Text: Akiko Inoue Photo: Masamasa Nishino Released on 2015.7.14
Chikara FUJIWARA
Previous MAGCUL.NET project
Editor, critic, and founder of BricolaQ. Born in Kochi City in 1977. Moved to Tokyo at the age of 12 and began living alone there. Moved around a lot after that, worked for a publishing company before going freelance. Edited Musashino Art University's newsletter "mauleaf" and Setagaya Public Theater's "CaroMag", among others. Co-edited with Tsujimoto Chikara "Book Guide to Architecture" (Meigetsudo Shoten). Co-authored with Tokunaga Kyoko "The Strongest Engeki Theory" (Asuka Shinsha). Currently lives in Yokohama. Member of Engeki Center F. He also creates "Engeki Quests" in various locations, where he strolls around cities and peninsulas with a gamebook in hand.
Kimio Taketani
While studying at Senshu University, she joined Waseda University's Mori Theatre Company and began her acting career. After that, she worked for an insurance company for a while, but resumed her acting career in 2007. She has played leading roles in small theater companies that are set to lead the future of the theater world, such as Okazaki Art Theatre, Kinoshita Kabuki, Sample, and Hanchu-Yuei. In addition to her versatile skills, her humorous expressions are also appealing. She won the Actor Award at the CoRich Performing Arts Festival 2013 for her overwhelming performance as a demon woman in the lead role of Kinoshita Kabuki's "Kurozuka" (directed by Sugihara Kunio).
It's been two years since I interviewed Takeya Kimio, who won the Actor Award at the Corich Performing Arts Festival 2013. Takeya, who is more active than ever as an actor, appeared again on MAGCUL.NET as a guest on "Standing Bar Culture Talk".
In the previous interview, he showed us his specialty, a maniacal impersonation show, but this time he also recorded "Kimio Takeya's Impersonation Show Vol. 2", which further polished his maniacalness. After finishing his work with a two-hour recording, it was time to head to the lunchtime "National Bar Asahi-ya Gentleman Kamiooka Branch"!
*If you would like to watch the impersonation video "Takeya Kimio Impersonation Show Vol.2" first, please click here .
Fujiwara Chikara (hereinafter Fujiwara) : Well, there is a sense of immorality in this situation in the middle of the day.
Kimio Takeya (hereinafter Takeya) : No, but I just did a good job recording an impersonation. lol
Fujiwara : Well then, let's order first.
The recommendations are written on the blackboard in the back. Also, there is a display case in the middle, so let's go and choose some food.
Fujiwara : Can I order bonito and marinated mackerel?
Oh, and also, the other day when I came here I had mentaiko mayo pizza and it was delicious.
Takeya : (pointing inside the showcase) Is this it?
Staff : That's grilled tofu with mentaiko and cheese.
Fujiwara : Oh, that's good. Well then, that's it!
So, let's get started...
cheers!!!
Fujiwara : For now, let's eat.
Takeya : Wow, I didn't know that there was a place like this in Kamiooka.
Kimio Takeya: The origins of impersonation
Fujiwara : The theme this time is "transformation and entertainment," but basically, it's all about "impersonation." lol
Takeya : It's an imitation. lol
Fujiwara : I think it was about seven years ago that I first saw Takeya's impersonation, but after watching today's recording, I thought, "His repertoire has expanded."
Takeya : This is the second installment of my impersonations (note: the first installment is here ), so I tried to make it more maniacal. That said, I'm not really an impersonator myself...
Fujiwara : What do you think about being able to balance impersonation and acting?
Takeya : When I was a student, I had the possibility of performing as an opening act for an impersonation live show featuring Makita Sports, Shimizu Michiko, and Tsubaki Oniyatsu, so I asked Makita to look at my material in advance. (For more details, see the 2013 interview.) However, it seems there is a certain territory for impersonators, and the only one he said "you can do it" was my impersonation of Kusakari Masao. That's when I felt that impersonators are amazing!
Because of that experience, I thought I would just leave impersonations as a hobby and concentrate on acting. But now that I'm being interviewed like this and it feels like there's a demand for impersonations (laughs), I thought I'd show off my late-blooming impersonations.
Fujiwara : That's good.
Takeya : When I perform at Kinoshita Kabuki several times and we perform a Kabuki piece in a modern production, the first thing I do is completely copy the Kabuki gestures and vocalizations. I've never done Kabuki before, so it was difficult, but maybe because I've been watching trendy dramas and impersonating them since I was a child, I was able to do it surprisingly smoothly...
