(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Sayuri Yōko - Wikipedia Jump to content

Sayuri Yōko

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sayuri Yōko
Photograph from "Creative theatre"
Born
Mie Yamashita

September 25, 1901
Takizawa, Toda Village, Hisa-Gun, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
DiedJanuary 13, 1986 (died 84)
Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Occupation(s)Professional Theatre Company President, Actress

Mie Yamashita (in original Japanese: 山下やました みゑ) (September 25, 1901 – January 13, 1986)[1], better known by her stage name Sayuri Yōko (小しょう百ひゃく合ごう 葉子ようこ/さゆり ようこ), was a Japanese theatre company president and actress. She is the founder and chairman of Dandelion, a children's theatre company. She was active as a stage, radio and film actress before and during the war.[1] After the war, she founded a children's theatre company and devoted her life to her company.[2] She was called 'a living witness to children's theatre after the war'.[1][3]

History

[edit]

Early years

[edit]

Sayuri Yōko was born in 1901 in Takizawa, Toda Village, Hikisa County, Shizuoka Prefecture (later Takizawa Town, Kita Ward, Hamamatsu City).[4][5] She lost her father when she was eight years old. Her mother went back to her parents' home, Kawana Village, but Yōko remained where she was as a successor of the family. Although she lived comfortably surrounded by her great-uncle and servants, she left home to live with her mother in Kawana because she missed her. Takizawa and Kawana were only 4 km away, so Yōko grew up in both villages.[6]

A group photo of Kawana Elementary School graduation. Yōko is on the second row from the front and the seventh from the right.

In 1914, after graduating from elementary school, Yōko entered Nishien Jitsugakuen High School (later Nishien Girls' Gakuen) in Hamamatsu City. As a lonely child, when she was in her third year of girls' school, she decided she wanted to become a teacher to support children. However, when she requested documents from the government office to take the entrance examination for the Normal School, it was discovered that her registration on the family register was as a child of illegitimate origin. The father was the eldest son, and the mother was the eldest daughter of a family without a son, and they could not get married formally as successors of their families. Thus, the mother was not a member of the Yamashita family.[7] This forced her to give up her teaching career.[8][9]

Feeling disappointed and that she had no future studying, Yōko went to the principal's office to announce her intention to abandon school. When Iwao Okamoto, the principal of the school, asked about her future after leaving school, Yōko replied, "I will be the worst delinquent in Japan". Okamoto thought about it and said, "At least graduate. If you study, you can become the worst delinquent not just in Japan, but in the whole world". Yōko decided to continue with her education.[7]

While at this girls' school, a play was staged at the Kabuki-za Theatre in Hamamatsu as part of a school event. A troupe of popular actors, including Otojiro Kawakami, visited Hamamatsu to perform "Momotarō".[10] The play was intended for children, and written to be easily understand and funny.[11] Yōko was so fascinated by the world of theatre that even after the play was over she remained transfixed in her seat.[12]

After graduating from the girls' school, Yōko got married. However, in addition to the issue of the family register, the marriage was broken off because there were leprosy patients in the family and at that time leprosy was misunderstood as a genetic disease.[13] Having lost both her dreams of becoming a teacher and her marriage, Yōko decided to leave Hamamatsu to go to the city and work for Osaka City Hall to make a life of her own. At first, she was hired on a temporary basis, but offered to be made permanent in recognition of her hard work. However, the issue of the family register again led to the cancellation of the offer of full employment.[14][15]

Suicide attempt - Recovery

[edit]

In 1923, Yōko left for Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture and attempted to commit suicide in a forest by overdosing on a sedative. However, she survived and was rescued by passers-by and taken to hospital.[16] While recovering in the hospital, she decide to decorate the hospital room with dandelions that bloomed in the hospital's ground. Yōko attempted to dig up the flower in the garden, but the dandelion root was surprisingly thick and long, and she found that it could not be dug up.[16] Reflecting on the flower, Yoko swore to live strong like a dandelion that grows up strong even after being trampled on and produces beautiful blooms. In later years, haiku poet Matarō Kubota presented Yoko with the phrase 'Dandelion Teach Me the Way'.[16]

Towards Theatre

[edit]
Yōko at the age of 30.

