Shuji Terayama
Encyclopedia
was an avant-garde
Japan
ese poet
, dramatist, writer
, film director
, and photographer. According to many critics and supporters, he was one of the most productive and provocative creative artists to come out of Japan. He was born December 10, 1935, the only son of Hachiro and Hatsu Terayama in Hirosaki city in the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori
. His father died at the end of Pacific War
in Indonesia
in September 1945. At the age of nine, his mother moved to Kyūshū
to work at an American military base while he himself went to live with relatives in the city of Misawa
, also in Aomori. At this same time, Terayama lived through the Aomori air raids that killed more than 30,000 people.
Terayama entered Aomori Prefectural Aomori High School
in 1951, and in 1954 went to prestigious Waseda University
's Faculty of Education to study Japanese language and literature. However, he soon dropped out because he fell ill with nephrotic syndrome
. He received his education through working in bars in Shinjuku. His oeuvre includes a number of essays claiming that more can be learned about life through boxing
and horse racing
than by attending school and studying hard. Accordingly, he was one of the central figures of the "runaway" movement in Japan in the late 1960s, as depicted in his book, play, and film "Throw Away Your Books, Run into the Streets! (書を捨てよ、町へ出よう)".
In 1967, Terayama formed the Tenjō Sajiki
(天井桟敷) theater troupe, whose name comes from the Japanese translation of the 1945 Marcel Carné
film "Les Enfants du Paradis
", so can be translated as "children of heaven", however its correct translation is "Ceiling Gallery" and has a meaning similar to the English expression "Peanut Gallery
". The troupe was dedicated to the avant-garde and staged a number of controversial plays tackling social issues from an iconoclastic perspective. Some major plays include "Bluebeard" (青ひげ), "Yes" (イエス), and "The Crime of Fatso Oyama" (大山デブコの犯罪), among others. Also involved with the theater were artists Aquirax Uno
(宇野亜喜良) and Tadanori Yokoo
(横尾忠則), who designed many of the advertisement posters for the group. Musically, he worked closely with experimental composer J.A. Seazer and folk musician Kan Mikami
.
He was also involved in poetry
and at 18 was the second winner of the Tanka Studies Award.
Terayama experimented with ‘city plays’, a fantastical satire of civic life.
Also in 1967, Terayama started an experimental cinema and gallery called 'Universal Gravitation,' which is in fact still in existence at Misawa as a resource center. The Terayama Shūji Memorial Hall, which has a large collection of his plays, novels, poetry, photography and a great number of his personal effects and relics from his theatre productions, can also be found in Misawa. In 1976, he was a member of the jury at the 26th Berlin International Film Festival
.
Terayama published almost 200 literary works, and over 20 short and full-length films.
He was married to Tenjō Sajiki co-founder Kyōko Kujō (九條今日子), but they later divorced, although they continued to work together until Terayama's death on May 4, 1983 from cirrhosis
of the liver.
Short Films:
Feature-Length:
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, dramatist, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, and photographer. According to many critics and supporters, he was one of the most productive and provocative creative artists to come out of Japan. He was born December 10, 1935, the only son of Hachiro and Hatsu Terayama in Hirosaki city in the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori
Aomori Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region. The capital is the city of Aomori.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Aomori prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....
. His father died at the end of Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in September 1945. At the age of nine, his mother moved to Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
to work at an American military base while he himself went to live with relatives in the city of Misawa
Misawa, Aomori
is a city located in eastern Aomori Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the city had an estimated population of 42,399 and a density of 353 persons per km²...
, also in Aomori. At this same time, Terayama lived through the Aomori air raids that killed more than 30,000 people.
