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There
are many Japanese folktales you could use to make skits. Here
are some famous folktales. Match the Japanese and English titles! |
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1.
Princess Kaguya 2. The Old Man Who Made Trees Blossom 3. Little
One-Inch |
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4.
Peach Boy 5. The Struggle between the Monkey and the Crab 6.
Straw Hats for Jizo |
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7.
Urashima Taro 8. The Miraculous Teakettle |
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Here
are some words you can use when speaking about dramatic (or
comic!) performance. 配役is
the word for 'cast', and the hero or heroine of a play is
主人公.
The supporting players are脇役,
and sometimes there is a ナレーター.
The play has a plot, あらすじ,
and the performers, 役者,
must learn their lines, せりふ.
To stage a play you use 衣装,
costumes and
小道具,
props. When 役者 perform,
they 演技する.
If they perform well, we say 演技が上手;
if not, 演技が下手.
And if the play is really successful, they アンコールを受ける,
get an encore! |
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Here
are some words and expressions often heard in Japanese folktales.
The narrator of a skit can use them in a Japanese narration,
or include them as keywords in an English narration. In Issue
38 we mentioned an expression frequently used to begin a folktale:
むかし、むかし、(place)
に (person)
がいました。'Once upon
a time in.... there was ....'
Some characters that typically appear in folktales are:
- やさしいおじいさん／おばあさん kind old man/woman
- いじわるなおじいさん／おばあさん mean old man/woman
- しょうじきなおじいさん／おばあさん honest old man/woman
- よくばりじいさん／よくばりばあさんgreedy old man/woman
- おひめさま princess, maiden
- とのさま lord
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So
narrators can begin a skit with a sentence such as: むかし、むかし、あるむらにやさしいおじいさんがいました。
And if the story
ends happily, they can say: めでたし、めでたし 'And
they all lived happily ever after.'! |
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 As
the kanji shows, the Milky Way in Japanese is referred to as
the 'River of Heaven'. 天の川is
made up of millions of 星,
stars. Our solar system is made up of the sun, 太陽,
and the planets, 惑星.
Below are the planets in order from the 太陽.
Do you know which planets they are?
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When the Chinese folk legend about the Weaver Star
and the Cowherd Star was introduced to Japan, it
merged with native legends about a celestial weaving
maiden (たなばたつめ) who fashioned clothing for the gods
to wear at おぼん, the festival of the souls of the
dead, which was celebrated around that date. As
it also coincided with native agricultural rites,
this festival, called たなばたafter the maiden, became
one of the annual events (年中行事)
observed by the imperial court from around 750.
たなばたbecame more broadly popular during the Edo period
after it became a せっく, one of the seasonal festivals,
and was celebrated much like it is today.
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| Answers |
1.(e) |
2.(d) |
3.(f) |
4.(c) |
5.(g) |
6.(b) |
7.(h) |
8.(a) |
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This
section co-ordinated by Cathy
Jonak |
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& Copyright © The Japan Foundation, Sydney |
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