Izumi Ashizawa Performance

In Japan, there is a genre of traditional Japanese painting called Kusozu that depicts the nine stages of the human body’s decomposition. The precursor to Kusozu was initially imported from China as a meditation training tool for the Buddhist monks. Contemplating the decaying human body with the mind’s eye is a method for the Buddhist monks to overcome lust. This genre of painting evolved in Japan to depict in detail the stages of decay of a beautiful noble woman’s corpse. Subsequently, it blossomed into a style of religious painting that appeals to a broader audience, not only Buddhist monks. Still later, it incorporated the Japanese philosophy of Mono no aware (the sense of ephemerality). Absorbing and reflecting each era’s social environment, Kusozu has slowly developed over the past centuries. Throughout that time, Kusozu has served as a tool for people to confront death and observe the process of the dead returning to the earth. The act of facing death also simultaneously implies a subsequent rebirth. I believe that contemplating the limited earthly life and our fated return to the earth serves as a bridge to finding joy in this very moment of life. Kusozu may be the embodiment of what we humans hope to see in our society today.

 

Naoshima Island is the home of Onna Bunraku, an all-female traditional Japanese puppetry troupe. In their heyday, they performed the elaborate puppet classic Datemusume Koino Higanoko (hereafter referred to as Higanoko), the production of which requires more than two dozen puppeteers. Currently, with many puppeteers retired or deceased, and most of the remaining members advanced in age, they are unable to perform a large production like Higanoko; thus, the audience no longer sees the Oshichi puppet, the protagonist in Higanoko, on their stage. In the story, Oshichi sacrifices herself when, though there is no fire, she rings the fire alarm bell to save her lover. Despite knowing the punishment for this crime is death, she dares to prioritize her lover’s bright future over her own life. At that moment, she faces her death head-on. This courageous and determined woman is never given a chance for a proper funeral or relief from this life in the afterlife—and, notably, no hope for a rebirth.

 

Give Oshichi a chance for rebirth. 

Give Naoshima a chance to show Oshichi once more. 

Thus, our project was born, incorporating the philosophy of Kusozu. It originated with the motif of transformation and rebirth, in the hope of regenerating Naoshima’s Oshichi.

 

As Kusozu has evolved through ages, reflecting the societies of successive periods, our Kusozu displays an interpretation that is relevant today. It departs from the 2D painting medium, instead taking the form of a large-scale 3D puppet. Depicting an epilogue to Higanoko, our story begins at the moment when Oshichi dies and transforms into a skeleton as she walks the streets of Naoshima. Different generations of people on Naoshima Island collaborate to prepare, fabricate, and activate the large Oshichi puppet, which then ritually parades through the streets. This walk evokes the once-practiced island tradition of the funeral parade, or the still-practiced Omikoshi parade during the autumn festival.