Culture: Performing
Stylised theatre, masks and 'gender-bending' are but a few of the enigmas
that make the traditional performing arts of Japan so unique.


 
 





 





No
A classical form of theatre preserved from the 14th cent. Kanami (1333-84) and his son are attributed as the major developers of this art form. There is a repertoire of some 240 plays. The principle actors are masked and as in Kabuki there are no women, men take female parts. All of the plays have very simplistic plots and the activity I in a kind of slow-motion. There is much Zen influence and very powerful symbolism. The stage is traditionally eighteen feet wide and the backdrop is always plain except for a painted pine tree. Musical accompaniment comes from three drums and flutes. Kyogen, are the humorous interludes between plays.
The best place for seeing No theatre is in Kyoto.
Kabuki
This form of a more popular theatre was initiated by a young Shinto priestess named Okuni. She began by performing provocative dances close to the Kamo river in Kyoto. The troupe were of men and women who usually played each others parts! The form was considered rather erotic. This was followed by all female Kabuki and continued until 1629 when it was forbidden by the Shogunate. An act was passed that prevented women from acting at all. However, kabuki continued with 'pretty' boys taking all of the parts thus it became known as the 'young man's' kabuki. Again, all was not well, frequent fights broke out with samurai vying for the attention of these young men. So 'boys' were also banned from performing.

Finally it became an adult male only theatre, again with males also taking the women's parts. By the end of the 17th cent. it had developed into a recognised serious theatrical entertainment.


There are three types of play with the musical accompaniment of flute and drums:
  Sewamono
Ordinary tales of people		 Jidaimono
Historical		 Shosagoto
Dance plays
A program usually consisted of three to four different types of play, lasting many hours. The law prohibiting women from acting was rescinded in the mid 19th cent. but still today there are no women to be found in kabuki. Men, called Onnagata specialise in female roles.
Tokyo is considered to be the best place to see kabuki

Bunraku
Is the puppet theatre which dates from the 16th cent. By 1724 the puppets had developed and were half human size, meticulously decorated and each was manipulated by three men. All except the puppet master, have their heads covered in black. Plays by the great dramatist Chikamatsu, are among those most often performed.
Osaka is considered to be the best place to see Bunraku.

Musical Instruments
At Kyoto's Imperial court the formal music was called gagaku, 'elegant music'. The orchestra was comprised of pipes and strings.
Flute
Often made of bamboo, only played by men.

A modern day Koto player
Shakuhachi
 Vertical bamboo flute, often played by mendicant monks
Biwa
 A kind of lute with four or sometimes five strings. Samurai favoured the music of the biwa and shakuhachi.
Shamisen
 A long necked, three stringed lute played with a plectrum. Also played by geisha.
Koto
 A wooden zither of thirteen strings. Both the koto and shamisen were often played by blind musicians.