Amherst, MA

Presented by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Asian Languages and Literatures Program

Edo Day

Sunday, September 30, 2007, 10:00 am-5:00 pm
Performance tentatively scheduled for 2:00 pm
Student Union Ballroom, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

This will be a one-day exhibition on the daily life of Edo designed to inform families and Kindergarten through 12th grade students about how most people lived in eighteenth-century Japan. The preparation of the exhibition will involve university students, public school teachers, and students and teachers from the Amherst Japanese Language School. As part of a semester-long course on Edo culture, students at UMA will research and prepare exhibits; students of the Amherst Japanese Language School will create additional exhibits and demonstrations; and public school teachers will be invited to attend a luncheon seminar prior to the exhibition. The focus of the exhibition will be the Shinnai and Kuruma Ningyo performance as an important form of entertainment enjoyed by Edo townspeople.

Public Performances

"Laughter and Tears from Old Japan: Shinnai Singing and Kuruma Ningyo Puppetry"
 Friday, October 5, 2007, 8:00 pm
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Bowker Auditorium (map)
Admission: $15 general, $7 Five College students and youth 17 and under

Composed of two parts, this performance will feature the haunting dance number "Kurokami" (Black Hair), depicting the tormented jealousy of a woman who has lost love, and "Yaji Kita" (Yaji and Kita), the comical account of the escapades of two friends, Yajirobei and Kitahachi, traveling on the road from Edo to Kyoto in the early 19th century.

See the venue website here.

For Willams College events, see Williamstown, MA.

Lectures, Demonstrations, and Workshops

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Smith College
Tsuruga Wakasanojo XI will speak on the history of Shinnai and its relevance to Japanese society today in a world music class.

Thursday, October 4, 2007, 7:30 pm
Shinnai and Kuruma Ningyo workshop open to students in the five colleges area.

Sponsored by the Department of Music and Dance and the Japanese Program of the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

More info

For more information on Amherst area activities, please contact Reiko Sono (click here) at the University of Massachusetts.

Click here for maps and travel information for visiting the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.