Traditional Japanese theatre includes kabuki, noh and bunraku. Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... Noh performance at Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima, Hiroshima Noh or Nō (Japanese: 能) is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. ... Bunraku (Japanese: 文楽), also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684. ...

Traditional Forms of Theatre

There are four major forms of traditional Japanese theatre that are famous around the world. These are Noh, Kyogen, Kabuki, and the Bunraku, or puppet theatre

Noh and Kyogen

The earliest existing Kyogen scripts date from the 300s. Kyogen was used as an intermission between Noh acts - it linked the theme of the Noh play with the mad forodern world by means of farce and slapstick. Unlike Noh, the performers of Kyogen do not wear masks, unless their role calls for physical transformation. Noh performance at Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima, Hiroshima Noh or Nō (Japanese: 能) is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. ... Kyogen (Japanese: 狂言 Kyōgen, literally mad words or wild speech) is a form of traditional Japanese theater. ... Kyogen (Japanese: 狂言 Kyōgen, literally mad words or wild speech) is a form of traditional Japanese theater. ...

Both men and women were not allowed to perform Kyogen until 450.

Kabuki

The most well-known form of Japanese theatre is Kabuki. Perhaps its fame comes from the wild costumes and swordfights, which used real swords until the 1680s. Kabuki grew out of opposition to Noh - they wanted to shock the audience with more lively and timely stories. The first performance was in 1603. The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ...

Like Noh, however, over time Kabuki became not just performing in a new way, but a stylized art to be performed only a certain way.

As a matter of interest, the popular Gekidan Shinkansen, a theatrical troupe based in Tokyo today, insists it follows pure kabuki tradition by performing historical roles in a modern, noisy, and outlandish way - to shock the audience as kabuki intended, if you will. Whether or not they are kabuki, however, remains a matter of debate and personal opinion.

Bunraku

Puppets and Bunraku were used in Japanese theatre as early as the noh plays. Medieval records record the use of puppets actually in Noh plays. Puppets are three to four foot tall dolls that are manipulated by puppeteers in full view of the audience. The puppeteers controlling the legs and hands are dressed entirely in black, while the head puppeteer is wearing colorful clothing. Music and chanting is a popular convention of bunraku, and the shiamsen player is usually considered to be the leader of the production. Bunraku (Japanese: 文楽), also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684. ... Bunraku (Japanese: 文楽), also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ...

In modern media, a readily accessible example of bunraku is in Kitano Takeshi's 2002 movie, Dolls. Takeshi Kitano Takeshi Kitano (北野 武 Kitano Takeshi) (born January 18, 1947) is a Japanese comedian, actor, author, poet, painter and film director who has received acclaim both in his native Japan and abroad for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. ... Dolls (Japanese: ドールズ) is a 2002 film directed by the Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano. ...

Modern theatre

Japanese modern drama in the early twentieth century, the 1910s, consisted of shingeki (experimental Western-style theater), which employed naturalistic acting and contemporary themes in contrast to the stylized conventions of Kabuki and Noh. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... Noh performance at Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima, Hiroshima Noh or Nō (Japanese: 能) is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. ...

In the postwar period, there was a phenomenal growth in creative new dramatic works, which introduced fresh aesthetic concepts that revolutionized the orthodox modern theater. Challenging the realistic, psychological drama focused on "tragic historical progress" of the Western-derived shingeki, young playwrights broke with such accepted tenets as conventional stage space, placing their action in tents, streets, and open areas and, at the extreme, in scenes played out all over Tokyo. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Plots became increasingly complex, with play-within-a-play sequences, moving rapidly back and forth in time, and intermingling reality with fantasy. Dramatic structure was fragmented, with the focus on the performer, who often used a variety of masks to reflect different personae. Fang mask used for the ngil ceremony, an inquisitorial search for sorcerers. ...

