The Role Of JapJapanese Culture In Theatre

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

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Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

Introduction

The Japanese culture is very different from all other cultures of the world today. It is

one of the richest cultures inside the tradition and historical surrounding. Many traditional

practices which were developed in thousands years ago are seen to be effective and active in

the modern Japan. For example, the position which the woodblock art holds n Japanese

culture is a throwback to which numerous traditional and historical references were recorded.

For a long time, the Japanese culture has been recognized as excellent in terms of having a

very strong background in religion, education, and families

The way of life of Japanese is comprised of the mixture of the art, music literature and

much more, it’s more eye-catching. In Japan it is very hard to find a place to stay; this is

because getting acquiring of land in that country is very expensive. As a result of these

differences, there exist numerous cultural dissimilarity between east and west. Japanese

considers their houses unworthy to bring a visitor; they usually entertain their visitors in the

cities, particularly near the place where they usually work in

For an individual to understand the culture of Japanese, it is critical to appreciate

some of the things that hold these people together in the society. The education system of

Japanese is one of the facto that molded the Japanese youths; this was a result of many hours

which the Japanese students used to spend in the schools learning. The religion of Japanese

Suzuki, Daisetz T., and Richard M. Jaffe. "Zen and Japanese culture." (1959).

Benedict, Ruth. The chrysanthemum and the sword: Patterns of Japanese culture. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

1967.

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

constituted by two major beliefs, Buddhism and Shinto, and many of the Japanese have

considered themselves to have both beliefs.

The Japanese culture is comprised of many ideas from countries all over the world

which has been incorporated together. This includes the history of its culture, the customs,

technology, the cultural expression forms, and customs; as a result of this incorporation, they

have established a very unique culture. The current lifestyle of Japanese is comprised of the

influence of Asian traditions and modern western culture. The history of Japanese theatre is a

long and very rich. The most popular arts which are continuing to be flourish in Japan

tradition theatre includes, the Nor, Kabuki among others. All of these forms of Japans theatre

traditional have its unique characteristic which makes it to be distinct from others

The Kabuki theatre was introduced in the sixteenth century. Kabuki theatre

performance is very lively when watching; it is usually a combination of dance, drama, and

music. It began the same time with when the English people started to colonize the American

continent. The kabuki history is very long as the United States history. It had distinct features

which included the extravagant costumes, the makeups which are very colorful, deco stage,

actor’s rhythmic movement and the use of music and sound effects which were very complex

in nature

Schilling, Mark. "The encyclopedia of Japanese pop culture." (1997).

Martinez, Dolores, ed. The worlds of Japanese popular culture: gender, shifting boundaries

and global cultures. Cambridge University Press, 1998

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

The kabuki theatre has become more famous among audience all over the countries of

the world. It is mostly thought by many people to be the theatre of actor’s, this is because it

mostly emphasizes on the performance concurrency and the visual craft in the stage, not the

dialogue. It was first performed by a maiden known as Okuni who was from the shrine of

Izumo. The kabuki which was being performed in the early days is very different from what

is being performed in the current world. It composed of very large groups of women dancers

who acted as prostitutes. The government later banned these women dancers so that they can

protect the public moral values. As a result of this banning, some men dancers from the Noh

theatre started to come on the stage to perform which was also banned by the government, it

was reported that this encouraged the habit of homosexuality and also it promoted male

prostitution

The Kabuki has undergone major changes- the prohibition of the women performance

on the stage and introduction of the special performance by men undertaking the roles of the

women. The kabuki theatre has maintained its popularity in the seventeenth and eighteenth

century and it is regarded as a vital way of preserving the Japanese cultural values in the

context of history

Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd. Body language and the female role player in Greek tragedy and

Japanese" Kabuki" theatre. na, 2005.

Scott, Adolphe Clarence. " Genyadana": A Japanese Kabuki Play. Hokuseido Press, 1935.

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

In the period which was known as Genroku which was in between the year 1688-

1720, the townspeople in Japan experienced an awakening in relation to the cultural values.

Kabuki which was regarded as the main form of entertainment for commoners in the theatre

it enjoyed high popularity and it grew as a form of arts. Some styles which were commonly

used in the performance of kabuki included, types of characters, the structure play and the

onnagata art, these later took form and formed its basis. Kabuki reached the highest level of

excellence due to the fact that the actors used to perfect themselves more in their craft and

introduced some distinct types of responsibilities

In this period there was another development which emerged. There was a rise of

dramatists who were the first professionals rather than actors. Who collaborated and writing

for the kabuki theatre. The popularity of kabuki started to decline in the early 18

century,

this was as a result of the censorship of the government. Kabuki theatre performance in all

the years it used to depend on some contents which were scandalous and sensationalism in

order to attract audiences. The theatre puppet was more famous because it used to attract

more attention from the audiences; this made the actors in kabuki to have no other choice but

to apply the performance style of the Joruri and also borrowing puppet scripts of play. Having

the modern technology which has been able to bring forth the traditional kabuki theatre to

everyone, there should be no reason as to why anyone can miss the most famous Japanese

theatre

Scott, Adolphe Clarence. Kanjincho: A Japanese Kabuki Play. Hokuseido Press, 1953.

