Deconstructing Hierarchy in the Traditional Performing Arts of Japan: The Music of Kamigata Rakugo

Abstract

Rakugo, the art of staged comic storytelling of Japan, is generally classified as and perceived by audiences to be an oral tradition performed without significant musical accompaniment. This is due to the belief that rakugo is an art form of the Kanto region where music is seldom used, and that rakugo performed in the Kansai region is merely a regional offshoot of the tradition proper. Kamigata rakugo is nevertheless its own distinct tradition and music is a crucial component of it. Music is employed from start to finish, and it ties storyteller to storyteller, story to story, and audience to performance. However, the primary issue with the existing literature is that the music and musicians are not given much recognition and are considered separate from the stories and storytellers. Scholars have not given much recognition to the centrality of those who perform the music in the tradition, and the interaction that takes place between the storytellers and musicians as they prepare for a performance. To address these shortcomings in the extant literature I conducted ethnographic research in Japan that included undertaking a temporary apprenticeship to become a musician of rakugo. The central question guiding this research was "why is music essential to Kamigata rakugo?" For my study I was able to access the musicians' room located in the inner sanctuary of the yose theatre and engage with the storytellers and musicians regarding the stories and music. Unlike many other scholars, therefore, I was able to consider Kamigata rakugo as a complete performing practice. I realised that while all performers appeared from the outside to follow a strict vertical hierarchical structure, this was not a sufficient representation of how things were actually operating on the inside. As I considered the ways in which storytellers negotiate the use of music with the female musicians I was struck by the steadfast assertion by some storytellers or female musicians that the music cannot be altered, while other storytellers or female musicians had a deliberate disregard for the rules and changed them as they pleased. A subsidiary question that this research addresses therefore is "how does hierarchy support music's essential role?" Over the course of my fieldwork it was clear to me there are many different forms of authority or capital inherent to the working of the tradition but the most influential are knowledge, gender, seniority, kinship, status, and role. The musical arena in Kamigata rakugo is a space for promoting, resisting, and subverting positions of authority and ultimately hierarchy. In this study I argue that hierarchy should not simply be viewed as a simple linear structure. Rather than simply radiating downwards, it constitutes a dynamic web of relationships. Show more