techniques - have reached an amazing flowering. The keeper of the traditions of the joruri puppet theater was the Bunraku Theater, which has survived to this day. And this name has become a symbol of Japanese traditional puppet theater. The management of the Bunraku Theater changed several times, and since 1909 the theater passed into the hands of the large theater company Shochiku. At that time, the troupe consisted of 113 people: 38 guides, 51 musicians, 24 puppeteers. In 1926, the theater building in which the troupe worked for forty-two years burned down during a fire. Four years later, in 1930, the Shochiku company built a new reinforced concrete theater building with 850 seats in the center of Osaka.

The repertoire of the joruri puppet theater is very extensive: over a thousand plays from this theater have survived and survived to this day. The plots of the plays are historical, everyday and dance. A complete performance of each of them would require eight to ten hours; these plays are not staged in full. Usually the most dramatic and popular scenes are chosen and combined so that the performance is harmonious and varied. Typically, the performance includes one or more scenes from a historical tragedy, one scene from a domestic play, and a short dance excerpt. The plot lines of most plays are complex and confusing. The sublime ideal of honor, vile betrayal, selfless nobility - all these interweavings create confusion. The extraordinary similarity of characters, the substitution of one face for another, murder, suicide, hopeless love, jealousy and betrayal - all this is mixed in the most incredible combinations. Another feature of joruri plays is the archaic language, difficult for modern audiences to understand, especially in a specific chant, which is not an obstacle for fans of this genre. The fact is that almost all the plots are familiar to them from childhood, because it is an essential part of the cultural heritage of the past.

The defining moment in the Bunraku theater is the harmonious combination of music, artistic reading of a poetic text and the unusually expressive movement of puppets. This is precisely the special charm of this art. Joruri puppet theater is a unique theater genre that exists only in Japan, but there are many puppet theaters with different techniques for driving puppets and different creative directions. “Takeda Ningyoza” - a puppet theater and “Gaishi sokkyo ningyo gekijo”, where puppets are controlled by hands, are very popular. Their repertoire consists of traditional theater plays, fairy tales, legends, and folk dances. The largest of the new non-traditional puppet theaters is “Puk” (La Pupa Klubo), created in 1929. In 1940, this theater was liquidated, but after the war it resumed its activities and became the core of the All-Japan Puppet Theater Association, uniting about eighty troupes. The Puk Theater uses different techniques for driving puppets, including glove puppets, puppets, cane puppets and two-handed puppets. Much attention is paid to the creation of puppet films and filmstrips. The repertoire of Japanese non-traditional puppet theaters consists of fairy tales and plays by both foreign and Japanese authors.

Traditional Japanese art cannot be imagined without puppet shows. This is a special type of performance that has its own amazing history and tradition. Japanese puppet theater - bunraku was born in the depths of the people. It acquired its current appearance by the middle of the 17th century. Along with other traditional theaters - kabuki and no, it is recognized as a UNESCO cultural heritage.

This type of traditional theater did not immediately become puppet theater. At first, wandering monks walked around the villages. They collected alms. And in order to attract the public, they sang ballads about Princess Joruri and other noble and equally unfortunate gentlemen. Then they were joined by musicians who were masters of playing the shamisen (an instrument with three strings). And later, artists appeared with dolls who illustrated the essence of the ballads to onlookers.

The word “joruri” is now used to describe every performance. It comes from the princess’s own name, the heroine of the most ancient play. It is voiced by a single reader called a gidayu. This term has also become a household word. In 1684, one of the commentators decided to take the name Takmoto Gidayu. This meant, in translation, “teller of justice.” The public liked this talented man so much that since then all bunraku singers have been named after him.

The main place in theatrical productions is given to puppets. The skill of the artists who manage them has been improved throughout the centuries that bunraku has existed. Researchers consider 1734 to be an important moment in the life of this art form. This is the date when Yoshida Bunzaburo came up with the technique of controlling puppets with three actors at once. Since then it has been like this. Each character is controlled by a trinity, merging into one organism with its hero for the duration of the performance.

By the way, the name bunraku itself also arose from its own name. In 1805, puppeteer Uemura Banrakuken acquired a famous theater that operated in the city of Osaka. He gave him his name. Over time, it turned into a common noun denoting Japanese puppet theater.

Main characters

Each production is created by a well-coordinated team consisting of:
actors - three per character;
reader - gidaya;
musicians.
The main characters are dolls. They have heads and arms of a complex structure, their size is comparable to that of a human: from half to two-thirds of the body of an ordinary Japanese. Only male characters have legs, and even then not always. The doll's body is just a wooden frame. She is decorated with rich robes, the swaying of which creates the appearance of walking and other movements. The youngest puppeteer, Ashi-zukai, controls the “legs”. To obtain qualifications and go on stage, this artist studies for ten years.

The doll's head is the most difficult object in all of bunraku. She has movable lips, eyes, eyebrows, eyelids, tongue, and so on, depending on the role. It and the right hand are controlled by omi-zukai. This is the main artist of the trio. He has been honing his skills for thirty years in junior roles. Hidari-zukai is used with the left hand. The trio demonstrates complete harmony of movements. It is impossible to understand from the actions of the doll that its body is controlled by different people.

Reader - gidayu

One person in bunraku voices all the characters. In addition, he narrates what is happening on stage. This actor must have rich vocal abilities. He reads his text in a special manner. Sounds fly out of his throat, as if a person is trying to hold them in, strangled and hoarse. It is believed that this is how the eternal conflict between “ninjo” and “giri” is expressed. This means: the hero’s feelings are oppressed by duty. He dreams of something, strives, but is constantly faced with the fact that he should do “the right thing.”

His words relating to the characters are amazingly repeated by the lips of the dolls in unison. It seems that they are the ones who pronounce the words. All the action is accompanied by unusual music. She occupies a special place in the presentation. The musicians create the rhythm of the action and emphasize the character of the scenes.

All the actors are on stage, and not hiding behind a partition, as in a European puppet theater. They are dressed in black kimonos. Thus, the viewer is invited to consider them invisible. In addition, the rear view of the stage is also curtained in black. The landscape is formed by rare decorative elements. All the attention of the public should be focused on the dolls.

Elements of dolls

The hands are also an interesting element; it’s not for nothing that they are controlled by two actors. They are mobile in all “joints”, like in humans. Each finger can bend or beckon. If a character needs to do something that a puppet hand is not capable of, for example, lifting a heavy object and throwing it, then the actor puts his hand into the sleeve and performs the necessary movement.

The face and hands are covered with white varnish. This allows you to focus the viewer’s attention on these elements. Moreover, the faces are disproportionately small. This way they feel more natural. Sometimes characters change faces as the scene progresses. It happens quickly and is prepared in advance. For example, there is a lady acting on stage who is a werewolf. The doll's head is equipped with two faces: beautiful and fox. At the right moment, the artist turns it 180 degrees, throwing over his head of hair.

Performances currently

In modern times, bunraku performances are held in ordinary theaters. The stage is designed in the appropriate tradition. The performance is woven into a harmonious performance of puppets, music and Gidayu songs. All the actors’ actions on stage are perfectly coordinated. The viewer immediately forgets that the doll is controlled by three people. Such harmony is achieved through long training. The head operator is usually an elderly person. Newcomers are not allowed to play this role in bunraku.

The main Japanese puppet theater is still located in Osaka. The troupe tours Japan five or more times a year, sometimes traveling abroad. After 1945, the number of bunraku troupes in the country dropped to less than forty. Puppetry began to disappear. Nowadays there are several semi-amateur groups. They give performances and attend traditional art festivals.