Shujō onie: The ‘Good’ Demons That Ward Off Evil

On a late-autumn afternoon, when sunlight still breaks through the cold, I met Mr. Matsumoto—who had come to Milan to introduce shujō onie (修正鬼会) to Italy for the first time—along with members of the Japanese delegation.

Shujō onie is a sacred ritual that has been passed down for over a thousand years on the Kunisaki Peninsula. It features oni 鬼 ("demon", "ogre") believed to bring good fortune in the coming New Year, and is known for being performed by monks of Tennen-ji Temple who take on the role of the oni.

What kind of ritual is shujō onie, and what are its origins?

Shujō onie was born from the fusion of two ancient traditions: shujō-e (修正会), a New Year ritual conducted to “set in order” and purify the opening days of the year, and tsuina (追儺), a court ceremony intended to drive away evil spirits. Because both were held during the same period, they gradually merged over many centuries. Although no documents clearly identify when this fusion occurred, surviving ritual implements suggest that it had already taken shape by the early Edo period (1603–1868).

Where is this ritual performed today?

Shujō onie is conducted at three temples: Tennen-ji, Iwato-ji, and Jōbutsu-ji. At Tennen-ji, it is held on the seventh day of the lunar calendar.

How long does the ritual last?

At Tennen-ji, monks begin chanting sutras at noon, and the oni rituals continue until around 11 p.m. At the other temples, the ceremony lasts throughout the night. After the main rites, participants visit houses throughout the village, and the ritual concludes at dawn.

Why do Buddhist monks take on the form of oni, beings often associated with evil or monsters?

On the Kunisaki Peninsula, oni are not regarded as evil beings, but as manifestations of the Buddha. In Japanese culture, oni possess mysterious powers and are not only bringers of calamity, but can also act as messengers of the gods or bearers of good fortune. According to local tradition, ascetic mountain practitioners who trained in rugged terrain revered oni as supernatural beings who protected the mountains.

Photo by Kioku Co., Ltd.   紀億株式会社撮影  

Since Shujō Onie is held around the Lunar New Year, is it a ritual to pray for good fortune? Is there a connection to the Setsubun bean-throwing ceremony called mamemaki (豆撒き)?

Yes, shujō onie is a ritual for auspicious blessings. Prayers are offered for the prosperity of the temples, good health, peace, and abundant harvests.

Bean-throwing (mamemaki) derives from the court ritual of tsuina, so one could say they are “distant relatives.” However, the content of the two ceremonies differs greatly.

Do many tourists still visit today? Do they participate as a religious experience? Are there young people as well?

Yes, many visitors come every year. Not all attend out of religious devotion, but many are drawn by the spirit and profound meaning of shujō onie. Yes, many young people participate as well; amid the ritual’s intense rhythms, both body and spirit are warmed, and participants are enveloped in a powerful sense of exhilaration.

Are there written records describing the ritual’s proceedings?

Six scrolls known as onie-shiki (鬼会式) have been preserved, detailing the structure of the ritual and the sutras that are chanted. However, the physical movements and gestures of the ceremony are still transmitted orally.

Please tell us about the costumes and tools used. Are masks worn?

There are formal ritual garments, though they cannot always be transported due to safety concerns.Oni carry wooden axes, swords, and torches, and use an implement called a kōzuibō (香水棒), which symbolically represents water. The oldest traceable roots of existing oni masks are said to derive from a mask at Reisen-ji Temple, modeled after an older mask from the Bunmei era (1469–1487). Styles vary by region. The masks of Bungotakada show strong influence from artisans who created Buddhist statues, and they also share similarities with masks from other East Asian cultures, such as those of Indonesia.

Photo by Kioku Co., Ltd.   紀億株式会社撮影

Does shujō onie share common elements with kagura, shinto ritual ceremonial dance?

Yes, it does. For example, similar instruments and ritual tools are used, and there are similarities in the repeated movements. On Kunisaki Peninsula, kagura is considered a fusion of Iwato Kagura and satokagura. In Iwato Kagura, oni appear and dance powerfully; when four oni dance simultaneously, the movements are said to be more intense than in ordinary kagura.

Do the oni of Kunisaki carry kanabō (金棒 "metal club") typically associated with Japanese oni?

The image of oni wielding iron clubs originates in Buddhist art transmitted from China—for example, the demons of Buddhist hells carry such clubs. The oni of Kunisaki, however, are different. The black oni (ara-oni), for instance, holds a sword symbolizing Fudō Myōō in one hand and a torch in the other.

What symbolic meaning does fire hold?

Fire is a vital element symbolizing purification and protection from epidemics and natural disasters.

Oni are frightening yet protective. Do they serve an apotropaic (protective) function?

Since ancient times, oni have symbolized the power to ward off evil. The history of onigawara (鬼瓦)—roof tiles bearing oni faces—extends back more than 1,400 years. Artifacts excavated from the Iizuka site in Kunisaki City include objects inscribed with the character for “oni,” believed to have functioned like protective talismans. Although oni originated on the Asian continent, they developed uniquely in Japan, acquiring human traits—even the ability to speak. This contrasts with the Chinese word gui (鬼), which refers to ghosts.

In Italy, despite cultural differences, demons are not always depicted as purely terrifying but sometimes as comical or realistic figures—such as the demons in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Do Japanese oni also have a humorous side?

For many Japanese people, the most familiar oni appear in folktales such as Momotarō. They resemble ogres from Western fairy tales—supernatural beings who eat people—yet they also possess human personalities. In some ways they are honest, and they can be defeated. When they lose, they cry. With the arrival of Buddhism, continental oni and Japanese oni were often treated as the same, but originally, Japanese oni referred to invisible, supernatural beings—entities with a kind of divinity. In Kunisaki, oni are regarded directly as Buddhas. As Buddhism blended with indigenous beliefs, ordinary people came to understand Buddhism not only through scriptures, but also through stories associated with oni.

In today’s society, dominated by social media and fleeting information, does such an ancient ritual still hold meaning? Can it survive into the future?

