Blue-Eyed Kabuki Commentator & Entertainment Star Interviewer

Jean WILSON

Millions of people on the JR Higashi Nihon Nagano shinkansen lines, the Narita Express and the new Tsukuba Express have heard the English-language announcements on the trains, but very few know who the speaker is, let alone the fascinating life she is experiencing in Japan. British woman Jean WILSON is the person behind the voice and she has done far more than just guide and instruct countless people on where to alight the trains.

"I thought if I never tried it, I'd never know if I could do it."
Arriving in Japan in 1980, Jean has enjoyed a very wide range of interesting and enjoyable pursuits that most foreigners could only dream of ? she teaches Japanese Culture and English at university, works as a kabuki commentator and theatre critic, writes about Japanese show business and culture, and interviews well-known entertainment stars.

If that weren't enough, Jean narrates the announcements on train lines, was an in-flight DJ on JAL for three years, proofreads legal and other English documents, is a Bible study teacher at her church as well as a color analyst, image consultant and makeup artist.

How did a foreign woman become a train announcer, let alone break into the Japanese entertainment industry? "I joined an agency for narrators and actors," Jean says about how she found the train announcement job. "The client requested a female British voice. The agency sent various sample tapes and my voice was chosen."

Breaking into the entertainment world was a completely different challenge. "It was a combination of chance factors," Jean recalls. "In 1983, the Asahi Evening News asked me to write a weekly column about show business. At that time my show biz knowledge was limited to what I had seen on TV and learned by attending the concerts of my favorite enka singer. My first reaction was to decline immediately, but then I thought if I never tried it I'd never know if I could do it, so I accepted. I never dreamt then that years later I would end up as a kabuki commentator."

At around the same time, Jean was offered a job writing for an English-language magazine specializing in Japanese show business?a job that included interviewing stars, and reviewing theatre performances."

How did she learn Japanese? "I had some basic lessons in my first year here, then for the next three years?I found a karaoke bar where no one spoke English, and I went 3~4 times a week with a notebook and dictionary. The master of the bar had been an enka singer, so I learned enka from him, copying every song down in romaji, and learned Japanese by talking with him and the other customers and through the songs. What I didn't realize was I had learned men's Japanese! So, once someone pointed that out to me I took some Japanese lessons to make my speech more ladylike!"

In February 2001, Jean was invited to a special party organized by the Earphone Guide Company and to her surprise, she was 'scouted' for the kabuki commentary job. "At the party, I met one of the veteran commentators and when she learned about my background and my familiarity with Japanese theatre, she suggested I apply to be a commentator. I had serious doubts about whether I could do the job, but as with the Asahi decision years earlier, I concluded there was only one way to find out ? try it and see. I'm glad I did, even though it's very tough work."

"It's often hard to know who is doing what to whom!"
"A commentator's job is to provide an English commentary that the theatre patrons can listen to while watching a performance," Jean explains. The commentary provides a brief background of the play and explains the events occurring on stage, including history, music, costumes and sets as well as what the characters are saying. "People imagine that we get to meet the kabuki actors themselves, but we do not. Indeed, we are not allowed to be anywhere near them!" Jean says.

How does the commentary work and what are some of the problems Jean encounters? "The script arrives somewhere between 7~14 days before opening day," she explains. "The shorter the time the more pressure there is to complete the work. First, I read the script. In translating, there are difficult kanji and phrases, and as many plays contain complex references to Buddhism, I find religious content is difficult to explain. Also because of the vagueness of classical Japanese in particular, it's often hard to know who is doing what to whom!"

The next step is writing comments, deciding when she wants each comment played and marking the script with a cue for the Japanese theatre operator to know when to play that comment. "Choosing good timing and getting a balance between saying too much and not saying enough is a challenge. After finishing the commentary, I then go to the studio and record it." Is that all? No! There's more!