Playwrights returned to common stage devices perfected in Noh and Kabuki to project their ideas, such as employing a narrator, who could also use English for international audiences. Major playwrights in the 1980s were Kara Joro, Shimizu Kunio, and Betsuyaku Minoru, all closely connected to specific companies. In the 1980s, stagecraft was refined into a more sophisticated, complex format than in the earlier postwar experiments but lacked their bold critical spirit. The Narrator is the entity within a story that tells the story to the reader. ...

Tadashi Suzuki developed a unique method of performer training which integrated avant-garde concepts with classical Noh and Kabuki devices, an approach that became a major creative force in Japanese and international theater in the 1980s. Another highly original East-West fusion occurred in the inspired production Nastasya, taken from Dostoevsky's The Idiot, in which Bando Tamasaburo, a famed Kabuki onnagata (female impersonator), played the roles of both the prince and his fianceé. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of The Idiot The Idiot is a novel written by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky in 1869. ... Bandō Tamasaburō V (坂東玉三郎五代目)(b. ... This is the current Japanese collaboration of the week! Please help improve it to featured article standard. ...

Sho-Gekijo

The 1980's also encouraged the creation of the Sho-Gekijo, or literally, little theatre. This usually meant amateur theatrical troupes making plays designed to be seen by anyone and everyone - not necessarily as meaningful in nature as they were simply entertaining.

Some of the more philosophical playwrights and directors of that time which are still active today are Noda Hideki, Kogami Shoji and Keralino Sandorovich (a pen name for a Japanese playwright). Hideki Noda was a Formula One driver from Japan. ...

Popular sho-gekijo theatrical troupes include Nylon 100, Gekidan Shinkansen, Tokyo Sunshine Boys, and Halaholo Shangrila. The Tokyo Sunshine Boys ) is a Japanese theatrical troupe that was active from 1983 until about 1994. ...

Western Plays in Japan

Many Western plays, from those of the Ancient Greek theatre to William Shakespeare and from those of Fyodor Dostoevsky to Samuel Beckett, were performed in Tokyo. An incredible number of performances, perhaps as many as 3,000, were given each year, making Tokyo one of the world's leading theatrical centers. ɾdrama are obscure. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (Russian: Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский, IPA: , sometimes transliterated Dostoyevsky  ) (November 11 [O.S. October 30] 1821 – February 9 [O.S. January 28] 1881) is considered one of the greatest Russian writers. ... Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet. ...

The opening of the replica of the Globe Theatre was celebrated by importing an entire British company to perform all of Shakespeare's historical plays, while other Tokyo theaters produced other Shakespearean plays including various new interpretations of Hamlet and King Lear. The Globe Theatre, located in Shin-Okubo in Tokyo, now belongs mostly to Johnny's Entertainment and the promotion of pop idols in the acting field. This article is about the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare, both the original and its modern reconstruction. ... Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, and is one of his best-known and most-quoted plays. ... Title page of the first quarto edition, published in 1608 King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Johnnys Entertainment also known as Johnnys Agency (ジャニーズ事務所, JYANIIZU jimusho), formed in 1975, is an organization that trains and promotes groups of male idols in Japan. ...

Yukio Ninagawa is an internationally known Japanese director and playwright who often turns to elements of Shakespeare for inspiration. In 1995 he performed the "Shakespeare Tenpo 12Nen," an interpretation of the wildly popular British theatre Shakespeare Condensed':' all of Shakespeare's plays in two hours. Famous actors such as Natsuki Mari and Karasawa Toshiaki were involved. Yukio Ninagawa is a Japanese theatre director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. ... Mari Natsuki (夏木 マリ Natsuki Mari, real name 中島 淳子 Nakajima Junko, born 1952-05-02) is a Japanese singer, dancer and actress. ... Karasawa Toshiaki 唐沢寿明 is a Japanese theatre and film actor. ...

Reference

• This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain. - Japan

The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA), freely available for use by researchers. ... The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789 by a constitutional convention, sets down the basic framework of American government in its seven articles. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Japan Cultural Profile - national cultural portal for Japan created by Visiting Arts/Japan Foundation