Yosegi Marquetry, a Japanese Woodcraft
“Yosegi-zaiku” is the traditional Japanese marquetry technique which originated during the Edo period.
Kabuki – the Japanese Classical Theatre
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There are currently, four types of traditional theater still performed in Japan (Noh, Kyogen, Kabuki and Bunraku), and Kabuki is the most famous and popular amongst them. The image above is one of the performances of the Dankikusai, a month long Kabuki festival held at Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo. It started in 1936 to commemorate the outstanding achievements of dramatic giants in the Meiji Period (1868-1911).
Izumo no Ōkuni (a supposed descendant of Uzume-no-Mikoto, the Goddess of Mirth of the Japanese mythology) was the originator of the kabuki. Ōkuni was probably a priestess at the Grand Shrine of Izumo, who began performing this new style of dancing, singing, and acting in Kyoto. The style became immediately popular, and Ōkuni was asked to perform before the Imperial Court. In the wake of such success, rival troupes quickly formed, and kabuki was born as an ensemble dance and drama performed by women.
Yet, the sensuous character of the dances (and the prostitution of the actors) proved to be too disruptive for the government, which in 1629 banned women from performing. Young boys dressed as women then performed the programs, but this type of Kabuki was suppressed in 1652, again because of concern for morals. Finally, older men took over the roles, and it is this form of all-male entertainment that has endured to the present day. Kabuki plays grew in sophistication, and the acting became more subtle.
Bandō Tamasaburō V is a kabuki actor, and the most popular and celebrated onnagata (an actor specializing in female roles) currently on stage. Born in 1950, Bandō made his first appearance on stage at the age of seven. At a shūmei (naming ceremony) in 1964 he became the fifth to take the name Bandō Tamasaburō; his adoptive father had been the fourth. Like royalty, kabuki families can trace their lineages back years and years into the distant past, interrupted only occasionally by an adoption to keep a line going.
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