What is Kabuki / JAPAN in Short

Kabuki (歌舞伎) is believed to have originated in the early Edo period, where Izumo no Okuni , a shrine maiden, developed a new style of dramatic dance and formed an all-female dance troupe in the Kyoto area. The dancers played both the female and male roles, representing comical situations from everyday life. The style became very popular, so Okuni was called to give a presentation before the Imperial Court, which was a resounding success.

And it is that Kabuki (歌舞伎) is often translated as ” the art of singing and dancing ” and it became a common form of entertainment since people from different social classes often gathered to watch the performances, something that was very unique. that did not happen anywhere else in the city of Edo (former Tokyo)

And as almost always when something is so popular, it didn’t take long for rivals to appear, that is, the competition and the environment around kabuki became a bit uncontrolled, even violent at times, which attracted the attention of the Tokugawa shogunate , which brought order with the supposed purpose of protecting public morality and by the year 1629 women were expelled from the kabuki scenes .

Kabuki was still popular but the actors were now male and the genre changed to focus more on drama and not so much on dance. Although this also led to scandals and riots among the young actors so again the shogunate also prohibited the performances of young actors in 1652.

At that time, only adult men could perform kabuki, even interpreting female roles, which is why it became a very sophisticated and appreciated dance form, and its structure has been maintained to the present day.

During this period, the kabuki and ningyō jōruri theaters were associated. Ningyō jōruri was the puppet theater that later became known as bunraku, and each influenced the development of the other. In the middle of the 18th century, kabuki ceased to be the favorite of the time, and bunraku took its place as the first form of entertainment among the lower social classes.

In 1868, with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate , many strong cultural changes took place, which made kabuki resurface with much more force. Many kabuki theaters were destroyed by bombing during World War II, and the occupation forces banned kabuki performances after the war. Although for the year 1974 the prohibition was canceled and the functions began to be carried out again.

In addition to the major theaters in Tokyo and Kyoto, there are many smaller theaters in Osaka, Nagano, and other areas. There are also some kabuki troupes that use actresses in female roles or onnagata , such as the Ichikawa Kabuki-za .

In Japan today, kabuki continues to be relatively popular as it is the most popular of the traditional styles of Japanese drama and its main actors frequently appear in film and television as well.

In 2005, kabuki joined UNESCO’s list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Regarding its elements, kabuki uses an additional part on the stage that is known as hanamichi, which is like a catwalk that extends to the public from where the dramatic entrances and exits are made.

In kabuki, the scenery changes are made in the middle of the scenes. While the actors are still on stage and the curtains are still open, those in charge of placing and removing objects from the stage appear. They are known as kuroko (黒子) since they are always dressed completely in black and are traditionally considered “invisible” all this so that the public is not distracted by their interventions and the charm of the drama is broken

As for the costumes of the kabuki actors, kimono are used that are generally bright and intense colors and underneath they use the necessary layers to create the most successful body shape of the character they are representing. In their wardrobe they also wear a wig or katsura in Japanese. The hair used in wigs is usually real human hair although some wig styles require yak or horse hair.

For the characteristic makeup of Kabuki, rice powder is used to create the white base that is called Oshiroi , and kumadori is the makeup with which the exaggerated facial lines of different patterns are enhanced or exaggerated. The color of the kumadori has to do with the nature of the character: where the red lines are used to indicate passion, heroism, righteousness and other positive traits ; blue or black , to indicate villains, jealousy and other negative traits ; green or brown, for the supernatural ; and purple to indicate nobility in the character .

If you would like to attend a kabuki performance when you come to Japan you can book your ticket in advance from the official Kabuki website .