Shujō onie endures because it offers an experience that can never be conveyed digitally: the heat of the torches, the smell of smoke, ancient reverberations, and the overwhelming presence of the oni.It is a tradition that has continued for over a thousand years, and preserving it requires not only faith but also a commitment to safeguarding cultural heritage. Thanks to the dedication of local communities, it will continue to be passed down to future generations.

[Explanatory Note]

Kunisaki Peninsula, located in Ōita Prefecture (Kyushu), is known as Rokugō Manzan (六郷満山) and is the birthplace of one of Japan’s oldest forms of shinbutsu-shūgō (神仏習合)—the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism. Centered around the deeply forested Mount Futago, numerous temples are scattered throughout the region. Since ancient times, it has been a place where continental Chinese culture and Yamato culture intersected.

Though it may appear remote at first glance, Kunisaki was in fact a crucial crossroads that greatly influenced the formation of Japanese culture, giving rise to many innovative religious practices and cultural traditions.

Floriano Terrano

修正鬼会　～    悪から守る善なる鬼たち

晩秋の、寒さの中にも陽光が差す午後。私はミラノで、初めてイタリアに「修正鬼会（しゅじょうおにえ）」を紹介するために来訪した松本氏と日本の使節団の皆様にお会いした。修正鬼会とは、来たる新年の福をもたらすとされる鬼が登場する、国東半島に千年以上伝わる秘儀であり、天念寺の僧侶たちが鬼を演じることで知られている。

Photo by Kioku Co., Ltd. 紀億株式会社撮影

修正鬼会とはどのような行事で、その起源はどこにあるのでしょうか。

修正鬼会は、正月の期間を「調え」、浄めるために行われた年初の儀式である「修正会（しゅじょうえ）」と、悪霊を追い払う宮廷儀礼「追儺（ついな）」という、二つの古い伝統が融合して生まれたものです。両方とも同じ時期に行われていたため、長い歳月の中で次第に結びついていきました。ただし、いつ頃融合したかを特定できる文献は残っていませんが、道具類などから概ね江戸時代前期までには、融合していたと考えられています。

現在、この儀式はどこで行われているのでしょうか。

修正鬼会は、天念寺、岩戸寺、成仏寺の三つの寺院で執り行われています。天念寺では旧暦7日と日程が決まっており。

儀式はどれくらいの時間続くのですか。

天念寺では、僧侶たちは正午から読経を始め、鬼の行事は23時頃まで続きます。他の寺院では、一晩中儀式が続きます。主な法要の後、参加者は村の家々を回り、明け方に行事が終わります。

仏教の僧侶が、しばしば悪鬼や怪物と結びつけられる「鬼」の姿をまとうのはなぜでしょうか。

国東半島では、鬼は悪しき存在ではなく、仏の化身とされています。日本文化における鬼は神秘的な力を持ち、災いをもたらすだけでなく、神々の使いとなったり福を運んだりもする存在です。地元の伝承によれば、険しい山岳で修行した山岳修行者たちは、鬼を山々を守護する超自然的存在として崇めていました。

修正鬼会は旧正月の時期に行われますが、これは吉祥を願う儀式なのですか。節分の「豆まき」との関係はありますか。

はい、修正鬼会は吉祥を祈る儀礼です。寺院の繁栄、無病息災、平和、豊かな実りを願います。豆まきは宮廷儀礼の追儺に由来するため、いわば「遠い親戚」と言えるかもしれません。しかし、二つの行事の内容は大きく異なります。

現代でも多くの観光客が訪れるのでしょうか。また、彼らは宗教的な体験として参加しているのでしょうか。若い人もいますか。

Photo by Kioku Co., Ltd. 紀億株式会社撮影

はい、毎年多くの来訪者があります。全員が信仰心を目的に参加するわけではありませんが、多くの人が修正鬼会の精神や深い意味に惹かれて訪れます。はい、多くの若者も参加しており、儀式の激しいリズムの中で、身体も心も温まり、大きな高揚感に包まれています。

儀式の進行を記した文献は残っているのでしょうか。

「鬼会式（おにえしき）」と呼ばれる六巻の巻物が保存されており、儀式の構成や読誦される経文が記されています。しかし、儀礼の所作は現在も口伝によって継承されています。

使用される衣装や道具について教えてください。お面も使われますか。

正式な装束がありますが、安全上の理由で常に運搬できるわけではありません。鬼は木製の鉞(まさかり)や剣、松明を持ち、「香水棒（こうずいぼう）」と呼ばれる、水を象徴的に表す道具を使用します。現存する鬼面から辿ることができる最古の鬼面のルーツは、文明年間(1469ー1487)の古面を模して作られたとされる霊仙寺の面ですが、地域毎に様式が異なります。豊後高田の仮面は、仏像を製作した工人たちの技術的影響を強く受けています。また、インドネシアなど東アジアの諸文化の仮面と類似点も見られます。

修正鬼会には神楽との共通点はありますか？

はい、共通点があります。例えば、使用される楽器などの道具が似ており、繰り返される所作にも類似性が見られます。国東半島では、神楽は岩戸神楽と里神楽の融合とされています。鬼が登場する岩戸神楽では、鬼が力強く舞う場面があり、四体の鬼が同時に舞うことで、通常の神楽よりも激しい動きが特徴であるといわれています。

国東の鬼は、日本の鬼の典型として知られる金棒（かなぼう）を持っているのでしょうか。

鬼が金棒を持つ姿は、中国から伝わった仏教美術に由来します。例えば、仏教の地獄の鬼は金棒を持っています。しかし、国東の鬼は異なります。たとえば黒鬼(荒鬼)は、不動明王の象徴である剣を手にし、もう一方の手には松明を持ちます。

火にはどのような象徴的意味があるのでしょうか。

火は、浄化や疫病・天災からの守護を象徴する重要な要素です。

鬼は恐ろしい存在であると同時に守護的でもあります。鬼の存在には魔除けの意味があるのでしょうか。

古代から、鬼は邪を退ける象徴でした。寺院の屋根瓦に見られる鬼瓦の歴史は1400年以上にも及びます。また、国東市の飯塚遺跡の出土品には、護符のような性質を持つ「鬼」の文字が刻まれたものもあります。大陸起源を持ちながら、日本では独自の発展を遂げ、鬼は人間的な特徴—言葉を話す能力さえも備えるようになりました。これは、中国語の「鬼（gui）」が幽霊を指すのと対照的です。

