A grown man #movedtotears by a #puppetplay at the Awa Jurobe Yashiki #theatre ---"The Tragedy of Naruto" / "Keisei Awa no Naruto" / 傾城阿波の鳴門 / also known as "The Infant Pilgrim" in English ...#tokushima #japan and #japaneseart #theatre continue to teach and move an old man like me --- the art of the #marionnette #burattini #marionetta #操り人形 #ayatsuri ningyō #徳島 #日本 #劇場#gekijo #awajurobeyashiki — in Tokushima, Tokushima.
"My father’s name is Jûrobê, my mother is Oyumi…" are the famous lines uttered by Otsuru, "the infant pilgrim" from this puppet play still performed in the city of Tokushima on Shikoku over two hundred years after its first performance. The play, consists of 10 sections and premiered in 1768 at Takemoto-za theater in Osaka. Today, only the 8th section called ‘Jûrobê Sumika: Junrei-uta no dan (a section of ''The Pilgrimage song")’ is played.
Here we see Otsuru (unknowingly) coming across her mother by chance after a long and dangerous search as a child pilgrim across Shikoku and all the way to Osaka. Oyumi cannot reveal her identity out of shame for her action even though she recognises her child and desperately wants to reunite with her. Oyumi’s emotional turmoil moves the audience to tears. A bizarre twist involving Otsuru's father who has turned to crime for a living informs the tragedy.
Getting to see this section of the play live in Tokushima was one of the highlights of my first trip to Japan.
