kowairo voice mimicry

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. Famous People of Japan .
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kowairo 声色 mimicry of a voice
Mostly done about Kabuki actors.

. Introducing the Kabuki Theater 歌舞伎 .

- quote

Enjoying Kowairo
『声色当リ狂言』
This book is a play script published for fans who love to enjoy Kowairo (to mimic an actor's voice).
In the first half of the book, same as normal play script for Kowairo, famous great lines were extracted from the programs on the board and listed up by actor. In the same page, the actor's crest, status, name of family, and even Haimyo (offstage name) were written with his name as well, so readers can easily get information about their favorite actor.
In following pages, Nigao (likeness painting) of each actors were printed in variety of colours, so fans enjoyed the feeling of acting on the stage by looking at the image and mimicking the line.
In the last half of the book,
short evaluation of each actor of those days who performs in Edo was written.
For example, for the actor Ichikawa Danjyuro the eighth the lines of the popular hero Soga Goro Tokimune was chosen, but the writer's evaluation doesn't look like an actor critique, it refers to nothing but a carp. But it was one of popular technique of Edo culture "Mitate" (viewed as), even when the writer did't mention about the actor or acting, features of the fish worked like metaphors of them.
In this book, other evaluations are also like this.
- source : arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/kabuki2015...

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- quote - Matsuda Film Productions
Japanese films were first produced in 1899.
The first films made were simple recordings of kabuki theater pieces. The camera was placed in front of the stage and recorded the scene exactly as it was played out for the kabuki audience. In order to recreate the theatrical experience, these films were shown with a number of performers known as kowairo who stood at the side of the screen and spoke the dialogue of the kabuki actors who appeared on screen. Thus, the first Japanese films were actually simple reproductions of kabuki performances, shown with kowairo who spoke the dialogue of the original text. There was no need for intertitles or cinematic technique. Indeed, these were simple recordings of kabuki, not cinematic creations. In keeping with the original kabuki piece, a suitable kowairo was chosen for each of the kabuki actors; a child was used to dub in the voice of a child appearing on screen, an old man for an old man. If there were not enough kowairo to cover all the voices of the characters in the film, one kowairo changed his or her voice and handled two or more roles. The kowairo underwent special training to learn to change their voices.
Therefore, a distinction is evident between the kowairo, who was trained as a narrator to read the lines of kabuki texts, and the benshi, who introduced, interpreted, commented on and lent his or her voice to the characters of a film. ...
- source : matsudafilm.com... -


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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .


.................................................................................　Kochi 高知県
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高岡郡 Takaoka district 東津野村 Higashi-Tsuno village

. Inugami 犬神 Wolf Deity . .
Around 1940, they sai that Inugami looks a lot like nezumi 鼡（ねずみ）a mouse and has lines in his tail.
In some homes of believers in this deity they keep wolves and hold daily rituals for them.
If someone kills a wolf, he will be cursed by Inugami and his voice will mimic a wolf..





.................................................................................　Nara 奈良県
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天理市 Tenri city 嘉幡町 Kabata town

yuuren ユウレン，yuurei 幽霊 voice of a ghost
An old man who liked to scold young people once killed niwatori 鶏 a chicken.
One of the young people imitated the voice of a ghost (yuuren in the local dialect) and called the old man:
"Why did you kill the chicken? Give us back the chicken!"
The man threw out the chicken and the young people ate it for dinner.




.................................................................................　Shiga 滋賀県
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高島市 Takashima city

. tanuki 狸 - mujina 狢 － racoon dog, badger legends .
At the home of a certain family there was the mimicking voice of humans and the sound of geta 下駄 wooden clogs walking around the house. This was the trick of a Tanuki.


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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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声色や多情多恨の瓶覗き

仁平勝


声色の乙女に還る夏薊

高澤良一


初月に声色舟の流れ来ぬ

長谷川かな女

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .

. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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