Fujiwara : I see, that's a piece of cake for you. (laughs)
Takeya : It's the result of years of self-training.
Nowadays, quite a few people do impersonations of Tamura Masakazu's Furukawa Ninzaburo, but the first time I did an impersonation of him was in "New York Love Story" (a 1988 TV drama) .
Fujiwara : Speaking of Tamura Masakazu, the comparison between "Tamura Masakazu 20 years ago" and "Tamura Masakazu now" in the "Picture book reading series with actor impersonations" that we just recorded today was great (laughs). Also, in "Yakusho Koji reading The Three Little Pigs," a mysterious tension emerges as it is repeated, and both the performer and the viewer become addicted to it.
Takeya : I love Yakusho Koji's straightforward acting.
Fujiwara : It felt like he was angry about something... lol
Takeya : Yes. Anger towards society? Something like that.
Fujiwara : This is completely unrelated, but Takeya looks a bit like Hira Mikijiro.
Takeya : I get that a lot. When I appeared in "Kurozuka," I was told, "There was Hirakijiro and Shiraishi Kayoko." When you think about it, it's all just impersonation after all. lol
* "Kurozuka" is a Kinoshita Kabuki production. Takeya won the Actor Award in 2013 for this work.
A photo of Mikijiro Hira and Kimio Takeya
Fujiwara : I saw Shiraishi's impersonation today, and I thought it really came in handy for her role as the wicked hag in "Kurozuka."
Takeya : When I was preparing for the role, I watched "The Trojan Women" many times.
* "Trojan Women" is a play starring Kayoko Shiraishi and written and directed by Tadashi Suzuki. It premiered in 1974.
Fujiwara : Today, you did an imitation of Tatsuya Nakadai, and watching that, I thought that Nakadai's acting was well suited to film. On the other hand, Kayoko Shiraishi's acting is a perfect use of theatrical space. You can feel the quality of the acting from the imitation.
Takeya : Kabuki actors also copy and inherit their fathers' acting, so I think it's similar to impersonation.
There is no format for modern drama
Takeya : Last year, kabuki actor Bando Shingo and I, along with Kinoshita Yuichi of Kinoshita Kabuki, appeared in a project called "Kabuki Lab" at Gakushuin Women's University. In it, we showed a showdown between kabuki and modern drama on several themes. For example, for the theme of "female role," Bando, who is actually a female role, performed a part of a kabuki play, and I performed Hirakijiro's "Princess Medea," and for the theme of "animals," Bando performed "Sagimusume" and I performed "Yuzuru" impersonating Yamamoto Yasue.
Fujiwara : Wow. That's interesting.
Takeya : Finally, Bando and I performed a Kabuki play together, and Kabuki actors can do anything because they have experience. If you tell them to do this or that, they can do it right away. In comparison, I can't do that. In modern plays, you have to change your acting depending on the direction, so actors don't have the experience...
Fujiwara : There is no common format in contemporary theater.
Takeya : Right. So you just have to do it with determination...
Fujiwara : Spirit...lol
Takeya : What I realized after working with Shingo Bando at Kabuki Lab is that even theater from the 60s and 70s can be traced back to its origins as Kabuki. The way he uses his body, the way he delivers his lines, and even his sliding feet make me think that SCOT exists because of Kabuki.
Fujiwara : Kabuki and Noh, right? Kabuki in particular is more popular than Noh, isn't it? So I think it's surprisingly similar to the vulgarity of impersonations.
I think there are various ways to inherit.
Takeya : That's right, I personally run a group to preserve the traditional arts of people from the Showa era through impersonations.
Fujiwara : With who?
Takeya : No, by myself.
Fujiwara : Haha. But it's rare. I wonder if there are people who are trying to carry on this tradition with that kind of mindset.
Takeya : I think it will be difficult for Bungakuza to inherit the art of Haruko Sugimura if she passes away. A traveling actor like me who does not belong to a theater company is keenly aware of the "inability to inherit" modern drama. First of all, there is no one to inherit it, so it's a one-off.
Fujiwara : Each director has a completely different way of doing things.
Takeya : Yes. So on the other hand, if an actor has too many patterns, it becomes a hindrance.
Fujiwara : So that's how you've been working with various directors for about 10 years. I think there's also the issue of what to do about the "lack of form" and "lightness of body" in today's modern theater. Kabuki can be passed down to a certain extent by following the form.
