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Jidaigeki

Jidaigeki(Thời đại kịch)is agenreoffilm,television,video game,andtheatreinJapan.Literally meaning "period dramas",it refers to stories that take place before theMeiji Restorationof 1868.[1]

Actors playing samurai and ronin atKyoto'sEigamurafilm studio

Jidaigekishow the lives of thesamurai,farmers, craftsmen, and merchants of their time.Jidaigekifilms are sometimes referred to aschambaramovies, a word meaning "sword fight", though chambara is more accurately a subgenre ofjidaigeki.Jidaigekirely on an established set ofdramatic conventionsincluding the use of makeup, language, catchphrases, and plotlines.

Types

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ActorKotaro Satomion the set of Mito Kōmon

Manyjidaigekitake place inEdo,the military capital. Others show the adventures of people wandering from place to place. The long-running television seriesZenigata HeijiandAbarenbō Shōguntypify the Edojidaigeki.Mito Kōmon,the fictitious story of the travels of the historicaldaimyōTokugawa Mitsukuni,and theZatoichimovies and television series, exemplify the traveling style.

Another way to categorizejidaigekiis according to the social status of the principal characters. The title character ofAbarenbō ShōgunisTokugawa Yoshimune,the eighthTokugawashōgun.The head of the samurai class, Yoshimune assumes the disguise of a low-rankinghatamoto,a samurai in the service of the shogun. Similarly, Mito Kōmon is the retired vice-shogun, masquerading as a merchant.

In contrast, the coin-throwing Heiji ofZenigata Heijiis acommoner,working for the police, while Ichi (the title character ofZatoichi), a blind masseur, is an outcast, as were many disabled people in that era. In fact, masseurs, who typically were at the bottom of the professional food chain, was one of the few vocational positions available to the blind in that era.Gokenin Zankurōis a samurai but, due to his low rank and income, he has to work extra jobs that higher-ranking samurai were unaccustomed to doing.

Whether the lead role is samurai or commoner,jidaigekiusually reach a climax in an immense sword fight just before the end. The title character of a series always wins, whether using a sword or ajitte(the device police used to trap, and sometimes to bend or break, an opponent's sword).

Roles

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Among the characters injidaigekiare a parade of people with occupations unfamiliar to modernJapaneseand especially to foreigners. Here are a few:

Warriors

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Main article:Samurai cinema

The warrior class included samurai, hereditary members in the military service of adaimyōor theshōgun,who was a samurai himself.Rōnin,samurai without masters, were also warriors, and like samurai, wore two swords, but they were without inherited employment or status.Bugeishawere men, or in some stories women, who aimed to perfect their martial arts, often by traveling throughout the country.Ninjawere the secret service, specializing in stealth, the use of disguises, explosives, and concealed weapons.

Craftsmen

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Craftsmen injidaigekiincluded metalworkers (often abducted to mint counterfeit coins), bucket-makers, carpenters and plasterers, and makers of woodblock prints for art or newspapers.

Merchants

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In addition to the owners of businesses large and small, thejidaigekioften portray the employees. Thebantōwas a high-ranking employee of a merchant, thetedai,a lower helper. Many merchants employed children, orkozō.Itinerant merchants included the organized medicine-sellers, vegetable-growers from outside the city, and peddlers at fairs outside temples and shrines. In contrast, the great brokers in rice, lumber and other commodities operated sprawling shops in the city.

Governments

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In the highest ranks of the shogunate were therojū.Below them were thewakadoshiyori,then the variousbugyōor administrators, including thejisha bugyō(who administered temples and shrines), thekanjō bugyō(in charge of finances) and the twoEdo machi bugyō.These last alternated by month as chief administrator of the city. Their role encompassed mayor, chief of police, and judge, and jury in criminal and civil matters.

Ban'ya, Toei Uzumasa Studios

The machi bugyō oversaw the police and fire departments. The police, ormachikata,included the high-rankingyorikiand thedōshinbelow them; both were samurai. Injidaigeki,they often have full-time patrolmen,okappikiandshitappiki,who were commoners. (Historically, such people were irregulars and were called to service only when necessary.) Zenigata Heiji is anokappiki.The police lived in barracks at Hatchōbori in Edo. They mannedban'ya,the watch-houses, throughout the metropolis. Thejittewas the symbol of the police, fromyorikitoshitappiki.

A separate police force handled matters involving samurai. Theōmetsukewere high-ranking officials in the shogunate; themetsukeandkachi-metsuke,lower-ranking police who could detain samurai. Yet another police force investigated arson-robberies, whileShinto shrinesandBuddhist templesfell under the control of another authority. The feudal nature of Japan made these matters delicate, and jurisdictional disputes are common injidaigeki.

