Nishihashi Hachirobei (the professional name of Nishihashi Takeshi—who also goes by Ken), who aided in placing this 20,000-volume collection in this unusual venue. He spoke with us at length about the puppetry traditions of Sado, and it was here that we learned that the last of Sado’s three puppet forms, sekkyo ningyō, had basically ceased to be performed as there were no more trained sekkyo chanters. Sekkyo ningyō’s puppets, however, would be the same as those used in the bun’ya performance we had seen. On our way back to Tokyo, we visited Nishihashi’s own puppets and rehearsal space elsewhere in Niigata, as his troupe, Saruhachi-za, prepared for an upcoming performance [fig.6]. Nishihashi is a carver as well as a performer and, as I understood it, nearly all the bun'ya puppets currently used on Sado were made by him, based on older models. The Sado puppets have their own engaging style, with expressive faces, however, Nishihashi currently has no carving disciples.NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONSJanuary brought what turned out to be a brief lull in the pandemic and the opportunity to see many New Year performances featuring puppets. Hachioji Kuruma Ningyō received their status as a National Cultural Property at this time and their dance with three Sanbasō puppets, performed on New Year day on national television, helped the country celebrate the holiday [fig.7]. While Hachioji Kuruma Ningyō mostly does jōruri plays and has also created many new shows collaborating with artists around the world, in February I saw them participate in a celebratory, ritual event: their puppets tossed edamame that had been blessed by Buddhist priests out to crowds gathered at Mount Takao temple at Setsubun. January 2nd brought me, with Professor Holman who also came, to Anori Shrine in Mie Prefecture to catch their annual puppet ritual, which takes places at the seaside. Here the puppets of Okina, Senzai, and Sanbasō are danced facing the sea, honoring the water deity to guarantee a plentiful catch for the coming year. Members of the shrine berated the news paparazzi after the event for not respecting its ritual aspects and for their disruptive wild snapping of photographs throughout. As in Fukuoka, we could see how popular attention can overwhelm a local tradition. We were subsequently invited by another spectator to join him at a further celebration that day, a shi-shi mai performance at small shrine a few minutes’ drive away. At this shrine, - 72 -
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