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Spanish Flu and Intangible Cultural Heritage: As a Way to Consider the Influence of Covid-19 on Intangible Cultural Heritage
Get PDFCovid-19 infection, which was first confirmed in China at the end of 2019, spread throughout the world in 2020 and has caused a tremendous number of deaths. The Spanish flu (Spanish influenza), which started in summer 1918, may be noted as an example of another pandemic of this global scale. The present paper searches into the influence the spread of Spanish flu had on the field of what today is referred to as intangible cultural heritage, in other words classic performing arts, folk performing arts and such, and in so doing be of help in analyzing the current situation.
The Spanish flu started in March 1918. In Japan there were three phases – first one from August 1918 to July 1919, second one from August 1919 to July 1920, and the third one from August 1920 to July 1921. The total number infected is said to have been 23,804,673 and the number of deaths 388,727. Measures taken to prevent the spread of the disease included blocking infection routes, preventing transmission of airborne droplets, isolating patients and placing restriction on gatherings. Orders were issued to stay away from theaters, movies and other places where people would gather. Responses to these measures varied from place to place depending on the condition of infection, but in a time when techniques of communication by electric wave was not as advanced as they are today, there are many cases in which theatres and the like where people gathered were employed to communicate such prevention measures. There were also calls to postpone gatherings and the like which were not necessary or urgent and there were facilities that closed due to voluntary restraint, but there were very few cases in which performances were prohibited. It appears that in reality the only measures taken were to notify the public to wear masks and take other cautions.
Compared with the time of the Spanish flu, people’ s knowledge regarding sanitation, water supply and sewage systems, urban infrastructure like public transportation, and information communication media are greatly different today. Comparison and analysis from various viewpoints will be important for the transmission of intangible cultural heritage in the future. For that reason, it is necessary to understand objectively the condition that the world is faced with and to keep a record of the undertakings that will follow.departmental bulletin pape
Research Note: Modern Japanese Imperial Enthronement Rituals and Imperial Court Traditions: Changes in Formal Garments
Get PDFWhen the new leaders of the country created a modern Japanese government after the Meiji Restoration, it was not only a case of complete political and cultural change from the preceding shogunal government era, they also brought about massive modernization in all aspects of politics, the military, industry and culture, taking various Western nations as their model. Japanese envoys toured and observed the situation in advanced Western countries in order to learn how to construct a constitutional monarchy in Japan. They realized that each of these countries valued modernization that worked from the basis of each nation’s own deeprooted traditions. They learned that it was not only a case of discarding out-of-date practices from the preceding shogunal era, but also about inheriting and handing on traditions of the past, all while creating the nation of Japan as a modern state. They learned that those countries which had achieved such a state realized that there had to be visual expression of such endeavors and constructs.
Within Japan’s modern imperial system, the series of rites and ceremonies related to the daijôsai (enthronement of a new emperor) are collectively called the tairei (大礼). These tairei enthronement rituals are major ceremonial occasions held by the nation. The government invites honored guests from numerous countries to attend these events. These tairei rituals are thus the perfect occasion on which to demonstrate to both the Japanese people and the greater world the physical form of Japan as a modern nation, a country which has absorbed elements of Western culture, all while embracing the traditions of its own pre-modern and even earlier eras. Upon these occasions handed-down knowledge of the aristocratic and military class traditions, rituals and history known as yûsoku kojitsu was utilized to give visual expression to these Japanese traditions.
The knowledge of yûsoku kojitsu which underscored the garments used in the Taishô and Shôwa tairei was the result of the research on yûsoku kojitsu carried out during the Tokugawa shogunate’s peaceful Edo period. The garments worn by aristocratic men and women -- seen as reflecting images of Heian period imperial culture and which have been handed down and utilized in the present day -- are actually a revival following their banishment during the Warring States period. These garments not only were abandoned and then revived during the pre-modern era, at each stage of the modern and contemporary era they have been changed to suit the times. This article focuses on and introduces the abolishment of itabiki, a garment fabric stiffened with paste that was essential for traditional reinforced formal wear, as an example of the changes in the garments worn by aristocratic men and women at the Taishô and Shôwa tairei events, which have been utilized in the modern and contemporary eras as visual symbols of Japanese traditions and were continued in the Heisei and Reiwa tairei events.journal articl
Materials for Art Researchs: Interactions Between Kuroda Seiki and Kume Keiichirô as Seen in Their Correspondence (Part II)
Get PDFThis article introduces seven letters exchanged between Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924) and Kume Keiichirô (1866-1934) in 1895 (Meiji 28) from the group of letters listed in Part I of this article published in Bijutsu Kenkyu No. 433. This issue includes facsimiles, annotated transcriptions and interpretations of the seven letters.
