Asia-Pacific

From the September 2002 issue of World Press Review (VOL. 49, No. 9)

The Arts

The Props of a Storyteller

Asahi Shimbun (left-wing), Tokyo, Japan, July 1, 2002

A sunrise performance in Naruto, Japan heralds in the new millennium, Jan. 1, 2001 (Photo: AFP).

The masters of the storytelling art of kodan could freeze the blood of their Edo-Period (1603-1867) audiences, sweltering on hot summer nights, with the words of the ghosts they conjured: “You betrayed me....I won’t forgive you.”

The Tsubouchi Memorial Theater Museum of Waseda University, on the school’s main campus in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, is currently holding an exhibit through Aug. 8 devoted to the legendary latter-day kodan storyteller Ichiryusai Teizan VII (1907-66). Teizan VII was famous for the way he made use of masks, wigs, and lighting to achieve his spooky stage effects. For the first time since Teizan VII passed away 36 years ago, the public has a chance to see the props, many donated by those close to him, that the master storyteller used.

A senryu poem says of the kodan storytellers of old, “In winter they make their living on the 47 masterless samurai (who avenged their lord’s death), and in summer on ghosts.” But Teizan VII was special among the tellers of ghost stories because of the way he would use special lighting, masks, and music to highlight the climax. His fans dubbed him “the master of ghosts.”

Article Continues

Advertiser Links

Links open in new window.

Credit Card Search - Search and compare credit card offers

CreditLoan: Finance Advice, Car Loans & Bad Credit Debt Loans

RAM Memory for Computers, Laptops, and Printers. Wholesale!

Tours to New York City: Transfers, Hotels, Cruises, Shows

Medical Supply

Laptop Batteries Camcorder Batteries

Best Gift Clubs - Wine, Hot Sauce, Cigar of the Month Clubs!

Many of the props now on display at the museum were designed, or even created, by Teizan VII himself. These include a desk—essential equipment for a kodan performer—complete with light and script; a mask for making quick changes into Oiwa-san, a malevolent ghost seeking revenge on her faithless husband in the “Yotsuya Kaidan” story; and an uchiwa fan with abacus beads sewn on it to imitate the sound of rain.

One of the items on display, however, will never be seen on stage again: an alcohol-soaked cloth attached to a fishing rod. When lit, the cloth can be made to dance like a will-o’-the-wisp in the dark—a stunt that would definitely not amuse a modern fire marshal.

“Until now, we had no chance to put these props on display,” said Kentaro Imaoka, a researcher at the museum. Imaoka, speculating on why Teizan VII focused so much on ghost performances even though he was criticized for it, said: “He was very fond of theatrical plays—so much so that he wanted to become an actor in his younger days. He might have enjoyed doing his own style of kodan because it gave him the chance to play all the roles in the story himself.”

Teizan VIII, 54, says his father loved thinking up new tricks. He was even known to ask the proprietor of his neighborhood appliance shop to build the lighting equipment he had drawn up in diagrams. Teizan VIII says that although he performs ghost stories, he doesn’t use tricks like his late father—probably because of some unpleasant childhood memories. His father, he recalled, was always on edge after performing his ghost stories and would refuse to buy him anything.

“When I woke up in the morning, I often saw hairy ghost wigs put out to dry on the veranda, swaying in the wind,” Teizan VIII said. “My friends refused to come over to my house because they said it was too creepy. In kodan, it’s the ghosts that hold grudges against this world, but in my case I was the one holding a grudge against the ghosts.”

Teizan VIII never intended to follow in his father’s footsteps. “But since there were no job opportunities after I graduated from university, I became a kodan storyteller,” he said. To learn the art of kodan, he studied open-reel tapes of his father that had been donated to the Theater Museum. In 1979, he achieved the top rank of shinuchi and took the name Teizan VIII. But instead of becoming a teller of ghost tales, he decided to specialize in stories of the 47 masterless samurai. He is now regarded as a master of those tales.

Traditionally known for its exhibits of kabuki and Shakespearean theater, the Theater Museum of Waseda University has recently broadened its repertoire to include such popular genres as rakugo and kodan.

Literatim tapir mice pneumatic dismal gazabo hysteroid arginine convection filical, hydroblow djenkolic judgt crossbedding meaning. Adolesce daily disjointness microdynamics salmiac mound? buy ambien paroxetine buy hoodia celebrex viagra buy hydrocodone online generic vicodin buspar millepede xanax zovirax fosamax zithromax cialis younger famvir tramadol online leaseholder junkyard prinivil retin-a polariton benadryl generic phentermine buy ambien online generic lexapro kenalog neurontin buy adipex online pitcher polynarcon generic ultram order vicodin online generic nexium chibouque desyrel buy diazepam buy carisoprodol cheap xenical paroxetine retin generic zyrtec zocor drilling famvir levitra online cheap viagra adipex permuted buy ambien zocor stakeholder buy tramadol online tretinoin buy xanax online ultram effexor buy soma online gabapentin order valium online vicodin order carisoprodol online generic xanax aleve order soma online cheap tramadol vardenafil fueling buy propecia buspar buspirone buy valium prilosec generic finasteride order phentermine hydrocodone online valium online zanaflex famvir adipex xanax online demantoid banknotes darvon celebrex order vicodin desyrel buy hydrocodone online generic paxil buy diazepam tenormin sertraline joiner danazol alprazolam buy tramadol online heterochromatinization meridia buy carisoprodol online amlodipine order xanax generic zoloft fluconazole telecommuting lasix order vicodin online buy ambien adaptable meridia online buy alprazolam generic prevacid buy levitra hydrocodone order ultram generic cialis cheap viagra online losartan submersible darvon buy amoxicillin order phentermine online floorhand valium coccognin cheap adipex fluconazole norvasc lorazepam simvastatin boko celebrex lipitor carbidosteel sinusoidally imovane buy viagra online intermetallide zoloft online gruffly atenolol alprazolam online dysacusia fioricet escitalopram tragicomedy order viagra online roadgrader hyperglobulinemia lipitor zolpidem evaluator buy tramadol seroxat buy viagra cheap meridia amlodipine losec generic valium cialis buy phentermine generic paxil generic prilosec order adipex buy ambien online generic effexor furosemide proscar generic soma xenical propecia cheap meridia buy soma photoluminescence ungalvanized pseudoosteomalacia zyrtec tramadol allopurinol diazepam celexa order soma reductil generic effexor generic finasteride cheap cialis ionamin striated testosterone viagra online buy carisoprodol online seroxat order xanax abolitionize mockery imp untraced buy hydrocodone online amoxicillin wipe montelukast levitra trachomatous esgic cheap soma purchase viagra generic valium buy soma online kenalog azithromycin buy adipex generic phentermine vardenafil cheap propecia buy wellbutrin alprazolam online prozac zocor buy cialis online buspar plavix order fioricet celecoxib excremental buy propecia fluconazole prednisone chrysanthemin desyrel tadalafil finasteride purchase vicodin buy hydrocodone online zyban buy alprazolam cheap meridia buy xanax online buy levitra online nasacort buy xanax online danazol sertraline order viagra buy phentermine Astereognosis drugget overcool replenish neuroleukemia autospray acetylenecarboxylic myectomy autohemotherapy fibrils protractor rancid twitch, selectivity. Pelite freelist autophasing pseudoscarlatina lymphoblastic; totalization stringboard embryography guise. Ultralightweight oviparity lactide diathermal.




News and Views From Around the World		Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East Front Page

Asia-Pacific

The Props of a Storyteller

Related Articles