文化は大きく異なりますが、イタリアでも悪魔が恐ろしいだけの存在ではなく、しばしば滑稽で写実的に描かれることがあります。ダンテ『神曲』の地獄篇の悪魔たちなどが好例です。日本の鬼にも滑稽さはありますか。

日本人に最も身近なのは、桃太郎のような昔話に登場する鬼でしょう。彼らは西洋のおとぎ話のオーガに近く、人を食べるなど超自然的な存在ですが、同時に人間的な性格も持ち合わせています。ある意味では正直で、敗北することもあります。負けると泣くのです。仏教伝来によって大陸の鬼と日本の鬼はしばしば同じものとされていますが、日本古来の鬼は見えないものという意味で、超自然的存在、いわば神格をもつ存在です。国東では、鬼はそのまま仏とみなされています。仏教は日本の古来信仰と混ざり合い、民衆は経典だけでなく、鬼にまつわる物語を通して仏教を理解していきました。

SNSと刹那的な情報が支配する現代社会において、これほど古い儀式に意味は残っているのでしょうか。今後も存続できるでしょうか。

修正鬼会が続いているのは、デジタルでは決して伝えられない体験がそこにあるからです。松明の熱、煙の匂い、太古の響き、鬼たちの圧倒的な存在感。千年以上続く伝統であり、これを守るには信仰だけでなく、文化財を守り継ぐ意志が必要です。地域の人々の尽力により、これからも後世へ受け継がれていくことでしょう。

【解説文】

大分県（九州）に位置する国東半島は、「六郷満山（ろくごうまんざん）」として知られ、日本最古の神仏習合（神仏習合）文化が形成された地である。山深い両子山（ふたごさん）を中心に多くの寺院が点在し、古代より中国大陸文化と大和文化が交わる場であった。

一見すると辺境に思われる国東だが、実際には日本文化の形成に大きな影響を及ぼした重要な交差点であり、多くの革新的な信仰や文化がここから生まれたのである。

フロリアーノ・テッラーノ

https://www.onie.jp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_uLqAUdsio

日伊国交150周年記念式典一環行事

後援：在ミラノ総領事館

                                             

Kimi ga yo  君が代

～伝統と変遷の日本を見る～

MABIC, Maranello, marzo – novembre 2016

暫（しばらく）！

～日本の演劇の起こりから現在までを見る～

日時：10月22日（土曜日）16時
於：MABIC
住所：Via Vittorio Veneto, 5 Maranello（Modena）

　どの文化圏においてもそうであるように、日本の演劇も、その起源と発展には神的背景があります。日本の伝統的な舞台、中でも特に「能」においては、神が現れたり神のお面をつけて舞ったりと、今なお宗教的意味合いが色濃く表れています。
　日本の演劇は、他の日本芸術に多大な影響を与えました。例えば、版画にて扱われている人物は、当時の人気俳優が舞台の上で「見栄」を切っている姿であることが多いのです。プロットをあまり持ち合わせない日本の演劇では、舞台の上に存在する俳優自体が観衆を沸かせ感動させるギャラリーでした。俳優のスキルにより、その舞台は魔法をも奇跡をも引き起こすのでした。
　古典的な日本の演劇は、音楽、踊り、歌、文学、彫刻（お面）、テキスタイルアート（衣装）、建築が融合されたものです。例えば「歌舞伎」の衣装はその作品の一部を成すものであり、また登場人物の一部をも担うものです。
　日本の種々の芸術の混合が、日本芸術の大全とも言える演劇であることから考えて、「能」という言葉が才能という意味であるのは偶然ではないでしょう。ですが演劇は日本の他の芸術と違い、未だ西洋人にはほとんど知られていません。今回のカンファレンスにより、この日本の芸術を皆さんに知っていただきたく思います。

入場無料

『君が代 ～ 日本の伝統と変化』のキュレーターFloriano Terrano（フロリアーノ ・テッラーノ）  東アジア諸国や特に日本についての文化や芸術また社会についてなど、幅広い分野で記事を書く。それらの記事はイタリアの新聞や雑誌また海外向けの月刊誌などに記載されている。様々な視点からみた東アジア諸国の文化や社会についての講演会をイタリア各地で行っている。日本人の芸術家の展覧会のキュレーターと主催者もしている。記事や活動等は彼のブログ www.higashishinbun.blogspot.com にてご覧いただけます。

※ インフォメーションと予約

Mabic, tel. 0536240028, e-mail: biblio.maranello@comune.maranello.mo.it  

『Kimi ga yo 君が代  

～伝統と変遷の日本を見る～』

The prince and the heroine:

Hodong and Nakrang

Korea, 32 AD: the peninsula is divided in Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. King Daemusin (대해주류왕, 大解朱留王, ”Great Holy Warrior King”, 18-44) of Northern Goguryeo Kingdom, after resisted back

the Chinese invasion attempt, sent his sixteen years old son prince Hodong (호동왕자) to conquer the Chinese commandery (郡, jùn) Lelang and its capital city Nakrang-guyok (樂浪, 락랑) which is at the present time a district of Pyongyang. Nevertheless Nakrang’s resistance is very strong also because of the help of magic drum Ja Myung Go (자명고, 自鳴鼓) which wakes up the city and encourages soldiers to defence. All these occurrences are reported in Samguk Sagi (삼국사기, 三國史記, “History of the Three Kingdoms”) completed in 1145 by Kim Busik (김부식, 金富軾).

While the war is in a stalemate, a sudden and burning passion is born between young prince Hodong and the beautiful princess of Nakrang (낙랑공주). Prince Hodong, advised by his father king Daemusin, asks Nakrang to tear the drum Ja Myung Go and she, driven by loves’s boldness, obeys her lover and the city falls into enemy’s hands. And so the king of Nakrang Choiree orders the killing of her daughter because of her betrayal. Betrayal against her homeland and father but not against her beloved Hodong who is victorious in the battle but who is in very truth a big loser.

