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Abstract
12 Story boards in a brown envelope illustrating the story of "Bumbuku Chagama" the magic kettle Made of construction paper block printed with colored scenes on front and printed with black kanji (see translation below) on the back with a number and small drawing. A typed translation in English is scotch-taped to the back of each board. (a) Front: Landscape scene with blue sky, gray, yellow, green bushes with pink flowers, a building and bell with roof, kanji in red and black. Back: #1, black illustration shows monk kneeling in front of teakettle. English explanation for #2 (so set can be show together) (b) Front: Monk in white robe kneels in front of brown tea kettle he is holding over a fire, tea utensils on a tray to his left and a tokonoma in the back. Back: #2, black illustration shows monk being bowled over by badger/teakettle. English explanation for picture #3. (c) Front: Monk in white robe is bowled over by brown tea kettle with badger head, tail and legs as he jumps off the fire, scattering tea utensils, yellow background. Back: #3, black illustration shows boys chasing badger/teakettle. English explanation for picture #4. (d) Front: Three boys with headbands dressed in white tops and rosy and black skirts chase with brooms and sticks in their hands the brown badger/teakettle who upsets a cushion, folding book and a tea caddie, yellow background. Back: #4, black illustration shows 4 figures looking at a tea kettle. English explanation for picture #5. (e) Front: On the left the priest and two boys with headbands and one boy on the right holding a broom discuss the brown tea kettle in front of them, green background. Back: #5, black illustration shows 4 figures examining the tea kettle. English explanation for picture #6. (f) Front: At the center is the white-robed priest with black beads kneeling next to a seated man (tinker) with a blue top, brown and white collar, patched pants, holding the brown tea kettle, behind them is one boy kneeling and another peeking out behind a red and white shoji screen, in front is a yellow burden basket. Back: #6, black illustration shows prostrate figure in front of kettle revealed as a badger. English explanation for picture #7. (g) Front: At rear the tinker wearing a red and white robe is lying prostrate looking shocked at the brown badger/tea kettle standing on its legs in front of him, to his left is a white and grey screen with blue kanji and to his right is a lantern and his neck pillow askew. Back: #7, black illustration shows man pointing to tightrope walking badger/kettle in front of a crowd. English explanation for picture #8. (h) Front: At rear the tinker dressed in a blue kimono with green and red vest points to a picture with a yellow background with a brown badger/tea kettle walking on a red tightrope holding a red and white fan in each hand; in front is a crowd of 13 people facing front including a monk with basket on his head, a child on a woman's back and a woman facing backward. Back: #8, black illustration shows kneeling man on stage with badger/teakettle. English explanation for picture #9. (i) Front: The tinker dressed in green kneels on a yellow stage next to the brown badger/teakettle, in front of a crowd of 8 people. Back: #9, black illustration shows tightrope walking badger/teakettle and man below. English explanation for picture #10. (j) Front: The brown badger/teakettle is walking a red tightrope with a red, white & blue parasol in his left paw and a red, white & blue fan in his right; beneath to the left is the tinker dressed in green and blue pointing at the badger with a yellow stick; the background is pink and white stripes with garlands of flowers on either side. Back: #10, black illustration shows badger/teakettle on a ball. English explanation for picture #11. (j) Front: The brown badger/teakettle is performing on stage walking on one leg on a striped yellow, red & green ball while holding a fan in his right paw and a dish spun with a stick in his left; in front is a cheering crowd of people; red and white striped drapes on either side of stage. Back: #11, black illustration shows two men bowing in front of tea kettle. English explanation for picture #12. (k) Front: The white-robed monk and the blue-robed tinker kneel and bow in front of a brown tea kettle on a red cushion, behind them is the tokonoma with a red bowl. Back: #12, black illustration shows bushes and buildings. English explanation is the introduction for the beginning story board #1. Japanese on front translates as "Bumbuku Chagama, 12 scenes, drawn by Hattori Takeo, script by Nakamura Koha, published by Yamagishi Kzuzo, printed at Misumura Printing Co., distributed by Akebono Drama Co., made by Kamishibai Artist Club" (English subtitles are not a direct translation of the Japanese) Bumbuku Chagama story translated from Japanese on the back of the cards: Bumbuku Chagama is a story which is transmitted throughout the year at the temple called Morinji. There is a very mysterious old story about this tea kettle. (change boards) Once upon a time there was a high Buddhist priest named Bumbuku who liked tea very very much. (1) Change voice to sound like a Buddhist priest. "Mm. The shape and the lustre of this tea kettle is so good, the more you look at it the better it looks. I am so happy to get this nice tea kettle and feel lucky about it. The tea prepared in this kettle must taste very good. Let's prepare tea immediately." The Buddhist priest was so very happy buying this new tea kettle, but what happened! (pause a minute) . BC: "Oh, it's so hot, it's so hot, please priest it's so hot!" P: "What, who is it that said it's so hot?" BC: "It's I, priest, it's so hot, it's so hot." (change boards) "Oh, it's so hot." (2) P: " What!" All of a sudden the tea kettle showed a head and tail and started jumping around. The priest was so surprised he fell on his bottom, backward. P: "Waa, catch that thing." (make a noise by knocking) "I'm not going to let you escape." (change boards) (3) (make noise again). Student