Shared traditions across seas: Japanese artists at Kerala’s Koodiyattam stage
At a time when students enrolling for Koodiyattam in both government and private institutions are just nominal, three female Japanese artistes, made history in the 39 th Koodiyattam festival currently in progress at Ammannur Chachu Chakyar Smaraka Gurukulam, Irinjalakuda.
There have been female Japanese artistes who had donned veshams in different plays in the festival. But what surprised the audience was the staccato beats of the mizhavu being blared out quite inspirationally by Toyomi Iwata.
Right from the customary feat of Mizhavu ochappeduthal (sounding of mizhavu) with which the Koodiyattam stage becomes live, through various stages of abhinaya of Nangiarkooth by Michiko Ono, until the final stroke as the artiste retreated from the stage, Iwano appeared sure and confident of every stroke. Interestingly, their guru, Tomoe Tara Irino was on the kuzhithalam (small cymbals) keeping rhythm and also reciting the two slokas in the play, Madhooka saapam (Madhooka’s curse).
A percussionist’s path into Koodiyattam
A cursory glance of the bio data of these artistes reveals their insatiable passion for the Sanskrit theatre Koodiyattam and its various departments. As for Toyomi, percussion seems to be her meteor. She graduated from the Percussion Department at Kunitachi College of Music, Japan and is about to complete her post graduate studies. Since 2010, she has been a fan of Mizhavu as well as Koodiyattam.
She trained in these art forms under Tomoe. Her passion was such that she underwent the Navarasa Sadhana Course of G Venu at Natanakairali. While Usha Nangiar was her guru in Nangiarkoothu, training in Mizhavu was under V K K Hariharan. She had her Arangettam in both the art-forms in 2018.
She is a regular accompaniment artiste for Tomoe in Japan and also stages solo performances. Further, realising the importance of languages, she is learning both Sanskrit and Malayalam.
Michiko Ono: Devotion forged through practice
A business professional working in mineral resources investments in Tokyo, Michiko Ono’s tryst with Koodiyattam was in Japan when she happened to meet Tomoe. That was way back in 2005. Perhaps what impressed her first was the percussion instrument of Mizhavu.
Her first visit to Kerala was in 2011. Since 2012, except for the COVID interregnum, she has been taking two-week vacations every year to attend the Koodiyattam festival at the Gurukulam. Her Arangettam in Nangiarkooth was in 2018, and since then has performed at the Gurukulam many times. At the Gurukulam, Saritha Krishnakumar is her Guru. As for her performance in Madhoopaka Sapam, she exhibited her artistry in all the ritualistic feats with precision.
From engineering to Sanskrit theatre
Perhaps the senior most among the Japanese artistes and who opened the door of Koodiyattam for others to make a beeline at Irinjalakuda is Tomoe. In the present show, she took the role of keeping rhythm with Kuzhithalam, sitting on the floor.
An electrical engineer by profession, her interest in theatre took her to Irinjalakuda in 1994. Nine years of training here transformed the engineer into a consummate performer of Koodiyattam. Having acquired the skill in all departments of the Sanskrit play, her ambition was to popularise Koodiyattam in Japan. At home, she holds regular workshops and lecture-demonstrations and has seen how the people working in modern theatre are mad about the techniques such as navarasas and hastas.
Fortunately for her, Tomoe was the only Japanese artiste who had the privilege of being trained by Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar, apart from other gurus including G Venu, Usha Nangiar and Ammannur Kuttan Chakyar. Realising the importance of learning Sanskrit and Malayalam, she took lessons in these too.
Over the years she has donned numerous roles in different plays that include Vijaya in Toranayudham, and Lalitha in Soorpanangham, apart from several shows of Nangiarkoothu. Once she presented Govardhanagireesam at Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, Thrissur.
A percussion enthusiast, Tomoe plays bamboo marimba, the traditional instrument of Japan. She has a permanent unit for manufacturing percussion instruments made of bamboo. Her Bamboo Orchestra once performed at the Kerala Sahithya Akademi during its annual celebrations. The show was supported by Kalamandalam Hariharan (mizhavu), Kalanilayam Unnikrishnan (Edakka)and Akshara (talam).