Takeya : Now that I think about it, when someone from the dance field directs a play, he sets the format first and then tells the actors to create their own feelings, which makes it really easy to work with.
Fujiwara : Who are some examples of people in the dance field?
Takeya : Shirakami (Momoko). Shirakami-san would start from the form, saying things like, "Lower your center of gravity more," "Twist more," or "When you say this line, turn this way."
Fujiwara : Rather than emotions, they first give you specific instructions like body form and vectors.
Takeya : That's right. If I think too hard about how to use my body, I sometimes have trouble coming up with a plan for my performance, thinking, "Which way should I go?" But Shiragami-san visually directs me, so I feel like I can follow his instructions. That difference is interesting.
Fujiwara : I see. But even so, it can't be helped that there are no established forms in modern theatre. We can't go back to the Stanislavski system now. If you think about it like that, it might be a good idea to input various acting styles into your body, like Takeya-san did.
*Stanislavski System: An acting theory devised by the Russian actor and director Stanislavski, born in 1863, which had a major influence on 20th century theater and acting techniques.
By the way, shall we add some food? How about potato salad?
Takeya : That's good. Tuna with grated yam too!
Fujiwara : I also want to try mentaiko mayonnaise pizza...
Transforming people to explore their thoughts
Takeya : But maybe there is a sense that I can get closer to people through impersonation. I think my acting is derived from impersonation. It's not a desire to transform, but a desire to know the person's thoughts. For example, in today's recording, I impersonated Toshio Saburi, but Saburi's left hand is set to have rheumatism. That's why his hand looks strange. But why do he smack his stomach with his hand to express anger? I find those thought processes that I don't have interesting, and I want to know about them.
I don't know what "real" means in theater, but directors often ask me to do nothing. To not do anything unnecessary. In the end, that means exposing yourself. For me, that means exposing the way I've lived for the last 35 years. I think, "What's the point of exposing my shitty life?", so I'm not sure about that yet.
Fujiwara : Ah, so doing nothing means revealing your true self.
Takeya : Also, there are so many other people living inside of me.
Fujiwara : As a result of doing a lot of impersonations, many different people live inside Takeya. lol When I hear that, I think that not only actors but everyone may be too concerned about "having to compete on their own". I think borrowing from others is also a skill or talent. I'm also an editor, so in a sense my job is to borrow from others, as I request manuscripts, edit the collected words, and package them. It might be similar to the feeling of putting other people's words into my body. In the end, I think that who I am now is made up of an accumulation of many other people. I don't think that necessarily makes me any less original.
Meanwhile, the mentaiko mayo pizza was done.
Fujiwara : Actually, the other day I ordered something with mentaiko as a snack to go with my sake. The lady at the restaurant seemed to misunderstand, and said with a big smile, "Mentaiko mayo pizza!" But she was smiling so much that I couldn't say "No, it's not that." So I accepted her big smile and tried eating pizza while drinking sake, and it was... unexpectedly delicious... lol
Well, go ahead and try it.
Takeya : Ah, it's good!!
Fujiwara : It's delicious, right? So I thought I understood the meaning of that big smile. I guess he must be confident about it. lol
Learning from the performing arts: the “popularity” of theater
Fujiwara : Come to think of it, it was actually when Takeya visited Beppu a few years ago that he first became acquainted with the theme of "entertainment."
Takeya : I see! I'm from Oita.
Fujiwara : Oh, is that so?
I was shown the "Eikyuu Beppu Theater", a theater that was renovated from a former strip club. For example, Chelfitsch also performs "The Spirit of an Actress" at this theater. At that time, I thought that performing at a place like this might bring me closer to the world of entertainment rather than art. The first person that immediately came to mind was Takeya Kimio. I'm sure he would be able to easily imitate Ichikawa Sadanji's dirty jokes there...
Takeya : Lol. I want to do it!
Fujiwara : Also, when I went to Ainoshima in Kitakyushu, I happened to meet a local child and ended up visiting his house. When I entered the house, the sliding doors slid open and an old man holding an accordion said, "Welcome," and immediately started performing.
Takeya : Eh?! That's really funny. Lol
Fujiwara : It was like, an accordion and castanets or something, and you play with your whole body...
Takeya : I think I may have seen that person on Takeshi's show...!
Fujiwara : Ah! I'm sure he said he appeared on Takeshi's show. lol
Takeya : Eh! Are you really that person? Amazing!
