Goze: messages from the spiritual world 瞽女:見えない世界からのメッセージ
Traveling entertainers who are blind, such as gozes, appear in historical documents from the Muromachi period. During the Edo period, groups of women with sight impairments were scattered throughout the country. In the Middle Ages, these blind women sang “Soga Monogatari” to the accompaniment of drums; however, after the Edo period, they started using the shamisen as an accompaniment instrument. They were also active healers and counselors. In more recent times, modernization caused the number of goze to decrease, and in 2005, Haru Kobayashi, who was known as “the last goze,” passed away. This section introduces the role of these blind women and the significance of their culture today, using the term “spiritual world” as a keyword.
Listen carefully and touch firmly（じっくり聴いて、しっかりさわる）
Blind women live in a world of sounds and voices. In this section, “Commentary by Voice” (narrated by Kojiro Hirose) corresponds to the three sections “Walking,” “Creating,” and “Communicating.” With sound and voice, gozes portray the world in which they live and point to the world in which the villagers live. This “Commentary by Voice” enables us to relive the rich auditory world of these blind women. In this section, visitors can touch the exhibited materials that are within their reach (except the mannequin). Touching refers to the connection between a person and an object. To promote awareness of the sense of touch, information on each interpretive panel is provided in Japanese braille, a phonetic script used by people with sight impairments.
Walking – A journey of the goze（歩くー瞽女の旅）
Since the Meiji era, organized activities for women with sight impairments have only been found in the Niigata Prefecture. Although Nagaoka and Takada are known as the centers of these activities, these blind women also traveled to the Tohoku and Kanto regions. They usually traveled in groups of three to five, and some records indicate that they traveled more than 300 days a year. Led by a “tebiki” (a guide with either poor vision or clear sight), the blind women would place their hands on the luggage of those walking in front of them and continue their journey from village to village. As the woman walks, she mobilizes all the senses in her body, including touch and hearing, to capture information about the surroundings. The accumulation of the experience of walking has undoubtedly given the blind women’s songs a specific essence.
Creating the sound of Goze Uta（創るー瞽女唄の響き）
In early modern times, the goze (blind women) reconstruct raw materials, such as sekkyobushi and joruri, to develop a variety of goze songs. They also performed gidayubushi, nagauta, and manzai, in response to villagers’ requests. Saimon-matsuzaka (Danmono) and Kudoki are representative goze songs; these form part of oral literature in which a long story is recited to the accompaniment of shamisen music. By comparing the “narratives” of the three goze singers, who were designated as holders of intangible cultural assets in the 1970s, one realizes the charm of goze songs, which are rich in variety.
A typical goze song “Kuzunoha Kowakare” performed by three gozes
Take Ihira (1886–1977)
Echigo blind female goze kudoki “Shikatanashi no gokuraku” (July 11, 1973, Kashiwazaki Sangyo Kaikan), courtesy of Kashiwazaki Municipal Museum.
Kikui Sugimoto (1898–1983)
private record “Goze” (1973, supervised by Shinichi Saito), courtesy of Goze Museum Takada.
Haru Kobayashi (1900–2005)
DVD “Kobayashi Haru: Full-length Enthusiastic Singing” (Association to Honor Goze Culture, 2007) provided by BSN Niigata Broadcasting.
Traveling preparation of goze（瞽女の旅支度）
A large package of daily necessities wrapped in a furoshiki (wrapping cloth) is a characteristic accompaniment of traveling goze. The following is a quote from two gozes: “You never know who is watching you or where they are watching you. When you become a goze, you want to be a full-fledged master goze immediately, wearing a topknot, a tortoiseshell hairpin, a patterned kimono, a leather-lined shamisen, and a tortoiseshell plectrum. It is human nature.” Their large baggage indicates “self-reliance” is embedded within them.
The images in this exhibition are from the following sources:
Photo by Kazumi Shimotori ©The Niigata Nippo (Courtesy of Goze museum Takada)
Rice bag experience（米袋体験）
Generally, villagers give rice as a thank you for listening to a goze’s songs. For those who are “waiting” for them, the blind performers continue their journey on steep mountain paths. The villagers prepare rice to welcome them, upon their arrival; these actions indicate the unspoken mutual support. The rice collected by the performers was the fruit of the goodwill of many people and was called “goze-no-hyakunin-mai” (one hundred blind people’s rice) and was highly prized. Three blind people would visit six houses at a time and receive one cup of rice in a bowl or teacup, which means 18 cups (2,700 g) of rice would be collected. For villagers, experiencing the weight of the rice helps them to imagine the weight that the gozes carry.
The images in this exhibit are from the following:
Photo by Kazumi Shimotori ©The Niigata Nippo (Courtesy of Goze museum Takada)
About the artwork “Inside and Outside of My Navel”（ アート作品「わたしのおへそのうちとそと」 について）
An artist, Nagisora was inspired by one of the blind women’s songs, “Navel hole mouth telling,” to create her artwork. Obscene and comical, “Navel hole mouth telling” often enlivened banquets. Nagisora felt that the navel hole was a projection of the “femininity” of blind women. The navel hole is located in the center of the body, but is usually not in contact with the outside world. This hole is also an entrance into the invisible interior of the body. Where does the navel hole lead?
What does the navel hole lead to, and what does the inside of the human body look like? From the visible surface to invisible depths. We hope you will discuss this work with these questions in mind.
Inside and Outside of My Navel（わたしのおへそのうちとそと）
By Nagisora, Hiroshima, Japan, dated 2024, Private collection
Introduction of the artist Nagisora
Born in Osaka in 1999 and currently enrolled at the Sculpture Laboratory, Graduate School of Art, Hiroshima City University, Japan, the artist captures the invisible existence and sense of history and human relations of land and things from various perspectives. She also attempts to develop them into sculptures through a variety of media. Her work is not limited to sculpture and her field of expertise also includes performance, installation, manga, and a wide range of other forms. This artist is always pursuing new opportunities for expression.
Navel hole seduction lyrics（『へそ穴口説き』 歌詞）
Author unknown
These lyrics are taken from a booklet accompanying the DVD “Goze-san no uta ga kikoeru” (Chikyu-mura Ltd.). The DVD was a documentary on the real lives of Kikui Sugimoto and her friends in 1971. The director, Yoshio Ito, speculates that the lyrics of the song, “Teishu Daiji ni” may have originally been “Tensho Daijin”. Misunderstandings and changes in the lyrics are a characteristic of non-literal storytelling, but it is interesting to note that the god somehow became “Teishu” (the head of the household). Interestingly, goze-uta, which is transmitted from the mouth to the ear, nurtures the free and flexible imagination of listeners.