<html><head></head><body><div class="yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><div class="ydpfcd777f5yiv3794919022MsoNormal">I'm a bit slow, so have only just
stumbled across NHK World's 2021, 2-part How to Watch Ozu
program, part of their J-Flicks magazine series on Japanese cinema. It's still on their on demand site at
<a href="https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/2036067/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_0704917016">How to Watch Ozu - J-FLICKS | NHK WORLD-JAPAN On Demand</a>. Great to see
Marcus introducing Ozu's visual style to English speaking
audiences. But I was also very curious to see benshi Koyata Aso performing in English to short sections of two of Ozu's 1933 features,
<span lang="EN-US">非常線の女</span> / DRAGNET GIRL and
<span lang="EN-US">出来ごころ</span> / PASSING FANCY.
</div><div><br></div>I’m unfamiliar with Ms. Koyata, and
(although it’s no doubt been done) it’s the first time I've seen or
heard a Japanese professional benshi giving a reasonably 'traditional'
performance in English.
<div class="ydpfcd777f5yiv3794919022MsoNormal"> <br></div><div class="ydpfcd777f5yiv3794919022MsoNormal">There’s always ex-Japan forays into
English-language benshi performances; Joseph L. Anderson’s are
best-known, and it happens in the 'neo-benshi' experimental
theatre margins. But I'm also aware of well-trod arguments that as a
vernacular performance art these can never be
'authentic', and that a <span>" traditional'
performance in English</span><span>" is a sort of contradiction in terms.</span><br></div><div class="ydpfcd777f5yiv3794919022MsoNormal"><br></div><div class="ydpfcd777f5yiv3794919022MsoNormal">Anyone on the list familiar with
Ms. Koyata's live performances in Japanese - or at greater length in
English, if she has done this in Japan outside of the NHK World staging? She's got an extensive Japanese and English on-line presence, and a website <a href="http://katsuben.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="enhancr_card_1167485215">「麻生やた★子やた本舗」 – 活弁士 麻生八咫・麻生子八咫の公式サイト</a> whose name indicates the preference she makes clear in the NHK program: for term
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: white; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-size: auto;" lang="EN-US">
活弁 </span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: white; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-size: auto;">/
</span>katsuben rather than <span style="font-size: 9.5pt; color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(234, 243, 255); background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-size: auto;" lang="EN-US">
弁士 </span><span style="font-size: 9.5pt; color: rgb(32, 33, 34); background-color: rgb(234, 243, 255); background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-size: auto;">/
</span>benshi ( Joseph Anderson's preference also).
</div><div><br></div><div>I'm putting this out with a little
hesitation, aware I may be inviting inappropriate comment on the tight world of the
Japanese professional benshi biz. So thoughts off list as well as on appreciated.</div></div><div>
<p class="ydpfcd777f5yiv3794919022MsoNormal">Quentin Turnour, National Archives of Australia / Cinema Reborn Film Festival</p></div><div><br></div></div></div></body></html>