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Kabuki
is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to have originated in the early Edo period, when the art's founder, Izumo no Okuni, formed a female dance troupe that performed dances and light sketches in Kyoto. The art form later developed into its present all-male theatrical form after women were banned from performing in kabuki theatre in 1629. Kabuki developed throughout the late 17th century and reached its zenith in the mid-18th century. In 2005, kabuki theatre was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value. In 2008, it was inscribed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity ...
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Izumo No Okuni
was a Japan, Japanese entertainer and miko, shrine maiden who is believed to have invented the theatrical art form of kabuki. She is thought to have begun performing her new art style of () theatre in the dry stream bed, riverbed of the Kamo River in Kyoto. Okuni's troupe quickly gained immense popularity, and were known for their performers, who were often lower-class women Okuni had recruited to act in her all-female theatre group. Few concrete details are known about her life; born near Izumo Province, Okuni worked as a (shrine maiden) for several years at the Izumo-taisha (the Grand Shrine of Izumo) until gaining popularity for her dramatised dance performances, which onlookers gave the name of . Okuni continued to perform kabuki with her troupe until her retirement and disappearance sometime around 1610. She is believed to have died sometime around 1613. History Early years Born , Okuni grew up in the vicinity of the Izumo shrine, where her father, Nakamura Sanemon, wo ...
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Okuni Kabuki Byobu-zu Cropped And Enhanced
was a Japanese entertainer and shrine maiden who is believed to have invented the theatrical art form of kabuki. She is thought to have begun performing her new art style of () theatre in the dry riverbed of the Kamo River in Kyoto. Okuni's troupe quickly gained immense popularity, and were known for their performers, who were often lower-class women Okuni had recruited to act in her all-female theatre group. Few concrete details are known about her life; born near Izumo Province, Okuni worked as a (shrine maiden) for several years at the Izumo-taisha (the Grand Shrine of Izumo) until gaining popularity for her dramatised dance performances, which onlookers gave the name of . Okuni continued to perform kabuki with her troupe until her retirement and disappearance sometime around 1610. She is believed to have died sometime around 1613. History Early years Born , Okuni grew up in the vicinity of the Izumo shrine, where her father, Nakamura Sanemon, worked as a blacksmit ...
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Japanese Traditional Dance
Japanese traditional dance describes a number of Japanese dance styles with a long history and prescribed method of performance. Some of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese dance may be among those transmitted through the tradition, or folk dances relating to food producing activities such as planting rice () and fishing, including rain dances. There are large number of these traditional dances, which are often subfixed , , and , and may be specific to a region or village. and are the two main groups of Japanese dances, and the term was coined in modern times as a general term for dance, by combining (which can also be read as ) and (which can also be read as ). is a more reserved genre of dance that often has circling movements, and dances of the Noh theatre are of this tradition. A variation of the style of Japanese dance is , or Kyoto-style dance. developed in the 17th century Tokugawa cultural period. It is heavily influenced by the elegance and sophistication ...
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Kabukimono
or were gangs of samurai in feudal Japan. First appearing in the Azuchi–Momoyama period (between the end of the Muromachi period in 1573 and the beginning of the Edo period in 1603) as the turbulent Sengoku period drew to a close, were either , wandering samurai, or men who had once worked for samurai families who, during times of peace, formed street gangs. Some, however, were also members of more prominent clans—most notably Oda Nobunaga and Maeda Toshiie. Etymology The term is often translated into English as "strange things" or "the crazy ones", believed to be derived from , meaning "to slant" or "to deviate"; the term is also the origin of the name for kabuki theatre () as the founder of kabuki, Izumo no Okuni, took heavy inspiration from the ()."Kabuki" in Frederic, Louis (2002). ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. The kanji used are ateji, used for their pronunciation, and not their inherent meaning. Description would o ...
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Theatre Of Japan
Traditional Japanese theatre is among the oldest theatre traditions in the world. Traditional theatre includes Noh, a spiritual drama, and its comic accompaniment ; kabuki, a dance and music theatrical tradition; , puppetry; and , a spoken drama. Modern Japanese theatre includes (experimental Western-style theatre), ''shinpa'' (new school theatre) and (little theatre). In addition, there are many classical western plays and musical adaptations of popular television shows and movies that are produced in Japan. Traditional forms of theatre Noh and Noh and theatre traditions are among the oldest continuous theatre traditions in the world. The earliest existing scripts date from the 15th century. Noh was a spiritual drama, combining symbolism from Buddhism and Shinto and focusing on tales with mythic significance. , its comic partner, served as a link between the theological themes of the Noh play with the pedestrian world by use of theatrical farce and slapstick. Noh theatre ...
