This week, weather permitting, the East Asian Studies class will take place outdoors at the nearby Hirano shrine where students will be introduced to the graceful movements of Tai Chi by long-time practitioner and teacher Taka-san. Tai Chi is a soft martial art in contrast to karate and kung fu and has been called a “meditation in motion.” It is thought that it traces its roots back to the practice of yoga in ancient India and  developed into what is called Shaolin Boxing before a Taoist monk formed it into Tai Chi in the 13th Century.

Starting today this page will include a link into Japan’s pop culture visiting, among other things, Tokyo’s glitzy and bustling Shibuya district,  disenchanted and unemployed Japanese young adults, a temple playing scratchy classical albums at the altar and three toast girls whose work reclaims and re-invents female pop imagery, in some disturbing ways. Each week this page will feature a link to a different episode from Studio 360 whose banner reads “I suck the nutrients from Japanese language and I try to make a flower”. (poet Shuntaro Tanikawa). In the first installment, we are taken to girl haven:the sticker picture booth where laughing teens pose against glittery pink and purple backdrops.

Also featured at the end of the post this week are two papers on ‘Kyogen’ by Alex Margosian and Yuki Chichiishi, the Administrative Assistant at the Japan Center who is participating in the writing workshop.

The annual field trip to Okinawa will be from Friday, March 6th to Tuesday, March 8th. The trip will provide the experiential context for the Junior Research Seminar: Competing Forces: Okinawa taught by Dr. Preston Houser which is examining the different faces of Okinawa including its history as a World War ll battleground, and the current issues surrounding the numerous U.S. military bases there. Students have already chosen their own aspect of Okinawan culture and history to explore more deeply in their research papers so this trip should prove to be extremely fruitful.

Please find the itinerary below:

Friday, March 6th 2008.

Global College to Osaka Itami Airport: Dormitory departure: MK Taxi approx 9.00

Depart: Osaka Itami Airport: 11.55: All Nippon Airways, Flight # ANA105

Arrive: Naha Airport: 14.10    Mono Rail to Hotel Tamaki

Makishi Public Market Dinner

Saturday, March 7th 200810.00 Naha Cultural Center: Talk: Environmental Issues in Okinawa by Kaori Sunagawa, (Okinawa Environmental Network)
Visit Shuri Castle
Okinawa Prefectural Museum
Sunday, March 8th 2008
Visit Japanese Naval Underground Headquarters
Himyuri Monument
Peace Memorial & Museum
Monday, March 9th  2008
Visit Futenma US Military Base
Okinawa World
Tuesday, March 10th 2008
Depart: Naha Airport: 13.55: Japan Airlines Flight #ANA106
Arrive: Itami Airport: 15.45

Itami Airport to Global College: MK Taxi. Arrive approx 18.00.

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Kyogen by Alex Margosian
Kyogen is a form of comedic theater meant to be accessible to the masses.  It takes its form in a series of short plays with simple plotlines utilizing methods of abnormal speech patterns, slapstick, and satirical humor.   Despite its reputation as “every man’s” entertainment, it adheres to a very specific structure as is typical in Japanese theater and culture at large.  Its paradoxical nature demonstrates simple meaning via complex structure.
The direct translation of Kyogen means “broken words” or “mad speech,” which describes the unusual cadence used by Kyogen performers.  This is an essential ingredient in the kyogen concept of humor.  The actors perform an animated speech involving the exaggerated rise and fall of tones.  This accentuated enunciation of the lines is a vital aspect of kyogen.
Laughter is an essential part of kyogen, in both the actors and the audience.  Kyogen actors are taught to utilize a specific style of infectious laughter that serves to induce laughter in the audience.  The viewer is also a significant part of the kyogen performance, what the audience finds entertaining has a direct impact on the performance delivered.  Were this an art form to be performed for the educated elite, versus poor country dwellers, the format and content of the theater would be distinctly different.
Movement is another carefully mapped aspect of the plot.  The characters enter the stage slowly and deliberately, each action seemingly following a path already set before the players on the stage.  Characters enter from a hallway connected to the main stage, as is common construct in kyogen theaters, and move in a triangle around the stage.  At the point of entrance, a main character stops and begins his introduction.  This is a significant marker in the performance as it delineates the role of the character, his relations to other characters, the placement of the story, and the situation at hand.  The first few words may be, “This is my home…” which gives placement and purpose to the play: this character is obviously the master and the audience is viewing a situation that will take place in his home.  The pace of kyogen is slow to build, beginning with a slow deliberate walk, and builds to a run through the performance, culminating at the point when one character is chased offstage.
Kyogen is a lighthearted and humorous expression of the mundane.  It is easily identifiable for the audience as it demonstrates everyday situations and challenges.  The structural complexity of kyogen reflects its roots in dramatic Japanese theater and exemplifies its previous bond with Noh but more than that it serves as a reflection of society.  As a construct of a culture that takes great pride in its meticulous structure, it seems natural that Japanese comedy would also be a reflection of their control of chaos.
As a foreigner viewing kyogen, I truly understood the success that kyogen achieves in conveying humor comprehensively enough for even the simplest of audiences.  To be able to view a comedy in a language that I do not speak, in a culture that remains largely a mystery, and to still find humor demonstrates an amazing feat on the part of the performer.  This is an expressive style of performance that conveys a great deal of the humor and meaning nonverbally, making it possible to find humor through the language barrier.