This story is up till now well-known in Korea, above all for the female spirit of Nakrang, so much faithful to Hodong as to betray her own father and homeland. Even if this legend is known as “Prince Hodong’s tale”, actually the real main character is the strong and fearless Nakrang. Quite the opposite, Hodong seems to place his love and Nakrang herself after his father Daemusin and prince Hodong obeys his father’s lust for conquest.

Recently the TV drama ”Princess Ja Myung” (자명고, Ja Myung Go) broadcasted in 2009 by SBS has been dedicated to princess Nakrang’s story with actors Jung Ryeo-won (정려원, 鄭麗媛) in princess’ Nakrang role and Jung Kyung Ho (정경호) in Hodong’s role.

Ballet “Prince Hodong” by Korea National Ballet (대한민국 국립발레단) has been inspired by the story reported in Samguk Sagi as well. The ballet was originally created in 1988 by Sung-nam Lim (임성남), first artistic director of Korean National Ballet. “Prince Hodong” is an internationally successful staging which blends together Western and Far Eastern theatrical traditions. In this performance we can see some parts of classical ballet and lots of references to Korean traditional dances. For example the dance of Nakrang together with her ladies-in-waiting is like a piece of salpuri (살풀이) and the scene in which the princess is wrapped in a written handscroll reminds of buchaechum (부채춤), the traditional Korean fan dance.

Nakrang continues to be a symbol also for present-day Korean woman, who is passionate and forceful even if now she is more a businesswoman than a romantic lover.

(자명고, Ja Myung Go, SBS drama music performed by Baek Ji Young, 백지영 www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEO9LLeeUAI)

Floriano Terrano

Dialogue with Iwana Masaki

Butō, dance and theatre

between revolution

and tradition

It’s a November rainy day when we meet Iwana Masaki. We ask him some questions about his activity as butō-maker sipping a green tea cup in the half-light of his hotel.
Masaki began his career as Western style modern theatre actor in Tokyo but then he felt that his artistic way might have been different. Therefore he started his journey through butō which was created in Japan during the 1950s by Ōno Kazuo (大野一雄, 1906 – 2010) and Hijikata Tatsumi (土方巽, 1928 – 1986).
Butō is often said to be dance-theatre or dance only though it is impossible to classify this artistic genre since it continuously recurs and it often denies its principles.
Let’s listen to Masaki’s voice speaking about butō.

1) Masaki, butō was born in Japan but perhaps it is more well known abroad above all in Usa, in Canada and in Europe where there are some butō companies often constituted by non-Japanese actors. Why that happens and what do You think about?«In Japan butō was and is in the sphere of subculture. That happens because official culture is afraid of butō message. In Japan culture is rigidly divided between sensei “master” and seito “pupil”. Abroad – for example in Europe - people appreciate butō as a new dance and they don’t consider it as an inferior art compared to official culture. In Japan the name “butō” itself is little known. When I tell Japanese people I am a butō actor many of them open their eyes wide and ask me if I would have meant “budō” i. e. martial arts».

2) At the beginning butō originated a deep action of breaking traditional dance and theatre styles. Nevertheless is there a link between butō and Japanese classic theatre like nō and kabuki?«Butō is a form of contemporary dance and its idea has very little to do with tradition. However butō was born in Japan and its performers were all Japanese at the beginning. Japanese culture has its distant roots in agriculture world and in its rites. Besides there is a deep difference between posture and movement of body in West and East both in life than in theatre. For example sitting cross-legged similar to lotus position is common for all Asian people from India to Japan where it is called agura (胡坐). Agura is very difficult for Westerns instead in Japan it is at the base of normal body dynamics also in traditional theatre like kabuki and nō. Western spectators of butō are generally surprised by slowness of actors’ gestures. This feature has become a commonplace of butō which is associated with slow movement. Nevertheless slowness is only the result and not the requirement of the study of movement made by butō dancers».

3) Butō is generally said by many to be a dance and its performers to be dancers though butō is indissolubly linked up with theatre and music. What is Your personal experience about that?«I began my experience as an actor of new Japanese Western-style theatre. I got bored very soon of this kind of acting. In fact I felt my body didn’t follow my voice, I felt myself as a “talking camcorder on a tripod”. This is why I chose the way of butō. I don’t know if butō is or not the union of dance, theatre and music but I can tell you than my approach on stage consists of asking myself “what is the body” and I’ve found the reply in butō which doesn’t separate voice and body».

4) In Japanese traditional theatre there are families of actors called sōke (宗家) who hand down their art from father to son as Ichikawa family in kabuki and Kanze family in nō. Instead in butō – apart from the experience of the son of Ōno Kazuo Yoshito - there are no leading families . Is butō more open compared to other Japanese arts?«My mother Iwana Shizu has been on the stage of nō as an actress for sixty years. She has been a member of Umewaka family competing with Kanze. When I was young I watched often her nō plays. Butō - contrary to common belief – is not a completely open and free art but it is approachable only in half. Japan has been for long a locked up island and with no exchange with foreign countries. Nowadays Japan is more free and open but a partial locking still remains above all in some cultural communities. When I think about Japanese culture I imagine it as a long and thin yarn. This characteristic made Japanese culture lengthy and profound but also it is its weak point. In butō there are no leading families though there are masters who impose strict and steady rules on their pupils. In Japan there is a severe selection for taking part in every butō group. For my part, I am completely alone since I feel free and I don’t want to have pupils on who impose my own view of art. In 1970s in Japan butō had its greatest diffusion and there were many actors in conflict among them to conquer the artistic hegemony. Nowadays young butō performers are less rebellious and more docile».