Edo had three fire departments. Thedaimyō-bikeshiwere in the service of designateddaimyōs;thejōbikeshireported to the shogunate; while themachi-bikeshi,beginning under Yoshimune, were commoners under the administration of themachi-bugyō.Thus, even the fire companies have turf wars in thejidaigeki.

Licensed quarter on a set at Toei Uzumasa Studios, Kyoto

Eachdaimyōmaintained a residence in Edo, where he lived duringsankin-kōtai.His wife and children remained there even while he was away from Edo, and the ladies-in-waiting often feature prominently injidaigeki.A high-ranking samurai, theEdo-garō,oversaw the affairs in thedaimyō's absence. In addition to a staff of samurai, the household includedashigaru(lightly armed warrior-servants) andchūgenandyakko(servants often portrayed as flamboyant and crooked). Manydaimyōsemployed doctors,goten'i;their counterpart in the shogun's household was theokuishi.Count on them to provide the poisons that kill and the potions that heal.

Other

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The cast of a wanderingjidaigekiencountered a similar setting in eachhan.There, thekarōwere thekuni-garōand thejōdai-garō.Tensions between them have provided plots for many stories.

Conventions

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There are several dramatic conventions ofjidaigeki:

  • The heroes often wear eye makeup, and the villains often have disarranged hair.
  • A contrived form of old-fashioned Japanese speech, using modern pronunciation and grammar with a high degree of formality and frequent archaisms.
  • In long-running TV series, likeMito KōmonandZenigata Heiji,the lead and supporting actors sometimes change. This is done without any rationale for the change of appearance. The new actor simply appears in the place of the old one and the stories continue. This is similar to theJames Bond film seriesor superhero films, in contrast with e.g. the British television programDoctor Who.
  • In a sword fight, when a large number of villains attacks the main character, they never attack at once. The main character first launches into a lengthy preamble detailing the crimes the villains have committed, at the end of which the villains then initiate hostilities. The villains charge singly or in pairs; the rest wait their turn to be dispatched and surround the main character until it is their turn to be easily defeated. Sword fights are the grand finale of the show and are conducted to specially crafted theme music for their duration.
  • On television, even fatal sword cuts draw little blood, and often do not even cut through clothing. Villains are chopped down with deadly, yet completely invisible, sword blows. Despite this, blood or wounding may be shown for arrow wounds or knife cuts.
  • Inchambarafilms, the violence is generally considerably stylized, sometimes to such a degree that sword cuts cause geysers of blood from wounds. Dismemberment and decapitation are common as well.

Proverbs and catchphrases

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Authors ofjidaigekiwork pithy sayings into the dialog. Here are a few:

  • Tonde hi ni iru natsu no mushi:Like bugs that fly into the fire in the summer (they will come to their destruction)
  • Shishi shinchū no mushi:A wolf in sheep's clothing (literally, a parasite in the lion's body)
  • Kaji to kenka wa Edo no hana:Fires and brawls are the flower of Edo
  • Ōedo happyaku yachō:"The eight hundred neighborhoods of Edo"
  • Tabi wa michizure:"On the road you need a companion"

The authors of series invent their own catchphrases calledkimarizerifuthat the protagonist says at the same point in nearly every episode. InMito Kōmon,in which the eponymous character disguises himself as a commoner, in the final sword fight, a sidekick invariably holds up an accessory bearing the shogunal crest and shouts,Hikae! Kono mondokoro ga me ni hairanu ka?:"Back! Can you not see this emblem?", revealing the identity of the hitherto unsuspected old man with a goatee beard. The villains then instantly surrender and beg forgiveness.

Likewise,Tōyama no Kin-sanbares his tattooed shoulder and snarls,Kono sakurafubuki o miwasureta to iwasane zo!:"I won't let you say you forgot this cherry-blossom blizzard!" After sentencing the criminals, he proclaims,Kore nite ikken rakuchaku:"Case closed."

Examples

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For other works set in (or largely in) the Edo period, seeEdo period in popular culture.

Films

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Main article:List of jidaigeki films
See also:List of ninja films

Video games

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The following areJapanese video gamesin thejidaigekigenre.

Although jidaigeki is essentially a Japanese genre, there are also Western games that use the setting to match the same standards. Examples areGhost of Tsushima,Shogun: Total Warseries or Japanese campaigns ofAge of Empires III.

