The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-09-12
Interesting Sidelight Is
the Chanter, a Com.
bination Of Opera
Singer and Elocution-
list, Always Popular

Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and their
contemporaries mainly portrayed
kings, princes and nublemen, Monza-
yemon and many other japanese
dramatists drew their materials for
the most part from the everyday life
Of ordinary people.
DIR. TsubouChi, an authority on this
subject, in his comparison of Monza-
yemon with 1bsen. says: THE three
unitics are most skilfully observed in
Ibsen's social dramas. This retro
spect and catastrophe formula was not
Of course his invention. Almost all
the ancient Greek dramas are written
in this formula; and in France Ra-
cine and Corneille adopted it also.
yet no European author has ever
used this formula SO successfully as
Ihsen did. However. II was after thirty
long years efforts that Ibsen
was crowned with this achievement
And, strangely enough, IA Japanese
writer did the same thing almost un-
Intentionally out Of sheer genius a
century before the Norwegian drama
list. 1t was no other than Monza-
venom. His social plays belong to this
type"
Most Of the cpiCal dramas are trag-
cdies, and there are among them few
comedies and almost no tarces. This
Is due TO the influence of 'atalism and
other pessimistic ideas Of buddhism.
You will remember that MonZaycmOn,
Kaion and many other prominent
dramatists were priests IN their youth
or at least were educated under
Buddhist Influences. while generally
the people We're Buddhists. II Is not
to hc wondered at hat under the cir
cums,anccs tragedies alone developed.
An important thing about the cpl
cal drama is It's extensive use merely
for chanting purposes. In lose or
variety halls. OF which there are in
Toxic at least one hundred ana fifty.
one or two jururl Chantcrs are num-
bered mons their nightly perform
ers. There are also about ten halls
devoted to girl chanters.
The institution of female chanters
is as old as hat of male Chanters.
At present in Osaka, kyoto ana Toxic
girl chanters are far more numerous
han male chanters. II must be re-
marked in passing that every geisha
can chant one or two acts of some
famous drama or other, \ chanter
combines in himself an opera singer
and an elocutionist and II may safely
be said that a unique form of elocu-
t.ol was developed in Japan as early
as the beginning of the seventeenth
century, when Joun the chanter was
at the height OF hts popularity.
Besides professional ~chantors, there
are numerous amateur chanters
throughout Japan. Among various
circles of people the chanting OF the
epical dramas has been popular from
of I'D. They assiduously take lessons
in the art from professional chant
ers. Indeed in every town. every viii
lage and every hamlet there are
found some people who make II their
chief pastime to chant the dramas
1t is not too much to say hat some
passages OF famous dramas are as
familiar to any adult person as the
national anthem.
In connection with the general prev
: alence Of the chanting OF the epical
dramas, there is another prominent
fact which must not Lee lost sight of.
] mean the paramount position they
have occupied in social education.
II will hn remembered that higher
!, education in fcudal Japan was confined
In n portion Of the community, namely,
the samurai and the priests, The COM
mon education carried on In the terra
kova. primitive e'cmertary schools,
was far from satisfactory. Yet in
spite of such poor means az educa-
ton the people at large were alive
,, with patriotic sentiments and fully
understood the duties of loyalty and
nlial piety and the other moral prin-
, ciples Of hushldo.
. All this was due Ia some special
+, cducat.ona, organs which made up
-, for the impcrfoctious If school edu-
cation. This Is to say the theatres,
, story tcllcrs and lorurt chantcrs were
So many powerful educators. II was
, especially tho case with the cpical
. dramas. particularly historical ones
such as "Thc Battle Of Ich!notani'
and "The Srudai-lIagi," in which the
principles of bushido are preached
!, most eIouucutly through the mouths Of
Il the characters.
4 Thus some of the cp.Cal dramas
= were, so To- speak, the test books OF
hushido for the connlo class"s at
the Ncdo Period NJ y can don,
the ep!cal dramas and their chanter'
y tho honor Of having been important
10 agents of social education,
1t is interesting to learn In this con.
q nectiOn that in the japanese language
II as in the Italian Language, almos
every syllahl" ends IN a vowel n ac
Is c@cntuation IS 50 slight that II J.
hardly prrccptb.c ~ the foreign ear