Kuroda Puppet ［Kuroda Puppet，History］
Origins
In Kuroda, during the Genroku era (1688-1703), a monk named Seigaku Shinkai Living in the Shoumei temple “teached the art of Gidayu, shamisen and puppet to the middle-aged neighbors, gathering together to learn these arts, looking for and buying tools, became naturally involved in the village, built a new stage of three and a half ken by six ken※ on the ground of the local deity temple, agreed to perform a ritual puppet show instead of the Mikagura※ at the annual festival” as recorded in a document which proves that puppet plays were already held at that time.
The puppet theater which flourished from the Genroku (1688-1703) to the Kyoho era (1716-1735), gradually declined due to the emergence of Kabuki and puppeteers from Awaji and Osaka got dispersed to other regions searching for a new place to live. Puppeteers from Awaji and Osaka who settled in Kuroda, taught the art of puppetry and it became professional.
The graves of these puppeteers (Yoshida Juzaburo, Kiritake Monzo, Yoshida Kamezo) are in the Tainen temple in Shimo Kuroda.
Kuroda puppet possess the biggest collection of Kashiras of the Ina valley exceeding 100 pieces.Within this collection, there is a Kashira called “Fuke Oyama” made by Takemoto Matsuho from Yamashiro Ono village (current Ono, Kamo town, Kizugawa city, Kyoto region) in Genbun 2 (1737). It is said to be the Kashira carrying the oldest signature of the country.
※A ken is a traditional Japanese unit of measures for length. Approximately 1.81 meters.
※A Mikagura is a form of ceremonial music and dance performed during rituals in tribute to a deity.
Kuroda’s history
◆ In the Genroku period (1688-1703), there is a record of a monk named Seigaku Shinkai who lived in Shoumei temple, teaching puppetry (therefore, it comes to an history of more than 300 years)
◆ In the Horeki era (1751-1764), a new stage of 6 x 3.5 ken was built on the grounds of the Shimo Kuroda shrine.
◆ More than thirty years later, in the Kansei era (1789-1800), Yoshida Juzaburo came from Awaji. He rose admiration by bringing “Dokunbo’s biography” and he was begged to stay to teach the art. (Died on Bunsei 4 (1821), his grave is at the Tainen temple in Kuroda)
◆ In Tenpo 3 (1832), Kiritake Monzo and Yoshida Kamezo from Osaka came to settle down and teach in Kuroda around the same time. (Died in Kaei 6 (1853) and Ansei 2 (1855), their graves are at Tainen temple)
◆ In Tenpo 10 (1839), demolition of the 90 years old stage.
◆ In Tenpo 11 (1840), construction of the current two-story stage for a total of 6 x 4 ken. (this stage has been designated as an important tangible folk cultural property in Showa 49 (1974))
◆ In Tenpo 12 (1841), the “Tenpo reform order” including a clause prohibiting theatrical performances at shrine festivals was enacted
◆ In August of Tenpo 13 (1842), the people from Kuroda held a festival with puppets hiding from the ban. After being catch by the Iida council, they were brought to the castle and after that using puppets became strictly prohibited.
◆ In September of Koka 2 (1845), the ban on Kuroda Puppet was lifted and the event became even more spectacular than before.
◆ In Meiji 13 (1880), Yoshida Kingo who was part of the bunraku troupe settled in Miyada village, every year in January he came to teach in Kuroda for one month. He accompanied Kuroda Puppet by taking the lead of the first Kuroda Puppet performance, it was held for 10 days at a vaudeville theater called Kinsuitei in Iida’s Matsuo town. It was a great success with every date being sold out. He was also good in puppet shows as well as puppet sculptures and many Kashiras were made by him.