Terayama entered Aomori Prefectural Aomori High School
Aomori Prefectural Aomori High School
The is a high school in the city of Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.Originally a Junior High School named the , the school was established on September 11, 1900....
in 1951, and in 1954 went to prestigious Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
's Faculty of Education to study Japanese language and literature. However, he soon dropped out because he fell ill with nephrotic syndrome
Nephrotic syndrome
Nephrotic syndrome is a nonspecific disorder in which the kidneys are damaged, causing them to leak large amounts of protein from the blood into the urine....
. He received his education through working in bars in Shinjuku. His oeuvre includes a number of essays claiming that more can be learned about life through boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
than by attending school and studying hard. Accordingly, he was one of the central figures of the "runaway" movement in Japan in the late 1960s, as depicted in his book, play, and film "Throw Away Your Books, Run into the Streets! (書を捨てよ、町へ出よう)".
In 1967, Terayama formed the Tenjō Sajiki
Tenjo Sajiki
was a Japanese independent theater troupe led by Shūji Terayama and active between 1967 and 1983 . A major phenomenon on the Japanese underground scene, the group has produced a number of stage works marked by experimentalism, folklore influences, social provocation, grotesque eroticism and the...
(天井桟敷) theater troupe, whose name comes from the Japanese translation of the 1945 Marcel Carné
Marcel Carné
-Biography:Born in Paris, France, the son of a cabinet maker whose wife died when their son was five, Carné began his career as a film critic, becoming editor of the weekly publication, Hebdo-Films, and working for Cinémagazine and Cinémonde between 1929 and 1933. In the same period he worked in...
film "Les Enfants du Paradis
Children of Paradise
Les Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 French film by French director Marcel Carné, made during the German occupation of France during World War II...
", so can be translated as "children of heaven", however its correct translation is "Ceiling Gallery" and has a meaning similar to the English expression "Peanut Gallery
Peanut gallery
A peanut gallery is an audience that heckles the performer. The term originated in the days of vaudeville as a nickname for the cheapest seats in the theater; the least expensive snack served at the theater would often be peanuts, which the patrons would sometimes throw at the performers on stage...
". The troupe was dedicated to the avant-garde and staged a number of controversial plays tackling social issues from an iconoclastic perspective. Some major plays include "Bluebeard" (青ひげ), "Yes" (イエス), and "The Crime of Fatso Oyama" (大山デブコの犯罪), among others. Also involved with the theater were artists Aquirax Uno
Aquirax Uno
is a Japanese graphic artist, illustrator and painter. His work is characterized by fantastic visuals, capricious and sensuous line flow, flamboyant eroticism, and frequent use of collage and bright colors...
(宇野亜喜良) and Tadanori Yokoo
Tadanori Yokoo
is a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter.Tadanori Yokoo, born in Nishiwaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, in 1936, is one of Japan's most successful and internationally recognized graphic designers and artists. He began his career as a stage designer for avant garde theatre in...
(横尾忠則), who designed many of the advertisement posters for the group. Musically, he worked closely with experimental composer J.A. Seazer and folk musician Kan Mikami
Kan Mikami
is a Japanese folk singer-songwriter. His music, heavily influenced by American blues, was popular in Japan in the 1970s. He re-wrote the lyric of the song "Yume wa Yoru Hiraku" for his cover version in 1972...
.
He was also involved in poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and at 18 was the second winner of the Tanka Studies Award.
Terayama experimented with ‘city plays’, a fantastical satire of civic life.
Also in 1967, Terayama started an experimental cinema and gallery called 'Universal Gravitation,' which is in fact still in existence at Misawa as a resource center. The Terayama Shūji Memorial Hall, which has a large collection of his plays, novels, poetry, photography and a great number of his personal effects and relics from his theatre productions, can also be found in Misawa. In 1976, he was a member of the jury at the 26th Berlin International Film Festival
26th Berlin International Film Festival
The 26th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 25 to July 6, 1976.-Jury:* Jerzy Kawalerowicz * Hannes Schmidt* Marjorie Bilbow* Michel Ciment* Guido Cinotti* Georgi Daneliya* Wolf Hart* Bernard R...