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Edo Period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by prolonged peace and stability, urbanization and economic growth, strict social order, Isolationism, isolationist foreign policies, and popular enjoyment of Japanese art, arts and Culture of Japan, culture. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu prevailed at the Battle of Sekigahara and established hegemony over most of Japan, and in 1603 was given the title ''shogun'' by Emperor Go-Yōzei. Ieyasu resigned two years later in favor of his son Tokugawa Hidetada, Hidetada, but maintained power, and defeated the primary rival to his authority, Toyotomi Hideyori, at the Siege of Osaka in 1615 before his death the next year. Peace generally prevailed from this point on, making samurai largely redundant. Tokugawa sh ...
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Nagauta
is a kind of traditional Japanese music played on the and used in kabuki theater, primarily to accompany dance and to provide reflective interludes. History It is uncertain when the was first integrated into kabuki, but it was sometime during the 17th century; Malm argues that it was probably before 1650. The first reference to as music appears in the second volume of (1703). By the 18th century, the had become an established instrument in kabuki, when the basic forms and classifications of crystallized as a combination of different styles stemming from the music popular during the Edo period. is considered a subset of . Many of the "classic" repertoire was composed in the 19th century, which is the time of the best-known composers as well. Many pieces are based on Noh theater, partly due to the number of kabuki plays derived from Noh theater pieces, and many were revived during the 19th century. There is evidence of the influence of Japanese folk music on too. ...
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Kumadori
is the stage makeup worn by kabuki actors, mostly when performing kabuki plays in the style. The term also applies to a painting method in which two brushes are used simultaneously, one for the color and the other used to create shading or other details. makeup generally consists of brightly coloured stripes or patterns over a Oshiroi, white foundation, the colours and patterns symbolising aspects of the character. Though was originated and developed extensively by members of the family of actors, some conventions are creations of the line. Colours Only a few colours are used in makeup; red, blue, brown and black. Whilst black is simply used to exaggerate features, such as eyebrows and the line of the mouth, the other colours are used to tell the audience about the character's nature. Red indicates a powerful hero role, often a character with virtue and courage. The most famous role to use red is that of the hero in , , and has come to stereotypically represent ka ...
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Shamisen
The , also known as or (all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually but sometimes when used as a suffix, according to regular rendaku, sound change (e.g. ). In Western Japanese dialects and several Edo period sources, it is both written and pronounced as . The construction of the varies in shape, depending on the genre in which it is used. The instrument used to accompany kabuki has a thin neck, facilitating the agile and virtuosic requirements of that genre. The one used to accompany Bunraku, puppet plays and Min'yo, folk songs has a longer and thicker neck instead, to match the more robust music of those genres. Construction The is a plucked stringed instrument. Its construction follows a model similar to that of a guitar or a banjo, with a neck and strings stretched across a resonating body. The nec ...
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Shogun
, officially , was the title of the military aristocracy, rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor of Japan, Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamakura period and Sengoku period when the shoguns themselves were figureheads, with real power in the hands of the of the Hōjō clan and of the Hosokawa clan. In addition, Taira no Kiyomori and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were leaders of the warrior class who did not hold the position of shogun, the highest office of the warrior class, yet gained the positions of and , the highest offices of the aristocratic class. As such, they ran their governments as its de facto rulers. The office of shogun was in practice hereditary, although over the course of the history of Japan several different clans held the position. The title was originally held by military commanders during the Heian period in the eighth and ninth centu ...
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Pederasty
Pederasty or paederasty () is a sexual relationship between an adult man and an adolescent boy. It was a socially acknowledged practice in Ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the world, such as Pre-Meiji Japan. In most countries today, the local age of consent determines whether a person is considered legally competent to consent to sexual acts, and whether such contact is child sexual abuse or statutory rape. An adult engaging in sexual activity with a minor is considered abusive by authorities for a variety of reasons, including the age of the minor and the psychological and physical harm they may endure. Etymology and usage ''Pederasty'' derives from the combination of with (cf. '' eros''). Late Latin ''pæderasta'' was borrowed in the 16th century directly from Plato's classical Greek in '' The Symposium.'' (Latin transliterates ' as ''æ''.) The word first appeared in the English language during the Renaissance, as ''pæderastie'' (e.g. in Samuel Purchas' ''Pil ...
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Yoshiwara
was a famous ( red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shimabara in Kyoto in 1640Avery, Anne Louise. ''Flowers of the Floating World: Geisha and Courtesans in Japanese Prints and Photographs, 1772–1926'' xhibition Catalogue(Sanders of Oxford & Mayfield Press: Oxford, 2006) and Shinmachi in Osaka. Created by the shogunate to curtail the tastes of and sequester the nouveau riche (merchant) classes, the entertainment offered in Yoshiwara, alongside other licensed districts, would eventually originate geisha, who would become known as the fashionable companions of the classes and simultaneously cause the demise of , the upper-class courtesans of the red-light districts. History 17th and 18th century The licensed district of Yoshiwara was created in the city of Edo, near to the area today ...
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