After recovering from her suicide attempt, Yōko remembered the stage of Otojirō Kawakami and others she had seen in her school days and aimed for theatre. The idea was that theatre would allow her to spend time with children and restore their dreams.[17] In 1922, Yōko came to Tokyo to study drama, relying on her cousin who lived in Tokyo. At that time, each university in Tokyo had a drama study group, where new plays were studied, and joint performances were held. After relying on her relatives for accommodation, Yōko joined the Surudai Theatre Society of Meiji University where her cousin was a student and devoted herself to the new drama that was under study at the above-mentioned society. At a time when there were few young women and actresses trying to study drama, Yōko's presence was appreciated by the society.[18]

With money sent by her mother, there was no need to worry about daily living expenses. However, after learning of Yōko's desire to become a theatre actor, her mother sent her a letter in which she essentially disowned her, and stopped sending her money. At that time, actors were often referred to by the derrogatory term kawara kojiki. After moving from job to job, Yōko started working as a waitress at a cafe near Shibuya Station, and later at the café "Maruya Western Cuisine" near Shinjuku 3-chōme. "Maruya" was visited almost every day by young artists, painters, and musicians of the time, and Yōko became involved with them. In particular, the writer Seiichi Funahashi liked Yōko's hospitality, knew that she was in the same business, and helped Yōko in many ways. If Yōko and others wanted to perform Funabashi's plays, they would immediately receive permission, and sometimes they would take on the direction themselves.[19] In 1923, she took the stage name 'Sayuri Yōko'.[20]

The study scene at Waseda Children's Theater Study Group. Tsubouchi Shōyō is the second man with a beard from the right in the front row, and Yōko is diagonally behind him on the left.

In 1929, playwright Sadakazu Nakaki learned of Yōko's desire to perform a play that would please children and introduced Yōko to Nakaki's mentor, Tsubouchi Shōyō. When Yōko visited Tsubouchi, she was so impressed by the importance of children's theatre and the development of children through children's theatre that she joined the Waseda Children's Theatre Study Group presided over by Tsubouchi on the same day.[21] Yōko looked up to Tsubouchi as her lifelong mentor, and even after Tsubouchi's death, she rarely missed visiting her grave on the anniversary of her death.[22][23]

The following year, 1930, Yōko started to step on the stage for a new play. It was not a play within the scope of students' hobbies, but a performance by professionals. At the time, Tokyo established several theatre companies, which involved many poets, playwrights, literary figures, painters, and musicians.[24] On the other hand, Yōko meeting with Tsubouchi led to her gradually devoting herself to children's theatre, so the play could not be put into action immediately because it required the cooperation of many people, not only herself.[21]

In 1932, presided over by the Asahi Shimbun, Yōko was to star in a performance in her hometown of Hamamatsu. Moreover, the venue was the Kabuki-za Theatre in Hamamatsu, where Yōko once learned its charm through plays by Otojirō Kawakami. However, Yōko's mother still did not understand her profession as an actor, and Yōko as her biological daughter refused to perform in Hamamatsu, causing trouble to various groups. Okamoto, Yōko's former teacher, went out and persuaded her that Yōko's current occupation was not a low-prestige job, and finally, she was able to obtain her mother's permission.[24]

On stage: "Mrs. Curie". On the left is Yōko and in the middle is Sachiko Murase.

Founding of theatre company

[edit]

Dandelion Theatre Company

[edit]

Okinawa performance

[edit]

Later years

[edit]

See also

[edit]
  • Dandelion Theatre

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c 日外にちがいアソシエーツ 2004, p. 1198
  2. ^ "劇団げきだんたんぽぽ 子こどもたちに笑顔えがおと生いきる力ちからを". 中日新聞ちゅうにちしんぶん (in Japanese). 中日新聞社ちゅうにちしんぶんしゃ. 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  3. ^ 日本にっぽん女性じょせい人名じんめい辞典じてん. 芳賀はが登のぼる他た監修かんしゅう. 日本にっぽん図書としょセンター. 1998-10-25. p. 50. ISBN 978-4-8205-7881-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ "たんぽぽの歩あゆみ". 劇団げきだんたんぽぽ. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  5. ^ 本田ほんだ 1986, pp. 102–105
  6. ^ 浜田はまだ 1985, pp. 6–15
  7. ^ a b 浜田はまだ 1985, pp. 16–23
  8. ^ 本田ほんだ 1986, p. 116
  9. ^ 小百合さゆり 1970, p. 21.
  10. ^ 富田とみた 1976, pp. 291–292
  11. ^ 本田ほんだ 1986, pp. 126–130
  12. ^ 浜田はまだ 1985, pp. 24–25.
  13. ^ 本田ほんだ 1981, pp. 77–78.
  14. ^ 本田ほんだ 1986, pp. 123–125.
  15. ^ 浜田はまだ 1985, pp. 28–30.
  16. ^ a b c 本田ほんだ 1981, p. 83
  17. ^ 杉山すぎやま佳代子かよこ (1995-10-08). "グループ情報じょうほう はじめまして トップインタヴュー" (PDF). ねっとわあく (7). 静岡しずおか県けん生活せいかつ環境かんきょう部ぶ婦人ふじん青少年せいしょうねん課か: 11. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  18. ^ 浜田はまだ 1985, pp. 40–41.
  19. ^ 浜田はまだ 1985, pp. 42–47.
  20. ^ 浜松はままつ市し文化ぶんか振興しんこう財団ざいだん 2015, p. 1
  21. ^ a b 浜田はまだ 1985, pp. 52–57
  22. ^ 本田ほんだ 1986, pp. 146–148.
  23. ^ 小百合さゆり 1970, pp. 39–42.
  24. ^ a b 浜田はまだ 1985, pp. 47–51