In 1895 Kuroda was named one of the judges for the 4th Domestic Industrial Exposition. He remained in the Kyoto area, site of the exposition, even after it closed, primarily to work on his painting Talk on Ancient Romance. Thus, the letters introduced in this article were sent between Kuroda then in Kyoto and Kume then in Tokyo. Kuroda’s letters conveyed a sense of the exposition display, with the noteworthy mention of Morning Toilette, the work that set off Japan’s debate about paintings of nudes. Kume described the current situation in Tokyo to Kuroda, noting the arrival of Louis Dumoulin (1860-1924) in Japan in 1895. Previous studies of the French artist have not mentioned this trip and thus this letter is a noteworthy new information source for his study. The year 1895 also saw both Kuroda and Kume marry, and hence it was a year of newlywed life. The letters provide a fascinating glimpse of how their lives were turned upside down by marriage. After the freedom of their student days in France, suddenly they both had new families and responsibilities.journal articl
A Reexamination of the Theory of Jodo (Pure Land) – Kagura: Focusing on the Organization of Research History
Get PDFKagura, song and dance performed in prayer to the deities and buddhas, has been transmitted in Japan in various forms. Previous research has pointed out that the function of Jodo (Pure Land) kagura is to hold a memorial service to a departed soul. Iwata Masaru employed the term “Jodo kagura” to focalize the relationship between kagura and memorial service. Following Iwata’s research, scholars with a variety of viewpoints have used this term to hold discussions of various types.
The purpose of the present paper is to confirm how Jodo kagura has been discussed by researchers, what the term “Jodo kagura” indicates and to follow the trend of research.
Results of analysis show that the term “Jodo kagura” has been used in two ways: as a proper noun to refer to a memorial service of a given region and as a common noun to refer to artistic rites related with the spirit of the dead and Jodo. It must be noted that Jodo kagura is a special terminology that consists of two aspects, reality and concept. Additionally, the meaning of Jodo kagura differs from one researcher to another and it is applied widely to different rites in context and characteristics.
In future study, it will become necessary to clarify how the user of the term “Jodo kagura” defines it, each in his point of view, and for what purpose he uses it.departmental bulletin pape
Four Repertories of Shinnai-bushi: Recorded in 1957 by the Cultural Properties Protection Committee
Get PDFThe Cultural Properties Protection Committee (forerunner of the Agency for Cultural Affairs) made recordings of shinnai-bushi in fiscal years 1957 and 1959 as part of the project for the safeguarding of cultural properties. Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties owns records of four repertories produced in 1957. Since the existence of these records was not known until now, their contents will be introduced here.
Shinnai-bushi was selected on March 30, 1957 as “an intangible cultural property for which measures such as recording should be taken” in accordance with the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. It is with this selection that shinnai-bushi came to be recorded. The following four repertories were recorded in 1957: “Kaerizaki nagorino inochige” by Tsuruga Wakasanojo II and others, “Kuruwa bunsho” by Fujimatsu Royu V and others, “Keisei Otowanotaki” and “Koigoromo tsuino shiromuku” by Okamoto Bunya and others. They are all classic shinnai-bushi said to have been composed by Tsuruga Wakasanojo I (1717-1786)
It is considered that parts that were recorded are those transmitted by the performers at the time of the recording to the fullest. They are valuable recordings of actual performances.departmental bulletin pape
Materials for Art Researchs: Interactions Between Kuroda Seiki and Kume Keiichirô as Seen in Their Correspondence (Part III)
Get PDFThis article introduces facsimile editions, transcriptions, explanatory readings and notes on five letters exchanged between Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924) and Kume Keiichirô (1866-1934), selected from the group of letters listed in Part I of this article published in Bijutsu Kenkyu No. 433. Based on the text found in these five letters and the seven letters introduced in Part II of this article published in Bijutsu Kenkyu No. 434, we have created a facsimile and transcription edition of the “Exchange between Kuroda Seiki and Kume Keiichirô as Seen in their Correspondence.”
Kuroda Seiki’s letter dated August 13, 1898 (Meiji 31) addressed to Kume Keiichirô is in the form of a postcard written when Kuroda stayed in Nikko to produce his Talk on Ancient Romance. This same letter was also published in Kôfû, the Hakubakai journal, and a comparison between the original postcard and the published version shows that considerable changes to the text were made prior to its publication in Kôfû.
Kume’s letter to Kuroda dated August 26, 1903 and Kuroda’s letter to Kume dated September 4th of the same year consist of an exchange of opinions about the running of the Hakubakai exhibition scheduled to open on September 16th of that year. The former letter also mentions the recipients of the Mire meiga zenshû (picture compendia of Jean-François Millet), which was edited and produced by the Hakubakai.
Kuroda’s letter to Kume dated February 28, 1906 conveys the situation at the meeting held between various art groups under the direction of Minami Beigaku of the Tatsumi Gakai, upon the occasion of the destruction of the Gogôkan in Ueno Park, which had been up until then used as an exhibition venue.
Kume’s letter to Kuroda dated August 10, 1910 was sent by Kume from London when Kume was in England as the director of the Exhibitors’ Association for the Japan- British Exhibition held that year. In this detailed letter Kume mentions a visit to the Paris studio of his teacher Raphaël Collin, the appearance of the traditional Japanese art display at the Japan-British Exhibition, his reunion with old friends from his student days, and his interactions with other Japanese then in England.journal articl
