Vince Aldraine A.

Chiquino 8-Einstein
KABUKI
Kabuki  is classical Japanese dance-drama, known for the elaborate make-up worn by some of
its all-male performers. Kabuki was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists
in 2005.
The individual kanji, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill . Kabuki is therefore
sometimes translated as "the art of singing and dancing." The characters, however, are used for
their pronunciation rather than their meaning, and the word kabuki is believed to derive from the
verb kabuku, meaning "to lean" or "to be out of the ordinary"; kabuki can therefore be interpreted
as "avant-garde" or "bizarre" theatre, just as the expression kabukimono referred originally to
those who dressed and behaved bizarrely.

HISTORY OF KABUKI

1603–1629: Female kabuki

The history of kabuki began in 1603 when a woman named Izumo no Okuni (Okuni of Izumo),
possibly a shaman, began performing a new style of dance drama in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto,
leading to the creation of the genre. Japan was under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Okuni led a group of female performers who played both male and female roles in comic
sketches about everyday life. The style was immediately popular and rival troupes soon
appeared.

The earliest portrait of Izumo no Okuni, the founder of kabuki (1600s)

Kabuki became a common form of entertainment in the Yoshiwara, the registered red-light
district in Edo. The shogunate became increasingly concerned about the mischief surrounding
kabuki, and particularly the mixing of social classes at kabuki performances. Women were
therefore banned from the stage in 1629, and young boys took their place, performing in became
known as youth kabuki (wakashu-kabuki). The shogun government soon banned wakashu-
kabuki as well, and required all actors to be adult males. Kabuki thus became known as yarō-
kabuki. Male actors now played both female and male characters. The form remained popular,
remaining a focus of urban entertainment until modern times. In 2003, a statue of Okuni was
erected near Kyoto's Pontochō district.

1629–1673: Transition to yarō kabuki

The art of the onnagata  or oyama, male specialists in playing female roles, was born. The
emphasis of the performance was increased on drama rather than dance. The shogunate to ban
first onnagata and then wakashu roles.

1673–1841: The golden age

Kabuki theatre and ningyō jōruri, the elaborate form of puppet theatre known as bunraku,
became closely associated with each other. Chikamatsu Monzaemon, one of the first professional
kabuki playwrights, produced several influential works. Actor Ichikawa Danjūrō also lived
during this time; he is credited with the development of the mie, a dramatic pose struck by
kabuki actors at significant moments in plays, and mask-like kumadori make-up.
The two Kabuki actors Bando Zenji and Sawamura Yodogoro; 1794, fifth month by Sharaku

1842–1868: The Saruwaka-chō kabuki

Many fires struck Edo in the 1840s, and kabuki theatres, traditionally made of wood, were
frequently affected. When the area that housed the Nakamura-za was completely destroyed in
1841, the shogun refused to allow the theatre to rebuild. These factors, along with strict
regulations, pushed much of kabuki underground, with performances changing locations to avoid
the authorities.
Brooklyn Museum - Kabuki Scene (Diptych) - Hokushu
Kabuki after the Meiji period

Beginning in 1868 enormous cultural changes, such as the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, the
elimination of the samurai class, and the opening of Japan to the West, helped to spark kabuki's
re-emergence. They ultimately proved successful in this regard: on April 21, 1887, the Meiji
Emperor sponsored a performance.
After World War II, the occupying forces briefly banned kabuki. However, by 1947 the ban had
been rescinded.
ACTING ELEMENTS

Two major acting styles

1. Aragoto- bombastic style of role actor exaggerates words, gestures, makeup and costumes
2. Wagoto- realistic speech and gestures Mie- pictorial posture assuming a stare while crossing
the eyes

Actors used an old fashion language which is difficult to understand even for some Japanese
people and they spoke in a monotonous voice. They are accompanied by traditional Japanese
intstruments.
Actors will paint their faces during their performance.
Red lines- passion, heroism, and other positive traits
Blue/Black- Villain and jealousy
Purple- nobility
Green- supernatural
KABUKI TODAY

Today, kabuki is the most popular of the traditional styles of Japanese drama, and its star actors
often appear in television and film roles. For example, well-known onnagata Bandō Tamasaburō
V has appeared in several non-kabuki plays and movies, often in female roles. Kabuki also
appears in works of modern Japanese popular culture such as anime.
In addition to the handful of major theatres in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, there are many smaller
theatres in Osaka and throughout the country. Some local kabuki troupes today use female
actors, but professional kabuki remains an all-male art.
Interest in kabuki has spread in the West. Kabuki troupes regularly tour Europe and America,
and there have been several kabuki-themed productions of canonical Western plays such as those
of Shakespeare. The introduction of earphone guides in 1975, including an English version in
1982, helped broaden the art's appeal. As a result, in 1991 Tokyo's Kabuki-za began year-round
performances and, in 2005, began marketing kabuki cinema films.

