Read Mode

Daimokutate



Yahashira Shrine in Nara City, central Japan, has young men from the Kami-fukawa community standing in a semi-circle wearing samurai clothes and carrying bows. An old man calls each man to the center as he reads the name of a character from the tales of the feud between the Genji and Heike clans. Each man in turn delivers a samurai's line, without acting or musical accompaniment. When all twenty-six characters in a recitation show have spoken, the youths rhythmically stamp their feet and sing themselves offstage. This show is referred to as Daimokutate. The Daimokutate began to be performed toward the end of the Muromachi period and is regarded as the last living example of reciting by ordinary people, a tradition that was first documented in a document from 1534.

Eight and ten characters appear in the repertoire of Daimokutate. Occasionally, Daimokutate is performed with fewer characters. There is a stage that is located outside the main hall of the Yahashira Shrine in the community. It is made from 1.8-meter squares and has a straw-made mat. A wooden board about 3.6 meters by 4.5 meters is set into an area about 3.6 meters wide and 4.5 meters deep delineated by bamboo fences about 1 meter high.

At about seven o'clock in the evening, a man with a distinctive accent guides a line of young men to the stage. The men, dressed in samurai clothes, hold bows and face the center with their backs toward the fence. When the old man says the name of a character in a story, he will read a script from a lengthy script with a distinctive accent and intonation. No specific acting is needed. The young men are called on one by one and read the scripts in turn. An older man then stands in the center, rhythmically stamping his feet. Finally, all the young men say the celebratory remarks, which are followed by the old man leading them again off the stage as he sings in a line. It usually takes approximately an hour.

Daimokutate was originally a rite of passage in the Kami-fukawa community at the age of seventeen. It is a formal acceptance of the eldest son into the community of twenty-two families. These Daimokutate ceremonies are now regularly performed in mid-October each year by young men of many different ages and from many different communities. Indeed, since the twentieth century, the dispersion of the original twenty-two families has led to other Nara residents leading the effort to preserve the ceremony. A dramatic performance without acting or music, Daimokutate is unique to Japan and is regarded as a significant marker of identity and a factor in maintaining solidarity within this mountainous community.

References

[1] [2] [3] [4]


Edit
Discussion
History