5) When I saw You on stage I was very impressed above all about your feet, about their movements. I think that standing upright on ankles for long must be deeply hard, painful and wearying. What is the importance of feet and of walking in butō? Are there some analogies with feet movement style of Japanese traditional theatre?«Butō movements must seem painful though actually they are not. Actor studies movements so well that there is no physical suffering. Western dancers wear shoes instead Asian dancers dance barefoot. Japanese people use tabi, traditional socks which give feet the naturalness of nakedness. Westerners usually think sole is completely flat but our feet have curved shape which allows many positions and movements. I studied feet movements of my mother although in nō feet movement is mainly horizontal instead in butō are above all vertical».

6) Some butō performances were mind-blowing for audience. For example it was very famous the killing of a chicken on stage in 1959 by Ōno Yoshito in “Kinjiki” by Hijikata Tatsumi (禁色, “Forbidden colours” from the novel by Mishima Yukio). Your performances are instead delicate and certainly not violent and spectators feel “caressed” by your movements. Is this your own butō style?«Yes. My butō is delicate and my movements are soft. I have reached this style by a deep study of my body. For me it’s more important to act with my body than with objects. My body is the object which is on stage with me. Some actors don’t make objects “living” but they just use objects. The word “to use” has got the idea of hierarchy in itself and I don’t like that and I want to avoid it».

7) In butō actor’s body is very important and visage as well. In your performances you often wear a simple mask which plays your feature up. What is the importance of visage expressivity and of mask in butō?«In Western modern theatre visage is more instrumental than body. Some butō actors act mainly with visage so that audience often couple butō with exaggerated facial expressions. For my part visage is as important as body since it is a part of it. In nō many masks are used and there is a character called hitamen (直面, “plain face”) – generally the deuteragonist – who acts open-face. Fifty years ago I saw the superb stage performance by actor Umewaka Rokuro as hitamen and I was so impressed about it».

8) It’s very difficult to explain what butō is and perhaps it’s useless to try to explain that. It’s better to say “to feel butō” instead of saying “to understand butō”. Watching a butō performance is more a physical experience than a mental experience. What do you think about that?«Just like that. Very often spectators would like to know the meaning of butō performance. Nevertheless if audience demands an explanation for everything that is being staged it ends by not feeling the deep emotion which is the real message of butō. Dancers must pierce spectators’ body not their minds».

9) Butō is a young art which was born just few years ago. It’s a young and nevertheless old art which is perhaps close to rituals of primitive theatre. When butō was born it was characterized by a deep will to break traditional dramatic style both in Japan and in world. Do you think that nowadays butō has lost its innovation and break power? Do You think that sometime a new artist will find another kind of dramatic style to go beyond butō and to shatter its rules?«I belong to second generation of butō dancers. Young butō dancers of nowadays are the third generation. They have completely lost the starting idea by Ōno Kazuo of butō as break with tradition. Although the name “butō” hung over this art still has just few of its initial feelings. I think that the word “butōist” still means “non-conformist artist” even if there are less and less performers who really long for breaking».

The time Masaki has spent with us elapsed in double-quick time and tea in the cup got cold. We would have liked to listen to his calm and persuasive voice more, we would have liked to see some more his visage which resembles the feature of heita (平太) nō mask of a warrior in full maturity. However he has to leave yet, he can't talk too much. Masaki is a master who doesn't want to have pupils.

Floriano Terrano

舞踏家　岩名雅紀氏との対談

伝統と前衛の混合形態を

もつダンス、舞踏

岩名雅紀氏とお会いしたのは雨のふる１１月でした。彼の滞在するホテルの一室で緑茶を飲みながら彼の舞踏への取り組みや活動について質問をした。雅紀氏は東京で西洋現代劇の俳優として活動を始めたが、彼は舞踏への道へ進んだ。舞踏は１９５０年代後半に土方巽（１９２８－１９８６）と大野一雄（１９０６－２０１０）らによって誕生した。
舞踏は確かにダンスあり音楽ありで、現代舞踊や舞台舞踊などと呼ばれているがその言葉だけでは終れない深い思いがそこには込められている。
雅紀氏に舞踏について色々と答えて頂きました。

1) 雅紀さん、舞踏は日本よりも特にアメリカ、カナダ、ヨーロッパなどの海外でのほうがより知られていますね。そして雅紀さんはしばしば日本人以外の役者と舞踏をされることがあります。それはなぜでしょうか、またその事についてどう思われますか？
日本での舞踏はサブカルチャーの範囲で止まっていたし、止まってしまった。なぜならば舞踏に込められたメッセージを正式な文化として認めるのを恐れたから。日本の文化は先生と生徒の関係を厳格に別けている。例えば海外、ヨーロッパでは舞踏を公式文化と比べて低級芸術としてとらえるのではなく一つの新しいダンスとして評価してくれている。私が舞踏家ですと言うと多くの日本人は目を大きく見開いて、刀を使って練習する武道の事を言いたいのではないかと訊ねてきます。そのくらい日本人は舞踏を知らない人が多いのです。

2) 舞踏が生まれた時、伝統舞踊や演劇の原則を大きく破壊する影響力を持っていましたが、それでもやはり能や歌舞伎の様な伝統芸能と何らかの関係があるのでしょうか？舞踏は現代舞踊でありそのアイディアは日本の伝統舞踊とは一切関係がありません。しかし舞踏は日本で生まれその当初の出演者は全て日本人でした。日本文化の根源は農業やその事に関しての儀式や祭式と密接に結ばれています。さらに、西洋と東洋では根本的に姿勢や体の使い方に違いがあります。例えば座る時の格好ですが、インドから日本までのアジアの人々は共通してあぐらである。西洋人にとってあぐらはとても難しいことであり、歌舞伎や能も基本は東洋人の普段の体の動きをするので西洋人にとっては自然にとはいかないでしょう。西洋で舞踏を上演する時、観客は役者のゆっくりとした動きに驚きます。多くの方々が舞踏の特徴は動きがゆっくりしていること、そして舞踏＝ゆっくりとした動きと思っています。しかし緩慢は前置きではなく、それぞれの動きの背景にある舞踏役者の研究成果が現れた結果なのです。