Puppet theaters were born in all of Ina valley, at the beginning of the Meiji era you could count 19 puppet troupes from Yoshida, Tonoshima, Otagiri, Yokomae in Kami Ina district, Kashio, Fukuyo, Kawano, Imada, Shimomura, Kinno, Nino, Waseda, Kiribayashi, Izuki, Yamamura, Takesa, Seinaiji, Kuroda, Tamura in Shimo Ina district. However, in the Meiji era due to the establishment of a license system for performance shows and the popularity of local plays it came to a downfall. There are currently 10 places possessing puppets but only 4 of them continue to perform: Furuta, Kuroda, Imada, Waseda.
◆ In Showa 28 (1953), foundation of the Kuroda Puppet Preservation Council.
◆ In Showa 48 (1973), creation of the Kuroda Puppet Club at the Koryo junior high school.
◆ In Showa 49 (1974), the “Shimo Kuroda stage” was appointed as an important tangible folk cultural property of the country. Japan’s oldest and biggest stage dedicated to puppet theater.
◆ In Showa 50 (1975), the 3 puppet theater from Shimo Ina district gathered together as “Ina’s Puppet Theater (Kuroda, Imada, Waseda)” were selected as an intangible folk cultural property of the country.
◆ In Heisei 11 (1999), Iida city built a new place called “Kuroda Puppet Joruri Theater” on the land adjacent to the precincts of the Shimo Kuroda Suwa shrine. It is a place for training and upbringing successors for the Ina Puppet Theater which has been selected by the government as an intangible folk cultural property, as well as it is a place for exchange and presentation for Ina valley’s 4 troupes (Kuroda, Imada, Waseda, Furuta), yet integrated within the community.
In this way, Kuroda’s ancestors overcame repeated crisis handing down their heritage until today, up to the current “Kuroda Puppet” local traditionnal performing art which we can boast about all over the country now.
Kuroda puppet interesting facts
Puppeteers and their roles.
- "Kuroda puppet" does a "three-person operation manipulation" in which three people operates one puppet.
- Omozukai (Shin)
- Hidarizukai (Sashi)
- Ashizukai (Ashi) - Kuroko
Kuroko: Hiding the whole body of the puppeteer with a black costume like Kuroda.
Dezukai*: Current bunraku.
*Dezukai: In the current form of bunraku, the Omozukai is wearing a kimono and showing his face to the audience.
- Puppet movement
There are decisive movements called "hand" or "form". There are different rules for men (tachi) and women (gata) regarding the way of walking.
- Manipulation of the puppet
The golden age of the three-person manipulation of the puppet, started and transmitted by the Takemoto company, was in Kyoho 19 (1734). In this technique the three puppeteers (Omozukai, Hidarizukai and Ashizukai) manipulate together one puppet’s body.
- Omozukai
The Omozukai inserts his left hand in a hole in the back of the puppet’s costume and creates the puppet’s posture by holding the torso rod coming from the neck. As this rod carries most of the puppet weight, it can be quite heavy and difficult to support in case of armored warriors or large puppets. When the hand gets tired, the posture of the puppets tends to collapse so you have to endure it in order to maintain its posture. In addition, while all the movements of the puppet’s upper body and head are controlled with the left hand, the right hand is inserted in the right sleeve of the costume to control its right hand. Occasionally, the puppet has a piece of bamboo called “ikitake”(breath bamboo) giving the impression of the puppet breathing from its shoulders. The main puppeteer literally becomes the main character amongst the three.
- Hidarizukai
He manipulates the left hand with his right hand. In this case, a stick (called Sakin) is attached to the left hand’s elbow and it is manipulated by holding it with the right hand in order not to be an obstacle for the Omozukai and Ashizukai. It’s a little like remote control.
- Ashizukai
The feet are moved by holding inverted L-shaped metal fittings (Ashigane) attached to the back of the puppet’s heels. However, female puppets do not have legs unless exceptions. In this case, the Ashizukai express the feet movements by moving the hems of the long costume. While the Ashizukai’s role is in the shadows, he plays an important role in making the puppet come alive. That is why, depending on the role, the Ashizukai may be the most skilled puppeteer.
