Japanese Kabuki
Kabuki literally means art of signing and dancing. Kabuki is a traditional Japanese sing and dance drama performed by skilled Kabuki actor with special make ups. Kabuki started in early 1600's and only female performers played both men and women roles in the play. However, female Kabuki performers were banned from Kabuki in 1629 as a result of getting some nasty attention from men audience and hence degrading the quality of Kabuki art. Men performers began to play a role of women and began to shape the modern era of Kabuki. Kabuki became very popular and it was supported by shoguns and samurais during the gold age of Edo period.
Kabuki went through dramatic changes due to the collapse of Tokugawa shogunate and elimination of samurais. With the opening to the outside western world, Kabuki had to adopt modern elements while maintaining classical Kabuki styles. Kabuki experienced even harder time post World War II. Many Kabuki theater were destroyed by bombing during the War and the US force banned Kabuki performance temporally after the War. It took a while for people to revisit Kabuki after the war, however it began to regain some popularity as a result of innovative Kabuki plays performed by new Kabuki stars like Ganjiro Nakamura and Tsumasaburo Bando.
There are some major Kabuki theaters in big cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. Kabuki-za located nearby central Ginza is the premier Kabuki theater in Tokyo that attracts lots of Kabuki fan around the world. Kabuki-za is scheduled to be closed in 2010 to rebuild the theater to survive potential earthquake and new Kabuki-za theater is planned to be opened in 2013. Currently, a series of Kabuki-za Farewell performance are being held. During the Kabuki play, an actor shows unique pose to describe his character, known as "Mie". Seasoned audience then shout his Yago, his Kabuki house name to cheer up his performance. I once took my expatriate boss to Kabuki-za and he really enjoyed shouting. Although he really made a loud shout, he shouted "Nagoya" instead of "Nakamuraya".
