is a kind of traditional
Japanese
street performance. The name "Nankin tamasudare" is a play on words, as it can mean a kind of flower, as well as mean something like "a wondrous woven screen" (
sudare
are traditional Japanese screens or blinds, made of horizontal slats of decorative wood, bamboo, or other natural material, woven together with simple string, colored yarn, or other decorative material to make nearly solid blinds can be ei ...
is a kind of screen made by weaving straw with twine.)
The performance consists of a person skilled in manipulating special screens made of loosely woven sticks, as well as chanting an accompanying kind of poetry. The performer chants a rhythmic poem as he or she uses the screen to portray the objects in the poetry without stopping. The screen is twisted, folded, extended, etc., in many different ways to portray an object, and then brought back quickly to its original screen shape. The chant usually ends with a
pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
: ''kaeru nai'' has the double meaning that there is no under the willow tree, and the willow tree figure cannot easily to the original shape. The story ends with the willow tree figure, with the performer slowly packing up the mat after the performance.
Nankin tamasudare is said to have been a popular form of entertainment that began in the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...
. Today, it is sometimes performed at Japanese cultural festivals.
Chant
There are many variations of lyrics used for the performance, but below is a set that one might hear when observing a performance. The reference to
Tokyo Tower
is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, built in 1958. At , it is the second- tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and ...
, built in 1958, is a modern addition.
See also
*
Sudare
are traditional Japanese screens or blinds, made of horizontal slats of decorative wood, bamboo, or other natural material, woven together with simple string, colored yarn, or other decorative material to make nearly solid blinds can be ei ...
References
External links
*
{{commons category, Nankin Tamasudare
Japanese culture
Traditional toys