Anime and manga

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Live action television

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Title Network Notable cast Duration Notes
Zenigata Heiji Hashizo Okawa 1966–84
Akakage, The Masked Ninja Fuji TV Yūzaburō Sakaguchi, Yoshinobu Kaneko,Fuyukichi Maki 1967–1968
Mito Kōmon TBS Eijirō Tōno,Ichirō Nakatani,Ryōtarō Sugi,Kōtarō Satomi 1969~2011
Ōedo Sōsamō TV Tokyo Tetsurō Sagawa, Takeya Nakamura, Ryō Kurosawa 1970–1980
Ōoka Echizen TBS Go Kato,Takashi Yamaguchi,Chiezō Kataoka 1970-99
Daichūshingura NTV Toshiro Mifune,Tetsuya Watari,Masakazu Tamura 1971
Kogarashi Monjirō Fuji TV Atsuo Nakamura 1972
Ronin of the Wilderness NTV Toshiro Mifune 1972-1974
Hissatsu Shikakenin TV Asahi Ken Ogata, Yoichi Hayashi,Sō Yamamura 1972–1973
Kaiketsu Lion-Maru Fuji TV Tetsuya Ushio, Akiko Kujō, Norihiko Umechi,Kiyoshi Kobayashi 1972–1973
Nemuri Kyōshirō Kansai TV Masakazu Tamura 1972
Fuun Lion-Maru Fuji TV Tetsuya Ushio, Kazuo Kamoshida, Masaki Hayasaki 1973
Lone Wolf and Cub NTV Kinnosuke Yorozuya 1973~1976
Hissatsu Shiokinin TV Asahi Tsutomu Yamazaki,Masaya Oki,Makoto Fujita 1973
Oshizamurai Kiichihōgan NTV Tomisaburo Wakayama,Shintaro Katsu 1973-74
Tasukenin Hashiru TV Asahi Takahiro Tamura,Ichirō Nakatani,So Yamamura,Hiroshi Miyauchi 1973–1974
Zatoichi Fuji TV Shintaro Katsu 1974~1979
Onihei Hankachō NET Tetsurō Tamba,Takahiro Tamura,Akihiko Hirata,Ichirō Nakatani 1975
Edo no Kaze Fuji TV Yūzō Kayama,Keiju Kobayashi,Shigeru Tsuyuguchi 1975–1979
Shin Hissatsu Shiokinin TV Asahi Tsutomu Yamazaki,Shōhei Hino,Makoto Fujita 1973
Abarenbō Shōgun TV Asahi Ken Matsudaira,Ichirō Arishima,Saburō Kitajima 1978–2003
The Yagyu Conspiracy FUJI TV Sonny Chiba,Hiroyuki Sanada,Mikio Narita,So Yamamura,Yūki Meguro 1978-79
Akō Rōshi (1979 TV series) TV Asahi Kinnosuke Yorozuya,Masakazu Tamura,Mikio Narita,Ken Matsudaira 1979
Hissatsu Shigotonin TV Asahi Makoto Fujita,Gorō Ibuki,Kunihiko Mitamura 1979–1981
Shadow Warriors Fuji TV Sonny Chiba,Mikio Narita,Hiroyuki Sanada,Shōhei Hino 1980–1985
Tōyama no Kin-san TV Asahi Hideki Takahashi 1982-86
Ōoku TV Asahi Tomisaburō Wakayama,Tetsurō Tamba,Masaya Oki,Masahiko Tsugawa 1983
Sanada Taiheiki NHK Tsunehiko Watase,Tetsurō Tamba,Masao Kusakari 1985
Onihei Hankachō Fuji TV Kichiemon Nakamura,Meiko Kaji 1989–2016
Kenkaku Shōbai Fuji TV Makoto Fujita 1998–2010
Ōoku (2003 TV series) FujiTV 2003
Jin TBS Takao Ōsawa,Miki Nakatani,Haruka Ayase 2009–2011

Prominent directors

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Names are in Western order, with the surname after the given name.

Prominent actors

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Influence

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Star WarscreatorGeorge Lucashas admitted to being inspired significantly by the period works ofAkira Kurosawa,and many thematic elements found inStar Warsbear the influence ofChanbarafilmmaking. In an interview, Lucas has specifically cited the fact that he became acquainted with the termjidaigekiwhile in Japan, and it is widely assumed that he took inspiration for the termJedifrom this.[3][4][5]

References

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  1. ^"Thời đại kịch (ジダイゲキ)とは? Ý vị や sử い phương".
  2. ^"1980".Sega Arcade History.Famitsu DC(in Japanese).Enterbrain.2002. pp. 40–42 (40).
  3. ^Duggan, Jedi M."History of the Jedi & The Jedi Religion".Jedi Sanctuary. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-06-30.Retrieved2007-07-19.
  4. ^"Trivia for Star Wars (1977)".Internet Movie Database.Retrieved2007-07-19.
  5. ^"Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed".Star Wars.2007-05-28. about 90 minutes in.The History Channel.
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