Griffith, P. "Ghosts and Karmic Retribution. Kabuki Returns to Sadler's Wells. A preview

of the Japanese Kabuki Theatre's visit to London." DANCING TIMES 1149 (2006):

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

The other style of the Noh theatre, which is also referred to as the nogaku, this styles

is in the type of musical drama. The performance of Noh by the Japanese started around the

century. It is one of the oldest existing types of theatre. It became famous due to the

combination of the performing arts in Chinese which were referred to as sarugaku and the

dengaku the Japanese traditional dance. Most of the role plays in the Noh used to conceal

themselves with masks, and the performance consists of both males and females

Those who perform in the Noh are in simple terms storytellers; they use their movements and

also visual appearances to bring out the tale rather than to play it. Because there is usually

less to be said in the Nor drama, those audience who are educated understands the plot of the

story very well so that they can be able to get the symbols which are contained in the

Japanese culture in form of movements which are made and words which are spoken

The Noh theatre highlights more on the spiritual characteristics of human emotions

and their actions. The Noh performances are functional and it is composed of the

incorporation of various elements such as dance, music, drama, masks made with wood and

poetry, these are made into a highly decorative and consecrate performance on the stage. The

Noh play is a repetitive and slow-moved, and the performance tone is usually grave in nature,

Coldiron, Margaret. Trance and Transformation of the Actor in Japanese Noh and Balinese

masked dance-drama. E. Mellen Press, 2004.

Sekine, Masaru, and Christopher Murray. Yeats and the Noh: a comparative study. C. Smy,

1990

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

this is in line with the nature of the situations which are being portrayed during the

performances. Just like the kabuki, Noh also have less stress on the dialog

Noh did not reach the level of becoming more popular in the Japanese society.

However, it was established in the performances which were made in the streets, it became an

art form very first because it put more weight on the themes of Buddhist, the internal

conflicts, and the human existence mysteries. As a result of these emphasis, Noh was able to

enjoy a small portion of Japanese society. In the mid16

century, there was very little

transformation which was made in the Noh theatre. On the other hand, Noh theatre has

embraced some elements which have been termed to be modern in nature by the scholars.

The performances which did not have any dialogue, stressing abstract ideas and description

of internal conflicts were various elements which entranced many modern writers to have

interest with Noh theatre

There are two factors which enhanced the transmission of the Noh theatre from one

generation to the other, and this makes it to look the same as the earlier type of the Noh. The

first one is that there is text preservation which contains detailed recitation prescriptions,

music, and dances. The second factor is there is directly transfer of skills for performing

which looks somehow similar. The Noh was changing preferences for those who were new to

their performances, they introduced new styles and also patterns in their performances on

stage. This was followed by extreme refinements in order to state the objectives of Noh in a

Tsukui, Nobuko. ezra pound and Japanese noh plays. University Press of America, 1983.

Nogami, Toyoitiro. Japanese Noh plays: how to see them. Vol. 2. Routledge, 1934.

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

clear manner, but this did not lead to large deviation from the traditional form of Noh

theatre

In conclusion, Japanese have made great in observing their cultural values up to date in the

modern world. The culture has a major role in the establishment and sustaining the theatre

performances in the society. The Japanese invites their visitors in the theatre places because

they feel that it’s not right to invite them in their homes. As a result, they interacts more in

the theatres. Some theatres styles such as Noh utilize religious characteristics and emotions

in its performances which are in line with the Japanese culture who believe in Buddha and

Shinto.

Crump, James Irving, and William P. Malm, eds. Chinese and Japanese music-dramas.

No. 19. Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1975.

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

Bibliography

Benedict, Ruth. The chrysanthemum and the sword: Patterns of Japanese culture. Houghton

Mifflin Harcourt, 1967.

Coldiron, Margaret. Trance and Transformation of the Actor in Japanese Noh and Balinese

masked dance-drama. E. Mellen Press, 2004.

Crump, James Irving, and William P. Malm, eds. Chinese and Japanese music-dramas. No.

19. Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1975.

Griffith, P. "Ghosts and Karmic Retribution. Kabuki Returns to Sadler's Wells. A preview of

the Japanese Kabuki Theatre's visit to London." DANCING TIMES 1149 (2006): 24

Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd. Body language and the female role player in Greek tragedy and

Japanese" Kabuki" theatre. no, 2005.

Martinez, Dolores, ed. The worlds of Japanese popular culture: gender, shifting boundaries

and global cultures. Cambridge University Press, 1998

Nogami, Toyo tire. Japanese Noh plays: how to see them. Vol. 2. Routledge, 1934.

Sekine, Masaru, and Christopher Murray. Yeats and the Noh: a comparative study. C. Smy,

1990

Schilling, Mark. "The encyclopedia of Japanese pop culture." (1997).

Scott, Adolphe Clarence. Kanjincho: A Japanese Kabuki Play. Hokuseido Press, 1953.

Tsukui, Nobuko. ezra pound and Japanese Noh plays. University Press of America, 1983.

Suzuki, Daisetz T., and Richard M. Jaffe. "Zen and Japanese culture." (1959).

Running Head: Culture and its Role in Japanese Theatre

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