Kyogen and Noh by Yuki Chichiishi

Kyogen is a kind of theatrical comedy which emphasizes dialogue with repetition of words, exaggerated speech and stories filled with wit. Noh plays are dramas that are expressed with slow, postural dancing accompanied by music, and are tragic in tone. Kyogen, through its realistic expression of humor, and Noh through its symbolic ideal beauty, both portray human nature.
Kyogen and Noh share the same origin; Sangaku-散楽. This refers to “scattered” or “miscellaneous” entertainment that embraced music, dance, acrobatics and magic shows.  Sangaku was introduced to Japan from China via Korea during the early seventh century when the Japanese capital was in what is now Nara prefecture. Sangaku later came to be known as Sarugaku-猿楽- literally “monkey entertainment,” because of its prominent humorous and boisterous antics in addition to dance and music. It flourished in the Muromachi period as the governor of the time loved Sarugaku and patronized it.  At that time Sarugaku had been separated into two major groups. One was the group of actors specializing in dance and music; this group came to be known as Noh actors. The other group of actors who specialized in dialogues came to be known as Kyogen actors. Because the Noh playwright Kan’ami became famous and powerful, Kyogen started to be presented in conjunction with Noh and was performed at intermissions between the Noh plays. Thus, both shared the same stage and music and dance, grew together and developed into a sophisticated form of theatrical art. They are like twins who have the same mother. Zeami, a son of Kanami, made great contributions in stylizing Noh to a refined form of theatric art.
Noh and Kyogen are performed upon a stage that is a square, with a bridge-way leading from backstage upon which the actors make their entrances and exits. There is no stage set except for a pine tree painted on the back wall of the stage. The tree represents that Noh was, by legend, passed down from heaven through it to mankind. The pine has also come to be an important symbol of longevity and unchanging firmness in Japanese culture due to its evergreen nature.
While Kyogen actors do not wear masks except to portray characters such as  animals or supernatural beings, Noh actors wear delicately carved masks to express sophisticated,  ideal beauty. Even when some characters do not require the masks, the actors still retain a mask like expression on their faces.
Kyogen and Noh have both been passed down among family members such as those from the Izumi school and Okura school for generations. They were both patronized by the military governments and became forms of ceremonial theater arts of the Tokugawa government during Edo period. After the Meiji restoration, they both lost this patronage and were left to fend for themselves. Noh and Kyogen actors struggled to survive, but the Noh group found the means relatively soon, through a loyal patron who had been fond of Noh, through private sponsors, and through teaching the art to amateurs so that it slowly began to flourish again.
The Kyogen group struggled a little longer, and some of the family schools developed their own world of Kyogen outside of performing in intermissions of Noh dramas. They started to perform their plays at shrines and temples, and teach them at schools. People started to jokingly call them “O Tofu Kyogen” as an insult. This is because Tofu is known for its subtle taste and, like Kyogen, does not choose the dish with which it is served. Kyogen performers took this well and started to refer to Kyogen instead as “a versatile play.” The true wit and humor of the plays exist not only in the spirit of  Kyogen but also in the performers themselves.
After World War ll, Kyogen finally saw the light of acknowledgement shining upon it as its value was recognized  in the artistic community.  Now, Kyogen and Noh are both highly acclaimed around the world as a cultural heritage of humanity.