Rare days in Japan

by George Trumbull Ladd

“[THE WORSHIP OF NATURE IN THE OPEN AIR]”

It would be a great mistake, however, to suppose that the enjoyment of the Japanese garden in a social way is confined to the wealthy and the nobles with their large estates. All over the country the multitude of the people love nature and have it abundantly at their command to enjoy in quiet ways. In Tokyo thousands of artisans and common labourers and coolies, with wives and children, will trudge for miles to view the plum or cherry blossoms, or to see the morning-glories open at four o’clock of a Summer morning. The temple groves on all the many holidays are thronged with crowds, who combine their unintelligent and not even half-hearted worship with a much more intelligent and heartfelt appreciation of the beauties of nature. Indeed, with these multitudes, the worship of the departed ancestor in the family shrine in-doors, and the [worship of nature in the open air] constitutes their only religion.

How profoundly influenced is all the art and all the national life of the Japanese by this love and æsthetical appreciation of all forms of natural beauty, it is not necessary to say in detail. Gardens and garden parties are not trifling incidents or accessories of man’s existence, happiness, and progress, in Japan; for there, indeed, they are taken very seriously, and as necessaries of living well and happily at all.

CHAPTER VII
AT THE THEATRE

In Japan, as in most other highly civilised nations, the origin and earliest developments of the art of dramatic representation are involved in much obscurity. But, according to Baron Suyematsu, theatrical performances began to assume their present style about three hundred years ago. Centuries before this time, however, there were dances accompanied by singing and instrumental music, which were for the most part performed in the Shintō shrines. The differences between the two principal kinds which characterised the Nara period (709-784 A. D.) were only slight; one of them being somewhat more inclined toward the comic and the humorous than the other. It was the elaboration of the poetic compositions, which were adapted for accompaniments with the Biwa, and the introduction of historical narratives, which chiefly determined the style of the later theatrical performances. In the Ashikaga era these dramatic performances became very popular with the upper classes, and were patronised by the Shōgun himself. There then not only arose a class of professional actors, but the gentry themselves began to learn to sing and even to take pride in displaying their dramatic talents as amateurs, in the presence of their friends. By the more knightly of the samurai and daimyos, however, this was justly regarded as a mark of degeneracy. But as compared with similar epochs in other forms of the evolution of this art, there are three things which are greatly to the credit of the Japanese. In the first place, among the several hundred extant specimens of these ancient plays, there is scarcely to be found, either in words or in the action, the slightest taint of immoral suggestion; secondly, women were not tolerated on the stage, in combined action with men. And whatever we may think about the position of the professional actor, whether from the moral or the social point of view, and as viewed under conditions existing at the present time, it cannot be denied that it was to the ethical advantage of the Feudal Era in Japan to have professional actors excluded from so-called “good society.”

As to the literary character of the so-called Yokyoku, or written narrative to be chanted or sung in these dramatic performances, of which about three hundred are extant belonging to the Ashikaga period, I am quoting the authority of Baron Suyematsu; although the numerous examples which I have myself witnessed fully bear out his high estimate of their literary merit. “They are not so long as are the Greek or Roman dramas; although their construction has some similarity, for the words uttered by the actors are not limited to dialogues but contain descriptive parts as well. Thus when the actor representing a certain character appears on the stage, he generally announces who he is, why he has come there, where he is going to, and such like things. The method of playing has a certain similarity to the modern European opera, for the words uttered by the characters are sung and not spoken all through. The general features of the play show that these works were greatly influenced by Buddhism. This is due, in the first place, to the fact that this religion exercised much influence over the mind of the people at large; and in the second place to the fact that the playwrights were mostly priests. From the scholastic point of view, the sentences in these plays are not free from defects, but they are strong in the poetical element; and some parts of these works cannot be too highly praised. The Yokyoku and Nō” (or the acting, which was in every minutest detail adapted to the words and strictly, even inexorably prescribed) “may be called the classical drama of Japan. They enjoy the favour of the upper classes even to this day, in the same manner as the opera flourishes side by side with the ordinary theatre.”

As respects the motif and the moral and religious significance and influence of both the acting and the words, the dramas called by the name “Nō” much more resembled the miracle plays of Mediæval Europe than the operas of the present day. The literary merit and artistic skill in acting of the Japanese form of the art is, however, far superior. The Nō performances of the present day are, therefore, well deserving of the separate consideration which they will receive in another chapter.

From the dramas composed by the Buddhist priests in times when the philosophical and religious conceptions of Buddhism were profound, powerful, and effective, to the Shibai or Kabuki theatres of the common people of Japan, the descent is in every respect considerable. The origin of these theatres was of a distinctly lower order. The Kabuki is said to have originated in the dancing and singing of a woman named Kuni, performed among other shows on a rude stage on the river side at Kyoto. While, then, the actors in Nō often commanded a high personal regard and were admitted into the houses of the nobility, the actors in the popular theatres were held in very low esteem and were ostracised on both moral and social grounds. In the earlier period of its development, the actors in the Kabuki were chiefly women, who played the male as well as the female characters. Afterwards boys and even grown-up men were introduced; but the social evil resulting was, as is almost sure to be the case among all peoples and at all times, so extreme, that the Government intervened and the practice was forbidden by law. From that period onward the profession of acting became confined almost exclusively to men; although, as time went on, women began to act again, but only in companies formed of their own sex.

The so-called Shibai was a marionette performance, a kind of dramatic art in which the Japanese attained a high degree of skill. It is, indeed, well worth the time of the modern tourist, if he can secure the sight of some of the best-class of these puppet-shows. Even the inferior ones may afford the intelligent foreign observer no little insight into certain characteristics of the Japanese populace. “In the beginning,” says Baron Suyematsu, “there were no professional playwrights. Plays were chiefly written by actors or some one who took an interest in the matter; and further, plays were even devised by the actors impromptu and not written at all. Later on, the stage began to have professional playwrights attached to each theatre. Unlike the drama in Europe, these plays were never printed for public circulation, but used only for acting at the time, and were often written more to suit the performers than for literary excellence. And again when an old play was acted, it was often subjected to alteration for similar purposes; in other words, the dramatis personæ are often reduced or increased in number, to suit the number or ability of the actors. And, therefore, the texts of the Kabuki have not much literary merit. Though it may look somewhat strange, it is in the plays of the marionette theatres that we must seek the equivalent of the European drama. The marionette performance originated about the same time as the Kabuki. Previously, there had been a particular kind of chanted narrative, the Jōruri, which name is said to have come into use in a long chanting song consisting of twelve sections, and telling of a love story between Yoshitsune and a maiden named Jorurihime. This was written by a lady and was entitled ‘Jorurihime.’ Subsequently, many works of similar nature were written. And the introduction of the Samisen (a three-stringed musical instrument) gave much impulse to their development. To the chanting of these songs the marionette performances were added. Various styles of chanting were also gradually introduced.” In a word, the dramatic performances of Japan have come to be divided largely according to the distinction of classes. Or, to quote the distinguished authority of Professor Tsubuchi: “The characteristics of these forms of entertainment may be summed up by saying that, while the Nō is refined, but monotonous and unexciting, the Joruri and Kabuki are coarse and vulgar, but rich in incident and passion.”