3) 舞踏は舞踊でそしてその踊りをする人達を舞踏家と呼んでいます。しかし舞踏には音楽や舞台にも多くの工夫をされて大きな役割を持っていると思います。そのことについて、どう思われますか？私は西洋スタイルの演劇役者として舞台に立ち始めました。しかし間もなくして飽きてしまったのです。それは私の心の声と体が一致しなかった為です。それから舞踏家への道へと進んでいったのです。舞踏が本当に踊りと舞台と音楽が一体となっているかどうかは分りませんが、私は身体とはいったい何かという事を自分自身に問い続け、声と体が一体となって表現できる舞踏にその答えを見つけました。

4) 日本の伝統芸能は歌舞伎で有名な市川家や能で有名な観世流といったように代々親から子へ受け継がれてきていますね。しかし舞踏に関していえば舞踏家の大野一雄氏の息子である大野慶人氏が受け継いだ以外は他に例がありませんよね。ということは舞踏は他の日本芸能と比べてみると多くの人に対してオープンということなのでしょうか？私の母、岩名しずは７０年間能役者として舞台に立ち続けました。観世流とは対立していた梅若流に所属していました。私が若かった頃はよく母に付き添って行きました。多くの人が舞踏は誰でも勉強できる芸術と思われていますが、実際にはそうではありません。日本は長い間海外との交流を絶ち鎖国をしていた背景からか、より自由にオープンになった今日でさえ、特に文化面に関してはまだ閉ざした部分が残っています。日本の文化を考えた時、長くて細い紐をイメージ持ちます。この性格は深遠から成っていますが同時に弱さでもあるのです。舞踏には家元がなくても師匠はいますし、弟子達には厳しく昔から変わることのない規則を命じています。日本ではさらにどの舞踏グループに入門するにしても厳しい審査があります。私自身に関しては完全に一人です。なぜならば自由を感じていたいし、私の芸術(美)的ビジョンを誰かに強制したくないので弟子も取りたくありません。１９７０年代は日本で舞踏が一般的に広く知られた時で、多くの役者達が舞踏家としての覇権を勝ち取る為に対立をしていました。今日、舞踏を学ぶ若者達は大人しくて逆らう者も少ないですね。

5) 私があなたの舞台を見た時、特に足の指の動きに衝撃を受けました。その動きは想像を絶するほど難しく踝で長い間まっすぐ立つことは痛みを伴い疲れを伴うと思います。舞踏での足の動きや歩き方には何が重要なのでしょうか？そして日本の伝統芸能と似た足の動かし方があるのでしょうか？
舞踏での動きは苦痛を伴っているように見えますが実際はそうではありません。役者は日々努力を重ねることにより物理的な苦しみや苦痛を感じなくなります。西洋人ダンサーは靴下を履きますが東洋人は裸足です。日本人は裸足に近い感覚を持てる足袋を使います。西洋人は足の裏を平らだと思っていますが、実はさまざまなバリエーションや動きを可能にできるようカーブがかっています。足の動きは能役者だった母から学びました。能では畳の上を滑る様に水平な動きをしますが、舞踏は主に垂直な動きをします。

6) いくつかの舞踏演目は観客に衝撃を与えます。有名な場面として１９５９年、土方巽の演出による禁色（三島由紀夫原作）を大野慶人が演じた鶏を殺すシーンだと思います。しかし岩名さんの舞台には一切暴力的なシーンはなく繊細で、その動きからは優しさや温もりを感じます。これが岩名さんの舞踏スタイルですか？はい、私の舞踏は優しく繊細な動きをします。この動きは私自身の体を長年に渡り研究し、たどり着いたスタイルです。私にとって重要な事は物を使って表現するのではなく私の体を使って表現することです。舞台の上では私の肉体が物体となるのです。役者の中には物を命ある物として表現しない人もいますが舞台の中では、人も物も上下関係などなく一体となることが重要であると思います。

7) ということは、舞踏は役者の体は勿論、表情もとても重要ですね。岩名さんは舞台でよく仮面を着けられていますが、舞踏において表情の表現性や仮面にはどのような重要性がありますか？西洋の現代演劇は恐らく体と比べると顔の表情がより重要な役をしていると思います。舞踏役者の中には顔の表情に重点をおいて表現する人もいます、よって観客の中には舞踏とは顔のパントマイムと思っている人もいるようです。私にとって顔は体の一部として同じように重要です。能では仮面を使用する役者と仮面で顔を隠さずに観客に見せる直面（ひためん、ひたおもて）と呼ばれる役者がいるのが一般的です。５０年前、直面役者の若梅六郎氏の雄壮な演出を見た時、深く心を打ちました。

8) 舞踏を言葉で説明する事は本当に難しいですし、試みること自体が無意味だと思います。“舞踏を理解する”ではなく“舞踏を感じる”という表現をしたほうが良いかと思います。舞踏を見る時は動きの意味を考えるのではなく体で感じることが大切ですね。そのことについてはどう思われますか？
まさにその通りです。多くの観客は舞踏の意味は何かという事を知りたがりますが、もし舞踏を見る時それぞれのシーンの意味を考えながら見ても本当の感動を得ることは出来ないでしょうし、本当に伝えたいメッセージは伝わらないでしょう。舞踏役者は観客の頭脳にではなく体に入り込んでいかなくてはいけないのです。

9) 日本の伝統芸能と比べて舞踏はまだ誕生して日が浅いですが、舞台芸術の基礎であると思います。舞踏が誕生した時、日本や世界の演劇界の伝統的原則を破壊しようと強い意志を持っていたと思います。雅紀さんは今日の舞踏においてその意志はまだ受け継がれていると思いますか？そしていずれ舞踏よりもう一歩先に進んだ前衛芸術が生まれると思いますか？
私は二世代目の舞踏家の一員で今、舞踏を学んでいる若者達は三世代目になります。彼らは大野一雄氏が持っていた伝統を壊すという当初の概念を完全に失っています。舞踏という名は残っていますが誕生した時の強い志を感じている人は少ないでしょうね。心から芸術の常識を壊したいと思っている人が年々少なくなってきていますが、私は舞踏が今もなお常識破りの芸術であることを信じています。