ELEMENTS OF KABUKI

Stage design

The kabuki stage features a projection called a hanamichi (literally, flower path), a walkway
which extends into the audience and via which dramatic entrances and exits are made. The
hanamichi is not only used as a walkway, but important scenes are also played on it. Kabuki
stages and theatres have steadily become more technologically sophisticated, and innovations
including revolving stages and trap doors were introduced during the 18th century. A driving
force has been the desire to manifest one frequent theme of kabuki theatre, that of the sudden,
dramatic revelation or transformation.

Scenery changes are sometimes made mid-scene, while the actors remain on stage and the
curtain stays open. It is also common for stagehands to be fully visible onstage; these kuroko are
always dressed entirely in black and are traditionally considered invisible. Stagehands also assist
in a variety of quick costume changes known as hayagawari (quick change technique), which is
employed when a character's true nature is suddenly revealed. The technique involves layering
one costume over another. Threads holding the layers in place are subtly removed as the actor
moves about the stage, culminating in a sudden change of costume effected with the assistance of
a kuroko.
Performance
The three main categories of kabuki play are jidai-mono (history|historical, or pre-Sengoku
period stories), sewa-mono (domestic, or post-Sengoku stories) and shosagoto (dance pieces).

Jidaimono, or history plays, are set within the context of major events in Japanese history. Strict
censorship laws during the Edo period prohibited the representation of contemporary events and
particularly prohibited criticising the shogunate or casting it in a bad light. Many plays of the
time were therefore set in the context of the Genpei War of the 1180s, the Nanboku-chō Wars of
the 1330s, or other historical events, often using these historical settings as metaphors for
contemporary events. Kanadehon Chūshingura, one of the most famous plays in the kabuki
repertoire, serves as an excellent example; it is ostensibly set in the 1330s, though it actually
depicts the contemporary (18th century) affair of the revenge of the 47 Ronin.

Unlike jidaimono which generally focused upon the samurai class, sewamono focused primarily

upon commoners, namely chonin (townsmen) and peasants. Some of the most
famous sewamono are the shinjū (love suicide) plays, adapted from works by
the bunraku playwright Chikamatsu; these center on romantic couples who cannot be together in
life due to various circumstances and who therefore decide to be together in death instead.

Important elements of kabuki include the mie , in which the actor holds a picturesque pose to
establish his character. At this point his house name (yagō) is sometimes heard in loud shout
(kakegoe) from an expert audience member, serving both to express and enhance the audience's
appreciation of the actor's achievement and to encourage the actor.

Kabuki makeup (kumadori) is easily recognizable even by those unfamiliar with the art form.
Rice powder is used to create the white oshiroi base, and kumadorienhances or exaggerates
facial lines to produce dramatic animal or supernatural masks. The color of the kumadori is an
expression of the character's nature: red lines are used to indicate passion, heroism,
righteousness, and other positive traits; blue or black, villainy, jealousy, and other negative traits;
green, the supernatural; and purple, nobility.
PLAY STRUCTURE

Kabuki, like other traditional forms of drama in Japan and other cultures, was (and sometimes
still is) performed in full-day programs. The structure of the full-day program, like the structure
of the plays themselves, was derived largely from the conventions of bunraku and Noh,
conventions which also appear in other traditional Japanese arts. Chief among these is the
concept of jo-ha-kyū , which states that dramatic pacing should start slow, speed up, and end
quickly. The concept, elaborated on at length by master Noh playwright Zeami, governs not only
the actions of the actors, but also the structure of the play as well as the structure of scenes and
plays within a day-long program.

Nearly every full-length play occupies five acts. The first corresponds to jo, an auspicious and
slow opening which introduces the audience to the characters and the plot. The next three acts
correspond to ha, speeding events up, culminating in a great moment of drama or tragedy in the
third act and possibly a battle in the second and/or fourth acts. The final act, corresponding
to kyu, is almost always short, providing a quick and satisfying conclusion.[6]

FAMOUS PLAYS

Kanadehon Chūshingura (Treasury of Loyal Retainers) is the famous story of the Forty-seven

Rōnin who track down their lord's killer, and exact revenge upon him before committing
seppuku.

Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees) follows Minamoto no
Yoshitsune as he flees from agents of his brother Minamoto no Yoritomo. Three Taira clan
generals supposed killed in the Genpei War figure prominently, as their deaths ensure a complete
end to the war and the arrival of peace.

Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami (Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy) is based on the life
of famed scholar Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), who is exiled from Kyoto, and upon his
death causes a number of calamities in the capital. He is then deified as Tenjin, divine spirit of
scholarship.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Kabuki" in Frederic, Louis (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard

University Press.

Frederic, Louis (2002). "Aragoto", "Wagoto". Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge, Massachusetts:

Harvard University Press

Kincaid, Zoe (1925). Kabuki: The Popular Stage of Japan. London: MacMillan and Co. pp21-22.