Kabuki

I had a chance to see a performance at Kabuki-za, the famous theater for Kabuki located in the Ginza district of Tokyo. The building has a very interesting look which I would describe as a combination of French Bell Epoque and traditional Japanese Temple design.

It seems to have been destroyed and rebuilt many times since it's construction in 1889 and I understand this cycle will be repeated in 2010 with a three year hiatus till its reopening.

Kabuki is very much a product of the newly affluent urban class of the Tokugawa era who desired an art form of their own. Unlike the symbolic plays of Noh Theater reserved for Samurai, Kabuki reflected the lives of its patrons and focused on common themes like love, social issues of the day and class conflicts.

Reminiscent of the environment at the Globe Theater for Shakespeare's plays, Kabuki tended to have a lively audience that interacted with the actors. In true egalitarian fashion we brown bagged our lunch from the nearby Mitsukoshi department store and ate it in our seats during intermission.

I saw two plays with the second one featuring a Living National Treasure, a designation given to extraordinary artists and craftsmen practicing traditional arts. I was even able to understand the drama thanks to a device that played English commentary in my ear.

During intermission advertisements were shown by means of beautiful curtains that fell over the stage. This one is for IBM Japan.

The person credited with founding Kabuki is Izumo no Okuni, a Noh performer who after the cataclysmic Battle of Sekigahra, visited Kyoto with her troupe to raise money. In 1603 on the dry riverbed of the Kamogawa she thrilled audiences with her performance in male costumes. I ran across this statue near that spot, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the event on a morning bike ride in Kyoto.