Japan's Living National Treasure Keeps Kabuki Alive

Actor Tamasaburo Bando is a national treasure in Japan and an undisputed star when it comes to playing female roles, as is traditional in kabuki theater.

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4 months ago

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Tamasaburo Bando

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Japan, Tokyo

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kabuki

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SCRIPT: This Japanese kabuki play tells the story of a young woman in love with a monk. But the young woman here, is a man. It's traditional in this type of theatre for men to play the role of women. And when it comes to this custom, known as onnagata, Tamasaburo Bando is an undisputed star. SOUNDBITE 1 Tamasaburo Bando (man) kabuki actor (Japanese, 24 sec): "Even if I transform into a woman on stage, I am a man, I've never been a woman. The concept of onnagata is based on how a man imagines a woman, it's nothing more than a mental construction, based on the masculine ideal of a woman." In Japan Tamasaburo is considered a national treasure. But rather than trying to preserve kabuki as some form of untouchable relic, he says the form must constantly evolve and innovate. SOUNDBITE 2 Tamasaburo Bando (man) kabuki actor (Japanese, 24 sec): "The kabuki of 300 years ago was very different. There was no electricity. The stage trapdoor was operated manually. Today, the trapdoors open automatically, the lights are coordinated by computer. And while theaters once held between 500 and 1000 people, now they accommodate more than 2000. It's not that kabuki is modernising, it's just evolving with the times." Now aged 62, he's tried a number of other genres. And he's in Paris this February performing kabuki but also this Chinese opera-ballet. Sometimes playing a princess, sometimes a girl living centuries ago, is it easy to forget who the real Tamasaburo Bando is? SOUNDBITE 3 Tamasaburo Bando (man) kabuki actor (Japanese, 24 sec): "The real Tamasaburo is in front of you. But perhaps like on stage, it is another me, an alter ego. But it's on stage that I'm the most happy. And the only way for me to be happy is to make the public happy." His focus now is on trying to make people happy in Paris, a tour that the actor says makes him both nervous and excited. He hasn't played in France, or anywhere else in Europe, for 25 years. SHOTLIST: LOCATION AND DATE UNKNOWN, SOURCE: SHOCHIKU, NO RESALE, EDITORIAL USE ONLY -Tamasaburo Bando playing in Kanega-Misaki TOKYO, JANUARY 9, 2013, SOURCE: AFPTV -Tamasaburo Bando entering the room SOUNDBITE 1 LOCATION AND DATE UNKNOWN, SOURCE: SHOCHIKU, NO RESALE, EDITORIAL USE ONLY -Tamasaburo Bando playing in Peony Pavilion SOUNDBITE 2 LOCATION AND DATE UNKNOWN, SOURCE: SHOCHIKU, NO RESALE, EDITORIAL USE ONLY -Tamasaburo Bando playing in Peony Pavilion SOUNDBITE 3 LOCATION AND DATE UNKNOWN, SOURCE: SHOCHIKU, NO RESALE, EDITORIAL USE ONLY -Tamasaburo Bando playing in Peony Pavilion /// --------------------------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: Japan-culture-theatre-kabuki,FEATURE-INTERVIEW Japan's Living National Treasure keeps kabuki alive by Jacques Lhuillery and Kyoko Hasegawa TOKYO, Feb 17, 2013 (AFP) - Tamasaburo Bando has dedicated his life to the intimate study of women; the way they walk, the way they move, the way they hold their hands. And he is good at it. So good, in fact, that Japan has named him a National Living Treasure, an accolade given to individuals who are guardians of a important cultural asset. Bando, 62, is Japan's leading specialist of "onnagata" -- the theatrical portrayal of a female kabuki character by a male actor. "More than simply recognition, this anointment represents a duty, a moral obligation to future generations for those who practise and perpetuate traditional Japanese art forms," Bando told AFP in Tokyo. Kabuki is a form of traditional Japanese theatre that has been performed in the country since the seventeenth century, combining dance, drama and music. As in its contemporary European equivalent, there are no women actors. The all male cast dons elaborate costumes and heavy makeup to perform on extravagant sets. "My main priority is to create a moment, a second on the stage, to share something with the audience... but if I never get there, if the people who come to watch me fail to appreciate it, then I will not be able to protect this treasure," he says. He once said he realised he could never see the world through the eyes of a woman, that his vision would always be that of a man. Bando tries to create this essence piece by piece; the gestures, the eyes, the use of his fan, blurring the boundary between his male life and his female stage persona. "The frontier is not clear. I am a man, I have never been a woman. The same concept of onnagata is based on a man's imagining of a woman. It goes a lot further than a simple physical transformation," he told AFP. "The real Tamasaburo is in front of you. On stage I am a dream, maybe just a creation. It's on stage that I am happiest," he smiles. A typical kabuki performance runs upwards of four hours, yet remains remarkably popular in Tokyo -- a city renowned for its love affair with modernity. The metropolis's most famous kabuki theatre, Ginza's Kabuki-za, is expected to reopen to much fanfare in April this year following extensive renovations. Bando believes technological changes have benefited kabuki and need to be embraced, without compromising the essence of the art. "The kabuki of 300 years ago was very different," he says. "There was no electricity for lighting, no electronics -- for example, the trapdoor in the floor had to be moved manually. "Kabuki evolves, but it has kept its spirit and will continue to do so in the future -- just like the Greek tragedies, the opera or the ballet," he said. Bando started a run in Paris last week, his first in the French capital for a quarter of a century. After performing three nights of kabuki solos, he will, until Saturday, be performing "The Peony Pavilion", a classical Chinese opera that he has also directed. Around 60 actors and musicians perform in the abbreviated version of the Ming Dynasty masterpiece, which runs to 55 acts in the original. The complex love story, in which Bando plays the heroine Du Liniang, the daughter of an important official, received a standing ovation on its opening night on Sunday. Speaking ahead of his tour, Bando said he was both nervous and excited about performing overseas, but was confident that the exoticness and unusual aesthetic of kabuki would survive the transition to a European stage. "It's enough to like the theatre," said Bando, dismissing suggestions that audiences would need a lot of historical or cultural knowledge. "You don't need to know anything about the War of the Roses to love Shakespeare." END