Although noh is known for its long tradition and valued as part of Japanese culture, most Japanese people today would not enjoy the play due to its slow-tempo motions of the performers, language spoken, that is, medieval Japanese of between 14th and 16th centuries which modern Japanese speakers would not understand, and lack of its penetration in the society as entertainment. However, some knowledge of plots of the play, such classic literature works as Ise monogatari, Genji monogatari, or Heike monogatari, can make a noh performance enjoyable and appreciated as an intermediary “between the worlds between gods and men” (Handout 14). Although I have not viewed any of these stories as a noh play, I found mere reading of noh scripts with understanding of their sources very interesting in that it enabled me to connect new perspectives toward the event which is already described from the mainstream angles in a literature work. In this paper, I will discuss how those viewpoints differ from each other and the meaning of a story revised for a noh performance.
Atsumori illustrates the sorrow, anger, and eventual forgiveness of Atsumori, who is depicted as a young, beautiful, musical, and brave aristocrat, and is killed by Kumagai, the Genji warrior, in Heike monogatari. This one-on-one battle causes the late Atsumori lingering attachment to this world, as well as Kumagai a great deal of regrets and long-term apologies for the elegant boy. The time is when mortal combats between the Taira and the Genji are constantly waged and finally the latter wins victory. Kumagai finds Atsumori catching up with his clan offshore of Ichi-no-tani. The former gives the challenge and the latter bravely complies with the battle. Kumagai, however, almost ...
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...ere pray to her throughout the night in order to release her grudge and attachment to this world and send her to enlightenment.
In summary, classic literature works are good representatives of humanity with feelings, positive or negative: happiness, love, excitement, anger, sorrow, humiliation, jealousy, etc. The noh playwrights of the Muromachi era were skillful in treating human inner feelings as more important than external niceties, which, otherwise, would have been ignored, or even not recognized in later times. Delivering a story from different angles enables the reader to appreciate the work more thoughtfully and sympathetically. Also, their harmonious endings between the mysterious spiritual world and this world must have offered a great deal of relief about death to the society, as well as encouragement with religious practices during Muromachi era.
Throughout history artists have used art as a means to reflect the on goings of the society surrounding them. Many times, novels serve as primary sources in the future for students to reflect on past history. Students can successfully use novels as a source of understanding past events. Different sentiments and points of views within novels serve as the information one may use to reflect on these events. Natsume Soseki’s novel Kokoro successfully encapsulates much of what has been discussed in class, parallels with the events in Japan at the time the novel takes place, and serves as a social commentary to describe these events in Japan at the time of the Mejeii Restoration and beyond. Therefore, Kokoro successfully serves as a primary source students may use to enable them to understand institutions like conflicting views Whites by the Japanese, the role of women, and the population’s analysis of the Emperor.
With the graceful starkness of traditional Japanese haiku, Kawabata reveals a twisted set of love affairs between four people that ultimately lead to their downfalls. Haiku depicts a meditational view of the world where nothing is meaningless; in Beauty and Sadness all of the relations represent aspects of new and old Japan, mirroring the rise and fall of Japanese culture in their movements. Among these relationships, perhaps the most traditional is found between Oki and Otoko– although it is tragic and somewhat leacherous, the bond between a young woman (or girl) and an older man is an acceptable affair in traditional Japanese culture. They represent the oldest parts of Japanese custom, and adhere to that measure throughout the novel. Oki’s wish to hear the temple bells with Otoko reflects this long established pattern of old man and young girl, as ...
In these essays, the authors are telling a story about the characters life. The stories are directed towards the audience to express the kind of pain and suffering the characters went through to learn and apply what they had been yearning for.
... be translated from Japanese to English. Due to cultural barriers, those who read the translated versions of the novels fail to see the importance of names like Noboru and Tomoe, and the impact that these names have on the rest of the work. Consequently, some of the literary value of the novels is lost in the translation. By using personal names as primary sources of characterization, Endo and Mishima offer a concluding suggestion that, whenever possible, it is best to read works of literature in the language in which they were originally written.