雅紀氏と共にした時間はあっという間に過ぎてしまい、初めから注いであった緑茶には手を伸ばす事も無くそのまま冷たくなって湯飲みに残ったままでした。彼の落ち着いた魅力的な声、能面の平太（歴戦の勇者）に似た横顔を見ながらもう少しの間、時間を共にしたかったが多忙な彼はもう行かなければならない、そして多く語ることはない。

(Iwana Masaki www.iwanabutoh.com)

フロリアーノ・テッラーノ

Cio-Cio-San,

the Japanese soul

of Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly is well-known in the world as one of Italian opera pieces for excellence. Its subtitle is “Japanese tragedy”. Which is really “Japanese” in Puccini’s Butterfly? Little but significant signs.
Visual signs in the opera historic posters which call to mind the Japanese prints ukiyo-e.
Theatrical signs in the plot and in some characters – like for example zio Bonzo - which resemble those of Japanese theatre.
Musical signs like pentatonic scale used in some parts of the score which is a reference mark of Japanese classical music such as in Turandot pentatonic scale is a reference mark of Chinese classical music.
The presence of these signs of Japanese artistic tradition together with the Japanese setting and with the plot are some of the reasons why Madama Butterfly has been such famous in Japan.
Memorable stage performance by soprano Miura Tamaki and direction by Asari Keita show a “Japanese style” Madama Butterfly.
Cio-Cio-San, the Japanese soul of Madama Butterfly is a journey to Japanese sources of Puccini’s opera.

Floriano Terrano

蝶々さん、

日本人の心を表現した『蝶々夫人』

『マダム・バタフライ』は世界中で知られている優れたイタリアオペラの中の一つである。
オペラのサブタイトルは『日本人の悲劇』。マダム・バタフライに込められた真の日本とは何であろうか？プッチーニの『マダム・バタフライ』には日本文化の要素が多く取り入れられている。
当時の宣伝用ポスターは日本の浮世絵をヒントに書かれたものであり、舞台では日本劇にみられるような筋立てや登場人物がみられる。
音楽には日本の伝統唱歌が多く使用され、東洋音楽の特徴でもある５音音階を取り入れて作曲されている。『マダム・バタフライ』に使用されている５音音階は日本の音階からヒントを得ておりまた同じように『トゥーランドット』も中国の音階からヒントを得て作曲されている。『マダム・バタフライ』は日本で多くの成功を収めたがそれは単に日本を舞台としたオペラだからではなく、日本の伝統芸術を多く取り入れた作品だからであろう。
『マダム・バタフライ』の上演にあたり忘れられないのが蝶々夫人の当たり役であったソプラノ歌手三浦環と演出家の浅利慶太である。
「蝶々さん、日本人の心を表現した『蝶々夫人』」はプッチーニの『マダム・バタフライ』から日本文化を探る旅である。

フロリアーノ・テッラーノ

Chinese young people

.

and theater

A difficult dialogue

Young people and theater in China nowadays. It’s a difficult dialogue, a quite impossible dialogue. In China, where authority deeply controls people, internet is the most important communications medium used by young people. Chinese young people, like most of all young people in the world, like to log on to use emails, to chat, to play with on-line gaming. They do prefer pc to theatre.

We did a journey through China, from Southern provinces to Beijing and to Shanghai and we asked young people we met if they like drama or not. Their replies surprised us a lot. We had spoken with young people between 19 and 23 not only students but also employees, waitresses etc. Most of them said us internet is the most important of the “visual arts” loved by Chinese young generation. Drama is enjoyed by them only after internet, movies and television.

Wei Xia is responsible for marketing and she works for an American multinational company in Guangzhou, in the South of China, one of the most industrialized areas in the world. Wei prefers to be called with her Western style name “Simone” and tells us she prefers movies to drama. She occasionally goes to the theatre and only when she need to relax. She says: «I watch a play to not think about anything». Movies give her the emotions theatre can’t give her «I like to watch above all contemporary Western plays. Unfortunately the cultural background of Guangzhou is very different from Beijing or Shanghai. Here there are some acting companies which stage good traditional Chinese plays but young people who work till late evening can’t go to the theatre». Simone Wei almost every day stays in office till late and she comes back home only at 10 or 11 p.m. Chinese young people work a lot like her.

How about Beijing? We went to Beijing to know if there are more opportunities for young people to go to the theatre. In Beijing, the Chinese Opera city, it seems paradoxical that Chinese people prefer Western style stage to Chinese traditional theatre. Only Gao, a 20 years old Beijing University student from Shandong, loves Beijing Opera and prefers it to Western pieces staged in the capital’s playhouses. Though it is quite impossible to find a young Chinese person who likes Beijing Opera. Only people in their forties begin to appreciate Chinese Opera. The same happens in Japan and Korea, where young people don’t like traditional theatre. For this reason lots of American style musicals in Chinese or Korean languages were recently put on in China and Korea. Some of them have an unwilled funny side.
Zhang, another 20 years old Beijing University student from Hebei province, prefers Italian Grand Opera to Beijing Opera. He says: «I love Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”. I’ve watched it three times and I desire to go to Italy to watch it again».
Chinese young people like most of all Western playwrights, like Susan Cooper and Agatha Christie. However Miao and Shuo, 21 years old students, love Cáo Yǔ (曹禺, 1910 – 1996), one of the most representative Chinese playwrights of twentieth-century. Cáo Yǔ was one of the forbidden writers during the Maoist Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and he was partially rehabilitated by Deng Xiaoping. Miao and Shuo like Léiyǔ (雷雨, Thunderstorm, 1933), one of the well-known Cáo Yǔ’s plays inspired by Western theatre and concerning an incest occurrence. Miao and Shuo, like lots of Young Chinese students, read playwrights of huàjù (话剧), the Chinese cultural movement of authors like Chen Duxiu and Hu Shih who harked back to Western dramatists.