Fujiwara : Yes, I was a celebrity on the island. That's when I felt like, "This is what entertainment is!"
Takeya : I really want to do that. I think it's interesting when the actor and the role overlap on stage. Even kabuki actors were called riverside beggars hundreds of years ago, and kabuki was performed on the riverside or in popular entertainment halls. Even when I actually read a kabuki script, the characters' human quotient is low, perhaps because of their human feelings and obligations... lol
Fujiwara : The "Sannin Kichiza" Kinoshita Kabuki production that Takeya-san appeared in recently also had many developments that made me want to say, "Hey, wait a minute!" (laughs)
Takeya : Yes. I think you shouldn't say "I'll drop 100 ryo." But I think there are a lot of funny things, bad parts, and missing parts of people who get excited because they have 100 ryo and go out of their way to say it, and this is not limited to Kabuki.
I like actors who can express the flaws in human beings, but because they are on stage, I think that sometimes their acting becomes highbrow. I am interested in how to eliminate that loftiness and make it flawed.
Fujiwara : Making something high-brow also has the aspect of "cutting ties with the audience." I don't want to deny that art has a certain strength, because we've been bombarded with such artworks up until now, and I think that refined artistic expression is necessary in life. But relying on existing artistic styles and resting on the loftiness that will occur if left unchecked feels like closing yourself off in a shell, and I don't find it interesting. I think it's difficult, but not impossible, for the creators of expression to maintain high artistic quality while also having an entertainment-like awareness of interacting with the audience.
Also, the term "riverside beggars" was mentioned earlier, but I think there is something resilient about the performing arts that have managed to survive that way. It may be that performing arts are something that people who are a little out of touch with the world are doing to survive. By the way, the old man with the accordion in Ainoshima that I saw seemed to have reached the pinnacle of performing arts. (laughs)
Takeya : I love that kind of vulgar feel.
Fujiwara : I thought so. I can tell by watching Takeya-san's acting. I like people who put their bodies on the line, whether they are actors, or people who speak out.
Takeya : I want to try harder too. I want to bend my body more, lower my center of gravity, and deliver my lines while sweating.
After this, regular customer Yoshida Kentaro appeared!
Fujiwara : In that case, the reason I like bars is because they're full of worldly things.
Takeya : I also want to play more mundane roles, but I can't seem to find one. But I liked the role of the "old man" I played in "The Absence of Jimmy the Neighbor" at Okazaki Art Theatre . I don't know what he's saying, but he has a fever. lol
Fujiwara : I like that guy too. But the interesting people you meet at the bar are people like that.
Takeya : I have a lot of impersonation costumes today, so maybe I could do a bar man... lol
Fujiwara : Oh! I want to see that! Let's do it!
So,
Bonus video: "Drinking with Yoshida Kentaro (played by Takeya as an ordinary person)"
Fujiwara : Wow, thank you for your hard work! Haha. By the way, have you tried the stew that the manager recommended?
Takeya : I was really curious about it. Let's eat!
Fujiwara : After all, a restaurant that serves good stews is great.
The impersonation video is finally released!
Fujiwara : As Yoko Ono said at the beginning, the impersonations we recorded today focused on famous actors from the Showa era. I think there are few people today who are as interested in famous actors from the Showa era as Takeya-san...
Takeya : That's true. But that's why I think it's important to pass it on as a traditional art form.
Fujiwara : Even so, today I saw the possibility that something new could be born from Takeya's imitation.
Takeya : I'm glad to hear that. Thank you. Actually, I had put my impersonations on hold. But, I found out from the last MAGCUL.NET project that there was a surprising demand for them, and since many actors are passing away, I really feel that we need to pass them on to the next generation. So, I'm thinking of doing impersonations not as a comedy, but as a traditional art form. lol
The second installment of the series! Please click here to see "Takeya Kimio's Impersonation Show Vol. 2."
Here's the information about the store.
The food we had this time was...
And what's today's recommendation?
National Bar Jientorman Kamiooka Branch
http://tabelog.com/kanagawa/A1401/A140307/14015158/
Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama City Konan Ward Kamiooka Nishi 1-15-1 Kamio 1F
TEL : 045-843-5964
Closed : Irregular holidays (about twice a year, such as when Kamio's building is under inspection)
Business hours : 10:00-22:00
Access : 2 minutes walk from Kamiooka Station on the Keikyu Line or Yokohama Municipal Subway