Sources

[edit]
  • 浜田はまだけい子こ (1985-06-11). たんぽぽの花はなは野のに山やまに 子こどもにゆめをはこんだ「劇団げきだんたんぽぽ」と小しょう百ひゃく合ごう葉子ようこの40年ねん. くもんのノンフィクション・愛あいのシリーズ (in Japanese). くもん出版しゅっぱん. ISBN 978-4-87576-217-1.
  • 土方ひじかた浩平こうへい (1974-01-20). 信濃毎日新聞しなのまいにちしんぶん社しゃ開発かいはつ局きょく出版しゅっぱん部ぶ編へん (ed.). 長野ながの県けん百科ひゃっか事典じてん (in Japanese). 信濃毎日新聞しなのまいにちしんぶん社しゃ.
  • 本田ほんだ節子せつこ (1981-06-01). 芝居しばいの中なかに"人生じんせい"を綴つづる. 望もち星ぼし (in Japanese). 12 (6). 東海とうかい教育きょういく研究所けんきゅうじょ. NCID AN00363431.
  • 本田ほんだ節子せつこ (1986-11-20). 小しょう百ひゃく合ごう葉子ようこと「たんぽぽ」 (in Japanese). 東海大学とうかいだいがく出版しゅっぱん会かい. ISBN 978-4-486-00956-6.
  • 松尾まつお邦之助くにのすけ (1966-11-01). 引佐いなさ町まち物語ものがたり 遠とお州しゅう郷土きょうど誌し (in Japanese). ふえみなあ社しゃ.
  • 柳川やながわ麗子れいこ (1950-08-01). 二に十じゅう五ご年ねんの情熱じょうねつを新劇しんげきにささげる 小しょう百ひゃく合ごう葉子ようことその劇団げきだん"たんぽぽ". 婦人ふじん倶楽部くらぶ (in Japanese). 31 (8). 講談社こうだんしゃ. NCID AN10268878.
  • 資料しりょう篇へん 3. 芸能げいのう (in Japanese). 11 (4). 芸能げいのう発行はっこう所しょ. 1969-04-10. NCID AN00353405.
  • 第だい一いち回かい『O夫人ふじん児童じどう演劇えんげき賞しょう』小しょう百ひゃく合ごう葉子ようこさんに決定けってい. 児童じどう演劇えんげき (in Japanese) (300). 日本にっぽん児童じどう演劇えんげき協会きょうかい. 1985-11-15. NCID AA11725190.
  • さようなら 小しょう百ひゃく合ごう葉子ようこさん. 児童じどう演劇えんげき (in Japanese) (304). 1986-03-15.
  • 日外にちがいアソシエーツ編へん, ed. (2004-07-26). 20世紀せいき日本人にっぽんじん名めい事典じてん (in Japanese). Vol. 上うえ. 日外にちがいアソシエーツ. ISBN 978-4-8169-1853-7. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  • 浜松はままつ市し史し (in Japanese). Vol. 5. 浜松はままつ市し. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  • 浜松はままつ文芸ぶんげい十じゅう人にんの先駆せんく者しゃ紹介しょうかい (PDF). 浜松はままつ文芸ぶんげい館かんだより いざない (in Japanese) (38). 浜松はままつ市し文化ぶんか振興しんこう財団ざいだん. 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  • 松本まつもと市し史し (in Japanese). Vol. 第だい2巻かん IV. 松本まつもと市し. 1997-09-30.
  • 琉球新報りゅうきゅうしんぽう百ひゃく年ねん史し刊行かんこう委員いいん会かい編へん, ed. (1993-09-15). 琉球新報りゅうきゅうしんぽう百ひゃく年ねん史し (in Japanese). 琉球新報りゅうきゅうしんぽう社しゃ.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sayuri_Yōko&oldid=1232054018"