Osaka
mayor Hashimoto calls classic Japanese play 'unsatisfactory'
OSAKA
-- Osaka
Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who recently declared he would freeze subsidies to an association for Bunraku, a
centuries-old form of puppet theater, expressed his dissatisfaction with a Bunraku
show he saw
on July 26, describing the performance as "unsatisfactory."
"I
understood that this is an art that should be preserved as a classic (art form), but the last scene was plain, and lacked something," Hashimoto told reporters after watching "Sonezaki Shinju"
(The love suicides at Sonezaki), a classic play based on the work of renowned 17th-18th century dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon, at the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka's Chuo Ward on the evening
of July 26.
"The
staging was unsatisfactory," the mayor added in his comment on the play, which has not been changed since it was reintroduced to the public in 1955. "Does it really have to follow the old script
that precisely?"
This is the
second time Hashimoto has expressed his dissatisfaction with Bunraku, the first being during his term as Osaka Governor in 2009, when he publicly said he would "never again go to see" a
performance.
"For people
to truly appreciate a traditional art, they should be able to enjoy it. In a world with taboos, it's difficult for people to express their honest opinions," he said. Hashimoto then suggested that
to attract more fans to the art form, its scripts and performances, among other things, should be modernized.
The Osaka
Municipal Government recently decided to cut subsidies to the Bunraku
Kyokai, an association that promotes Bunraku, to 39 million yen this fiscal year, about 25 percent less than what the city allocated to the association in fiscal 2011.
Hashimoto
further said that unless performers agree to having public interviews, the Osaka
Municipal
Government would not provide further subsidies. The association continues to insist that the interviews should be held privately.
On July 26,
after watching the play, Hashimoto visited the
performers backstage and held brief talks with them privately, and reportedly again demanded that interviews should be held publicly.
"I believe
that the fact that we met under these circumstances is a step forward," said Tozo Tsuruzawa, one of the artists Hashimoto met with. "There are many who are fond of the current way Sonezaki Shinju
is performed, and I don't think it is a matter of which is better anyway. Mr. Hashimoto says that if we create something interesting, people will come to watch, but I wonder if that's the right
approach to take."
July 27, 2012(Mainichi Japan)
橋下市長:文楽を鑑賞「演出不足」と持論展開
毎日新聞 2012年07月26日 22時17分（最終更新 07月27日 13時20分）
文楽協会への補助金凍結を表明している大阪市の橋下徹市長は２６日夜、国立文楽劇場（同市中央区）で近松門左衛門原作の「曽根崎心中」を鑑賞した。橋下市長は鑑賞後、記者団に「古典として守るべき芸だということは分かったが、ラストシーンがあっさりしていて物足りない。演出不足だ。昔の脚本をかたくなに守らないといけないのか」と持論を展開した。
橋下市長は 大阪府知事だった０９年に初めて鑑賞した際、「二度と見にいかない」と酷評。この日は「国民に伝統芸能と感じてもらうためには楽しんでもらわないといけな い。タブーのある世界は率直な意見が出にくい」と指摘し、ファン開拓のため脚本や演出を現代風にアレンジするなどの工夫を求めた。
市は今年度の補正予算案で、文楽協会への補助金を昨年度比２５％減の３９００万円計上。橋下市長は技芸員（演者）が公開での面談に応じなければ補助金を支出しないと表明、非公開での面談を求める協会側とすれ違いが続いている。橋下市長は鑑賞後に技芸員の楽屋も訪れ、非公開で懇談。公開での面談を改めて要望したという。