.
Terayama published almost 200 literary works, and over 20 short and full-length films.
He was married to Tenjō Sajiki co-founder Kyōko Kujō (九條今日子), but they later divorced, although they continued to work together until Terayama's death on May 4, 1983 from cirrhosis
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
of the liver.
Works
His film oeuvre is well-known for its experimentalism and includes:Short Films:
- Catology (1960) (lost)
- The Cage / Ori (1964)
- Emperor Tomato KetchupEmperor Tomato Ketchup (film)Emperor Tomato Ketchup is a Japanese film directed by Shūji Terayama in 1971.-Plot summary:A youngboy is the emperor of a country in which children have overthrown the adults....
/ Tomato Kechappu Kōtei (1971, short version) - The War of Jan-Ken Pon / Janken Sensō (1971)
- Rolla (1974)
- Chōfuku-ki (1974)
- Cinema Guide for Young People / Seishōnen no Tame no Eiga Nyūmon (1974)
- The Labyrinth Tale / Meikyū-tan (1975)
- Hōsō-tan (1975)
- Der Prozess (1975)
- Les Chants de Maldoror / Marudororu no Uta (1977)
- The Eraser / Keshigomu (1977)
- Shadow Film - A Woman with Two Heads / Nitō-onna - Kage no Eiga (1977)
- The Reading Machine / Shokenki (1977)
- An Attempt to Describe the Measure of A Man / Issunbōshi o Kijutsusuru Kokoromi (1977)
Feature-Length:
- Emperor Tomato KetchupEmperor Tomato Ketchup (film)Emperor Tomato Ketchup is a Japanese film directed by Shūji Terayama in 1971.-Plot summary:A youngboy is the emperor of a country in which children have overthrown the adults....
/ Tomato Kechappu Kōtei (1971, long version) - Throw Away Your Books, Go Out into the Streets! / Sho o Suteyo, Machi e Deyō (1971)
- Death in the CountryPastoral: To Die in the Country, and also known as Pastoral Hide and Seek, is a 1974 Japanese drama film directed by Shūji Terayama. It was entered into the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Kantaro Suga - Me* Hiroyuki Takano - Me, as a boy* Yoshio Harada - Arashi...
/ Den'en ni Shisu (aka: "Pastoral Hide and Seek")(1974) - Boxer / Bokusā (1977)
- Fruits of PassionFruits of PassionFruits of Passion is a 1981 French-Japanese drama film directed by Shūji Terayama and starring Klaus Kinski.-Cast:* Isabelle Illiers - O* Klaus Kinski - Sir Stephen* Arielle Dombasle - Nathalie* Peter - Madame* Keiko Niitaka - Aisen...
上海異人娼館 / Shanhai Ijin Shōkan (1981) - Grass LabyrinthGrass Labyrinthis a 1979 Japanese film directed by Shūji Terayama....
/ Kusa-meikyū (1983) - Video Letter (1983, with Shuntarō TanikawaShuntaro Tanikawais a Japanese poet and translator. He is one of the most widely read and highly regarded of living Japanese poets, both in Japan and abroad, and a frequent subject of speculations regarding the Nobel Prize in Literature...
) - Farewell to the ArkFarewell to the ArkFarewell to the Ark is a 1984 Japanese mystery film directed by Shūji Terayama. It was entered into the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Tsutomu Yamazaki - Sutekichi Tokito* Mayumi Ogawa - Sue Tokito* Yoshio Harada - Daisaki Tokito...
/ Saraba hakobune (1984)
External links
- Shuji Terayama at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Experimental Image World 7 vols of films at U B U W E B
- An interview with Terayama's assistant director Henrikku Morisaki.
- Morita, Norimasa. Avant-garde, Pastiche, and Media Crossing: Films of Terayama Shūji (PDF)
- Shūji Terayama's grave
- Essay on Emperor Tomato Ketchup