Japan is known for its unique gardening style, their diverse plants, their food, and their beautifully woven tapestries. Yet, most do not know about the history of their drama. Japanese Noh theatre is one of the most precise and prestigious art forms. It has been this way since the fourteenth century when Zeami first created Noh theatre. Zeami’s most famous plays, such as Kinuta, are still performed today. Japanese drama has not changed much since the fourteenth century because it has made a lasting effect on the culture. Noh theatre had a major influence on fourteenth century Japan and has affected modern day drama.
that if she does a curse will come upon her. So she sits in her tower
In his preface of the Kokinshū poet Ki no Tsurayaki wrote that poetry conveyed the “true heart” of people. And because poetry declares the true heart of people, poetry in the minds of the poets of the past believed that it also moved the hearts of the gods. It can be seen that in the ancient past that poetry had a great importance to the people of the time or at least to the poets of the past. In this paper I will describe two of some of the most important works in Japanese poetry the anthologies of the Man’yōshū and the Kokinshū. Both equally important as said by some scholars of Japanese literature, and both works contributing greatly to the culture of those who live in the land of the rising sun.
Described as an “image-based play” that “harmonizes” the usage of physical acting, light, and sound, Yang’s Hamlet aims to limit the usage of dialogue, and to instead focus heavily on symbolism and sensory experiences (OzAsia, 2). This is evident in the artistic design of the production – from the barren stage and the simple and dull costumes, to the exaggerated actions and expression of the actors and the constant rhythmic beating of the drums. The play is filled with a sense of urgency, desolation, and violence, reflecting of the raw emotional state of the characters – a world that is harsh and devoid of warmth. This contrasts starkly with the staging of the shamanist rituals, which while simple, seems to be filled with life and elements of nature – from the bed of rice that surrounds the stage, the usage of water and candles, to the elaborate and colorful traditional costumes. This contrast supports Yang’s production concept: Shamanist rituals as a constant source of warmth and solace, unaffected by however grim or gray the world becomes. It represents the only path characters of the play can regain their harmony in a discordant world, whether they are in emotional anguish, on their deathbeds, or even after
...t speak to her lover only through the window of her room. At night, she would go to her window while she thought her husband was sleeping, claiming that the song of the nightingale kept her awake. After the nightingale is killed by the husband, the lord keeps the body with him always as a sign of devotion to the lady.
In Zeami Motokiyo’s Noh play, Atsumori, he retells the story of Atsumori as seen in Heiki Monogatari. The story revolves around the young Taira no Atsumori who was killed at the age of fifteen by Kumagai of the Minamoto clan during the Genpei War at Ichinotani. Atsumori was left behind and spotted by Kumagai along the Suma shore. Kumagai felt sorry for Atsumori because he was about the same age as one of his sons and was torn between whether or not to kill him. He decides to kill Atsumori because if he did not, then someone else from his clan would. He figured it would be better for him to do it because he would pray for Atsumori after his death. Shortly after killing Atsumori, Kumagai renounces his ways and becomes a monk name Rensho and travels back to Ichinotani to pay his respects to and pray for the soul of Atsumori. This play is a continuation from Heike Monogatari because it tells the tale of Kumagai and what he encounters in his new life as a monk while stressing the importance of Buddhist values, such as nonattachment and karma, and character transformation of warrior to priest and enemy to friend.
and her call upon the evil spirits suggests she is not at all what she
obedience to show that she is a weak and entirely dependent character. Nothing that she
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece. ”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke is a development of Japanese animation that can be seen as a romantic fable of two characters that were brought together through one cause; however, Miyazaki’s film can be seen as a Japanese cultural production. It is seen as a cultural production because it shows elements of Shinto through the Kami and the use of water for purification, as well as the female stereotype reversal that was quite dominant in the time of the Heian period. The characters in Princess Mononoke interact with the kami (gods or spirits) when they are in sacred sites or areas that assist in the contact. In Princess Mononoke, the mountain is the place where the characters make contact with the kami, which is their Shinto shrine because
Kernodle, George R. "The Theater Of Exaltation: Modern Tragedy And Poetic Drama." Kernodle, George R. Invitation to the Theatre. New Yory: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1967. 217-223.