After recording, she attends the dress rehearsal of the play and listens to her own commentary, checking whether the timing is right. "Sometimes comments are too long and need to be cut," she says. "Sometimes the producer or the actor cuts, changes or adds something and I need to write new comments and go back and record them. Japanese names can cause big problems. Once at rehearsal the producer decided to change the reading of the name of the main character, so I had to re-record almost the whole script!"

"Finally, I attend on opening day, check it again and make further adjustments. The actors often change their pace or style of acting in front of the live audience and also audience applause can make a comment hard to hear, or the audience unexpectedly laughs at something. As far as possible, I want the listener to enjoy the same experience as a Japanese audience member. However that is not always possible because sometimes actors ad lib lines, which differ daily, or because there is simply insufficient time to explain them."

After that, the Japanese operator plays the comments to match the live performance each day. Any new problems are discussed on the phone or she goes to the theatre again. "It's an extremely time-consuming process. I think 'labor of love' is the best description!"

What can people learn or gain from attending a kabuki show? "Kabuki is a wonderful extravaganza of sensual experiences," Jean says, "especially set and costume colors, and sounds ? from the diction of the actors to the whoops and other strange noises the musicians sometimes make, to musical instruments, drums and gongs, to the lusty shouts from audience members in encouragement of the actors."

"I think the best way to get hooked on kabuki is to find an actor you like and then go and see everything he is in. That way you naturally get exposure to the whole spectrum of kabuki ? from the moral dilemmas of duty versus sacrifice in the classical and historical plays, the stories of love and revenge in the Edo-period plays about merchants, gangsters and prostitutes, to the newer types of kabuki with more modern staging, and lots of dances. Whatever you see will deepen your appreciation of Japanese culture and stir your emotions."

It's lonely at the top
Besides working in kabuki, Jean also interviews and/or writes about many well-known personalities. To date these include singers ITSUKI Hiroshi, HIKAWA Kiyoshi, KOBAYASHI Sachiko, SAIJO Hideki, YAMAKAWA Yutaka, TOBA Ichiro, YASHIRO Aki, Judy ONGG, and actors MATSUI Makoto, MATSUDAIRA Ken, TAKAHASHI Hideki and Kane KOSUGI.

Working in the show business and kabuki worlds has taught Jean many interesting things about these people and Japanese culture. "I have been impressed and inspired by how hard most show business people work," she says. "They may make everything seem so easy on the surface, but I have seen how much practice and rehearsal goes on behind the scenes."

"I think one of the most difficult challenges in Japan for a Westerner is to deal with honne and tatemae. Of course we have these in western culture, too, but not to the extent they are found here. When interviewing stars, I have had to learn that their answers are not always what they really think. It irritates me when they give me a set tatemae response, instead of their real opinion; I try to pull a more honest answer out of them, but it doesn't always work."

"The stars are often completely different from their public image, and not always in a positive way. Now I'm a bit nervous about meeting stars I really like in case I'm disappointed! Many boldly perform in front of many people every day but are extremely shy in person. Also many have a hard time communicating about anything except their work."

"Stars are often not the experts on their field of work. I have found that most enka singers, for example, have little knowledge about the history or roots of enka music."

"Some stars see their work as just a job and do not especially like it. This was amazing to me. One singer sang enka because his promotion company had told him to but he does not especially like it. I know of some kabuki actors, too, who act because it's their job. They were born into a kabuki family, but they would never have chosen the work themselves."

"Finally I have learnt that it is very lonely at the top. The more famous people become the more in demand they are, but the less they can trust people because they are always wondering if the other person just wants to know them because of their fame or influence."

Among the highlights of her time in Japan, were being asked by her favorite enka singer, Itsuki Hiroshi, to accompany him on his overseas tours, coach him to sing English songs and interpret for him. “I went from fan to staff to friend," she says. Another highlight was finding that the first full kabuki commentary that she had been assigned was for her favorite kabuki actor.

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