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OKEIKO 37

In Nihonbuyo, fights or battels are also depicted with dance. They use fans to symbolize the long katana or the short sword in a duel. This can be so impressive that sometimes it takes your breath away.

The grandmother of Fujima Rankoh, Fujima Fujiko (藤間藤子), was a living national treasure (ningen kokuho 人間国宝 ), which is the term used for individuals recognized with the same value as ‘important intangible cultural assets’. She is said to have been a small woman, but she was nevertheless well known for her male roles. (As already mentioned earlier, in Nihonbuyo both men and women play both genders.) In one of her performances, when she played a male role in a female kimono, there was a scene where she shot a bow. Legend has it that one of the spectators of this scene instinctively ducked out of the way of the arrow flying towards him. She was not shooting a real bow, of course, but the audience could still feel the presence of the bow, which was not visible.

(Mitsuko T. Sakurai)