Chinese young people are attracted not only to Western style drama but also to Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese stage shows. Yue, a young waitress of a Shanghai bar, comes from Zheijiang province. She has a very special predilection to contemporary Japanese theatre, even if she did watch it live but only on Youtube. Yue is a chain reader of manga, Japanese world-famous comics. She tells us her dream while tidying up bar glasses: «I would like to go to Tokyo to study acting and to become an actress of Takarazuka Revue». Takarazuka (宝塚歌劇団) is a Japanese musical theatre made of actresses only in which the male roles are played by women. For this reason Yue put a Japanese grammar book near the cash register. When in bar there are few customers, she uses to open the book and to study Japanese language. For Chinese young people dreams are plans to fulfil with strength of will and hard work. And Moon, this is the meaning of the name Yue, seems to have yet the personal appeal of "prima donna".

Also in China, one of the last kingdoms to be considered different and far away, young people resemble each other more and more. In the Beijing Opera country Chinese traditional stage shows are rarely watched by young people who, like other global younger generations, prefer hybrid shows made of movies and television together, more comfortable and easy to be found on line than to be watched on stage.

Floriano Terrano

Thousand Hand Bodhisattva

A prayer of theatre and dance

Thousand Hand Bodhisattva (千手观音) is a world famous performance staged in the last years of 2oth century by China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe of Beijing, founded in 1987 and entirely composed of disabled performers. Their most famous performance is Thousand Hand Bodhisattva, in which there are twenty one deaf-and-dumb female dancers on the stage who lap together and constitute collective scenes with an unbelievable and wonderful motion synchronicity effect. The performance takes its name from Guan Yin or Kuan Yin (觀音), Buddhist female deity venerated in China and in Far East, especially in Japan; she is a Taoist goddess too.

Guan Yin, whose name means "Who Contemplates the Sound of the World", is the goddess of mercy and compassion; like all the bodhisattva, she gives nirvana up to give ear and aid to suffering human beings. In the main scene of Thousand Hand Bodhisattva, the dancers are perfectly lined up in the shape of Thousand Hand and Eleven Head Guan Yin. She has thousand hands to give aid to human beings, she has eleven heads to give ear to world prayers and plaints; in her hand palms she has an eye to see every sorrow of the living. Choreography is by Zhang Jigang, the major-general who leaded for a long time the Chinese People's Liberation Army’s Song and Dance ensemble. Together with the film director Zhang Yimou, Zhang Jigang directed the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening and Closing ceremonies.

Thousand Hand Bodhisattva is a prayer-performance that moves audience deeply and makes listen to dancers gestures and looks as well. The deaf-and-dumb female dancers can’t hear the music and they dance and move in tune and in synchronization thanks to their deep sensitivity to feel every motion of other actresses on the stage. Tai Lihua is the dancer who is in front of audience and ahead of the dancers’ column directing them motions. She states she has learnt to use her body to communicate feeling floor vibrations with feet. Guan Yin listened to Lihua and other dancers passion. Now Lihua and her stage mates are happy thanks to dance and theatre and they bring the message of China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe all over the world. A message that moves, surprises, gives help.

In 2003 China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe was the only acting company to have traveled to Hong Kong, where SARS epidemic was dismaying citizens; there, as a protection and safety prayer, they staged the dance Thousand Hand Bodhisattva.

Floriano Terrano

千手觀音
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來自舞劇界的祈福

千手觀音，是一齣在二十世紀末由中國殘疾人藝術團所演出而聞名於世界的舞蹈表演節目。 中國殘疾人藝術團，成立於1987年的北京，是全部由一群視覺、聽覺等身心殘障的人士所組成的藝術表演團體。而中國殘疾人藝術團最為著名的表演節目-《千手觀音》，是由二十一位聾啞舞者以整齊劃一的排列與集體所構成的陣容為背景，以展現不可思議且超乎完美的同步協調肢體律動而呈現出來的作品。 此齣劇碼以觀音為名，觀音，即觀世音菩薩，是在中國與東亞，特別是日本等地為人民所供奉，是屬於女性菩薩的代表，她甚至也被道教奉為神祗之一。
而觀音的字義，即是”觀天下之音”，代表的是她具有慈悲為懷的憐憫之心；就像眾菩薩一樣，觀音普渡眾生前往極樂世界。在《千手觀音》劇碼中最主要的場景是所有的舞者以整齊的一字型排列，以完美又統一協調的動作，配合節奏，來呈現觀音的千手以及十一面相的姿態。觀音以千手救渡世人於苦難，以十一面聆聽世人的悲嘆與發願祈求；觀音在每隻手的掌心各有一隻眼，以觀盡眾生之悲苦。這齣舞劇表演是由中國人民解放軍總政治部舞團團長 - 張繼鋼所編導的。而張繼鋼繼編導《千手觀音》之後，於2008年與知名電影導演-張藝謀聯手分工執導北京奧運會開、閉幕式的表演。
《千手觀音》是一齣祈福的藝術演出，深刻的感動了無數的觀眾，觀眾能藉由舞者的肢體動作與表情，而聆聽到祈福的聲音。聾啞舞者雖然在聽不見任何聲音的情況之下，卻仍能以協調一致性的動作與舞蹈來展現，這要歸功於他們高度而敏銳的知覺，以感受到其他舞台上表演的舞者每一個細微的動作。邰麗華，這位站在觀眾最前方的領舞者，指出她已經學會了如何以雙腳來感受地板上的震動，並且以她的肢體語言來與其他舞者進行溝通。觀音其實早已經聽見邰麗華與其他舞者的心聲，並也知道他們的表演熱誠。現在，邰麗華與她的同台舞伴們皆對劇團感念萬分，並且他們也會將中國殘疾人藝術團所呈現出驚嘆世人的感動以及助人為善的信念傳到全世界各地。在2003年，正值SARS肆虐，人民驚慌也沮喪的時期，中國殘疾人藝術團是唯一成行至香港的表演團體。在那裡，他們以一個保護眾生與為世人祈福的角色來演出 -《千手觀音》。

(Images courtesy of China Disabled People's
Performing Art Troupe Beijing www.mydream.org.cn)

(Thousand Hand Bodhisattva performance www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpTbz6RyYX4)

Floriano Terrano