priests (Kozo) come out with brooms and chased after transformed jumping tea kettle. So the temple became a noisy place. (change boards) (4) P: "Something is very strange. This is the tea kettle I bought. There was no head or tail; it was a legitimate looking tea kettle. What happened to that badger? Where did he disappear to? It's strange, absolutely strange. I think I better sell this tea kettle." (as you change the board) "You came at the right time,Tinker." (5) P: "This tea kettle is something I obtained recently, but I don't like it at all now. I want you to buy this and find somewhere to sell it." T: "This is one of the finest tea kettles I have ever seen. Let me buy it from you." The tinker, who didn't know anything about the strange story of what happened at the temple, bought the tea kettle. But that very same evening... (change boards) (6) (quietly) BC: "Excuse me, excuse me, Tinker San" T: "Ah, ah, ah, you are a badger's ghost." He was shaken up and scared. BC: "Tinker San, please don't get so scared and surprised. I'm not going to hide anything from you. I changed myself from a tea kettle. If somebody puts me over the fire, I will get burned and lose my life. You are a kind and good person I think. So I have a favor to ask you. Please do not sell me. I will reciprocate." T: "Yes, yes. But what do you mean by reciprocate? What are you going to do?" BC: "I will present myself to the magic show and I will do a very interesting and exhibition of talent and you will earn lots of money. Please open the magic show in a little cottage." (change boards) (7) T: "Please come in, please come in. This is the very famous Bumbuku Chagama. This tea kettle has grown a head, tail, and four legs. He can tightrope walk and ride on a ball and do very interesting acts." Crowd outside: "Hmm. This is a very unusual magic show. Let's go in and see" Passersby went into the cottage, one after another and the cottage became filled with people. "Clack, clack" (two sticks are clapped together to open the show) (change boards) (8) BC: "Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Bumbuku Chagama, and I welcome you. From now on I am going to show you interesting acts. Take your time and look at my act and clap." Many people in the audience gave a big hand because it was advertised on the street as a very unusual badger/teakettle. (change boards) (9) BC: "I am going to walk the tightrope. It's very dangerous to my life to walk the tightrope. In my right hand I hold a fan, and in my left is an open parasol. If I cross the rope well please clap." (change boards) (10) BC: "After the tightrope, I will ride on a large ball. On top of this ball I will spin a plate and then I will spin a ball." Audience: "It is a good skill. You are doing well Bumbuku Chagama!" Every day the magic show cottage was filled with clapping. Because the magic show was so popular the Tinker became very rich. (change boards) (11) The Tinker returns to the temple. T: Honorable big priest, this is the tea kettle you sold to me. Because of this tea kettle I became very rich because this tea kettle worked very hard for me. There is too much greed in human beings and there is often no limit to greed. I want this tea kettle to retire and take it easy. So I want you to treat this tea kettle as a temple treasure and always treat it nicely." So the honorable big priest agreed to do that. So Bumbuku Chagama has not changed into a different form and stayed in the temple as a treasure. Story of Bumbuku Chagama or The Magic Tea Kettle A priest at the Morinji Buddhist temple in Tatebayashi, Kotszke was very fond of the tea ceremony and he often looked for beautiful utensils. He polished an old tea kettle he had found at a second hand shop and put it aside. One day as he was admiring the beautifully shaped kettle he fell asleep. Suddenly the tea kettle sprouted a badger head, tail and legs and began to move around. The priest's pupils next door rushed in when they heard a noise and were astonished to see the badger/tea kettle, but when they woke the priest the kettle resumed its former shape. He did not believe what they told him and that evening he decided to make tea with the tea kettle. The kettle got hotter and hotter as the water heated over the brazier and the kettle quickly turned into a badger and jumped away. When they caught up with the kettle it once again resumed its ordinary shape. Thinking that the kettle must be bewitched, the priest decided to get rid of it. He offered to sell it to a tinker (a junkman who fixes items to resell) for a very cheap price. The tinker asked why he would want to sell such a nice kettle cheaply. The priest answered that he had other kettles. Taking the kettle home the tinker believed he had made an excellent deal. That night the tinker was woken by a voice calling him. He looked up to see a kettle with a badger head, tail and feet. The badger/kettle told him that he was not an ordinary kettle, but a badger who could transform himself into a kettle and his name was Bumbuku (Good Luck). He said he was willing to be of service to the man and that the priest had not understood his value and has subjected him to pain. Bumbuku said if he were treated with respect and fed rice cakes he would, in return, perform acrobatic feats and dances. So the tinker built an outdoor theatre and advertised performances of "Bumbuku, The Magic Teakettle of Good Luck, and His Extraordinary Tricks". The most popular trick was when Bumbuku walked across a tight rope, carrying a parasol and a fan. The act became very popular and at the end of twenty days the tinker became rich. He was concerned about overworking Bumbuku and had enough money to be comfortable for the rest of his life. After talking with Bumbuku he took an offering and the kettle back to the priest. He told the priest what had happened and asked if Bumbuku could retire to the temple, be fed rice cakes and not be put over a fire. The priest agreed and put him in an honored place in the temple's treasure house, where he remains to this day.
Title
Object ID
1996.010.033