Chloé Viatte: Learning the Japanese Language Through a Passion for Puppet Theater

First Encounter

For many people around the world, their first encounter with Japanese culture is via manga, anime, or video games. For Chloé Viatte, however, this came through a Japanese classmate in her Paris primary school. She discovered a new language and culture in visits to her friend’s house.

In the otherworldly atmosphere of the living room, NHK programs played in the background and her friend showed her notebooks filled with kanji characters. She even received a kimono that her friend had worn at the Shichi-Go-San ceremony for children. This introduction to an unknown culture at a tender age led her to specialize in Japanese at university more than a decade later.

“My teacher always said that ‘kanji are your friends,’ and the class hated her for that,” Chloé laughs. “But I’m grateful to her for being so demanding.”

(© Nippon.com)

Diving In

Naturally, the written language is one thing and conversation another. The only way to improve the latter is to dive right in. A simple search of the classified ads using the keyword Japon, along with a cheerful attitude and a touch of boldness, secured Chloé a series of jobs, including working in the Hermès showroom. There she liaised between artisans and major Japanese customers, assisted at a Japanese designer’s show, and accompanied members of the Kanze school, the most prestigious school of nō theater, on their tour of the French capital.

Working backstage in nō theater, it was not necessary to know every turn of phrase and honorific term. She improved her Japanese in that work environment, where what was really needed was an understanding of the performing world. Here, she benefited from her 20 years of ballet experience since her school days. Her passion for performance led her on to discover classical puppet theater a few years later, after moving to Japan.

Art of Puppets

One name for Japan’s classical puppet theater is ningyō jōruri; here, ningyō means “puppets,” while jōruri refers to chanting accompanied by music on the shamisen. The art, dating back to seventeenth-century Kyoto, barely exists in its original form. One of the last troupes to perform is called Saruhachiza, named after the small settlement of Saruhachi on the island of Sado in Niigata Prefecture where it is based. Once prosperous due to its gold mines, which were registered as UNESCO World Heritage in the summer of 2024, Sado enjoys a rich natural environment and is home to cultural traditions that have been preserved thanks to its position on the periphery of Japan. “The term bunraku is often used to refer to traditional puppetry,” Chloé explains, “but bunraku emerged after ningyō jōruri and contributed to the disappearance of the old forms. For a troupe wanting to return to the roots of puppet theater, basing itself in Sado was fundamental.”

(© Nippon.com)

Chloé was invited to attend a rehearsal in the city of Niigata. “I didn’t understand very much of the show, but I thought it was fantastic because of the atmosphere,” she remembers. Saruhachiza was looking for new members to help put on a play that would go on to be performed at the British Museum in London. It did not matter that she had no experience or that she was not Japanese, as curiosity was enough. The puppets welcome everyone with open—although small—arms. It is true that there are not many women and young people, but this is not due to particular restrictions.

In 2009, Chloé joined Saruhachiza as a puppeteer, and she remains a member to this day. She was given the stage name Yasato (八里), which can alternatively be read as “Pari,” in homage to her home city. All members have a name incorporating one of the two characters in Saruhachi (猿, monkey, and 八, eight).

Thus, Chloé’s approach to picking up a new language and culture was to take up an art with centuries of tradition.

Tough Challenges

After becoming a member of the troupe, Chloé’s Japanese ability made lightning progress, not least because of the difficulty of her “lessons.” Most of the plays Saruhachiza performs were written by the great playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1724), and nothing is altered from the original language. Chloé had to decipher, read, and ultimately understand the old language describing what was happening in each scene.

(© Nippon.com)

Her enthusiasm for taking on tough challenges means that she will not complain when she receives a text written in cursive Japanese. Dictionary in hand and sweat on her brow, she immerses herself in the works she is set to perform. But it is not enough to know how to read. She makes the effort to translate the plays into French, partly to refine her understanding of the Japanese and partly to gain a full understanding of all the scenes.

“The puppets have to move in time with the text recited by the narrator, so you need to master it perfectly by ear to perform it accurately,” Chloé says. “While we’re getting ready for a show, I always need a lot of time to assimilate the plays—to memorize and become familiar with the text.”

There is also the problem of finding the subject of each sentence. Who is speaking? Is it a character or the narrator? There are no stage directions, so her translations into French are sometimes littered with errors. Fortunately, these can be corrected in rehearsals, but she also learns there to improvise. Chloé compares a puppet play with jazz.

“There’s no set choreography, like ‘when you hear this, you do that.’ During rehearsals, we agree on certain places to be fixed at different times, which are key moments in the action, but between them everything is improvisation and freedom.”

Her face hidden from the audience, Chloé is dressed all in black. She holds a puppet representing the pirate Koxinga in Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s play about the historical figure on October 19, 2024, in Hirado, Nagasaki. The narrator is on the right, holding a shamisen. (Courtesy of Chloé Viatte)

Timeless Emotions

A stage that is almost bare, “unseen” black-clad puppeteers, a shamisen resonating in the silence, and small wooden puppets in motion. This minimalist performance represents a complex art form inviting deeper immersion in the nation’s culture. Chloé is highly satisfied.

“I’ve learned so much about Japan’s performing arts, history, literature, language, Buddhism, and male-female relationships. Ways of crying, holding a sword or halberd, using a loom, sewing a kimono, and even sculpting and tying knots. It’s a never-ending and absolutely fascinating learning process.”

The troupe also regularly creates its own works. “We created some based on the fantastic works of Lafcadio Hearn, which had never previously been adapted to puppet theater,” Chloé says.

(© Nippon.com)

In 2008, Japan’s classical puppet theater was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. However, this has not halted its decline, as it struggles to attract younger audiences. “Most of the stories don’t relate to our modern concerns,” Chloé comments. “But what’s interesting is the permanence of universal, timeless emotions like love, devotion, pride, and greed. This is where we can make a connection with all audiences. Children, too, are fond of it.”

It may be easier to attract tourists and foreign residents looking for an authentic Japanese experience. Additionally, both Japanese and foreign researchers are interested in this form of theater, as they try to understand the world of the arts and how people thought in the Edo period (1603–1868).

Climbing the Mountain

Offstage, Chloé is associate professor of French at Juntendō University in Tokyo. She is also a public figure, appearing on NHK on television and radio. Diving into difficult situations means she can make great strides, whether she is improvising on a live show or learning a Japanese script by heart. The latter has helped her to correct language tics, including particularly confusion between particles like wa and ga, or ni and de.

“To learn Japanese, which is the complete opposite of French, it’s best not to shrink back from difficulties, but to face up to the mountain in front of you. And you have to know that there are stages, a bit like the rest stops while climbing Mount Fuji. That’s when you take a breath and set new challenges, so you don’t stagnate. But the most important thing of all is that your challenges should give you pleasure, because pleasure is the key to success in learning and in life in general.”

(© Nippon.com)

(Originally published in French on December 7, 2024. Banner photo: Chloé Viatte in action as a puppeteer. Photographs in collage all © Chloé Viatte.)