MONTHLY NEWS
May 1997

Children Breathe New Life into Traditional Arts

Elementary school children are playing a big role in helping to preserve traditional arts in Japan, especially in cases where there are not enough people to carry on a local cultural heritage.

In the town of Tohoku, Aomori Prefecture, all 19 students attending Shimizume Elementary School are now learning a traditional dance called Shimizume kenmai from town elders. The 1,200-year-old dance is performed by a group of around 20 people who move to the music of flute and drums holding swords and naginata--a weapon with a broad blade and long shaft.

Legend has it that the dance began around the beginning of the ninth century, when the warrior Sakanoue Tamura-maro inspired local farmers to perform it to lure the enemy out of hiding.

Since then, the dance has been featured regularly at local festivals until the 1960s. But with young people moving to the cities, performances gradually decreased until the dance stopped being performed altogether about five years ago.

Meanwhile, in the town of Akeno, Ibaraki Prefecture, around 30 local schoolchildren took part in an outdoor performance of noh in April--a rare treat that allowed them to perform alongside noh professionals.

The children were in a play called Kurama Tengu. It is about an encounter between the young son of a military leader and a tengu, a long-nosed goblin, who teaches the boy military secrets so he can take revenge on those who killed his father.

The open-air stage was lit up with bonfires, giving the performance an intimate and mysterious feeling.

Noh is a musical dance-drama that was founded in the fourteenth century. The characters who appear in the play wear ornate costumes, with the leading character usually also wearing a mask. The language is very poetic, and the movements are very deliberate. Many of the themes reflect the Japanese view of existence.

A fifth-grader said he had a lot of fun practicing for the piece. "I think I walk with a better posture now," he added.

Photo: Students dance with their naginata. (Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun)