Kabuki歌舞伎

– the Japanese traditional play –

Shumpei Ozawa Class: ESL Computing Date: December 8th, 2011

What is 歌舞伎 !?

歌 (ka) ＝ to sing / a song舞 (bu) ＝ to dance / dancing伎 (ki) ＝ a skill / an actor

歌舞伎 ＝ DRAMA !!

Outline

Izumo

Year

1603 - 29 Female kabuki ; started by a female , named *Izumo no Okuni *Izumo( a Japanese region) no(of) Okuni( a female name)

Okuni of Izumo / Okuni in Izumo

Year

29 -73 *Yaro kabuki ; transition*Yaro = male (rough spoken word)

Restricted by the governmentOnly male players

Meiji period Effect from European play

After W.W.Ⅱ It had been banned by 1947

Now …

• An Important Intangible Cultural Asset in 1965

• An Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009

RolesHero / The leading man The villain A female role

Costume

Face paintings

Kumadori = a style of kabuki makeup used by players of violent roles

Stage

Stage set

Story

Morality plays are popularSummary

1. People are suffering from tyranny (usually by the government or bad politicians)

2. Someone will be injured by them3. Hero / the leading man helped and defeat

the villain ; and he changes his heartIt’s really simple story!!

Current situation• Audience : almost elderly people it’s important to attract young age• Charge : from 2,500 yen ($30) to about 20,000 yen ($200)• Problems : some families have power in the world of Kabuki

…

Let’s go to the Kabuki theatre