The Rich History of Japanese Theatre

In Japanese Theatre, there are four type of traditional theatre. These are noh, kyogen, kabuki, and bunraku (Facts). Noh is the oldest form, having developed in the eighth century (Patrimoine) and into what it is during the 14th and 15th centuries (Background) and Kyogen developed alongside Noh as a comedic break between the solemn Noh acts (Kyogen). Kabuki is the third oldest, having developed in 17th century (Kabuki) and Bunraku is the newest form, being founded in the second half of the 20th century (Barbara). All four forms of Japanese theatre are still performed today (Facts).

Noh is short for Nogaku (Patrimoine) and it combines elements of poetry, dance, music and drama. Originally, Noh plays were only performed to entertain people in the upper classes (Facts). It is mainly based on the Japanese cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. Noh is also mainly performed by men who have passed the art down among family members over the years, but there are plenty of groups that are considered amateur that include males and females (Background). The stories told in Noh are often based on stories from traditional literature. Masks, costumes, and various props are used in what is a dance based performance (Patrimoine).

Noh, while new plays are created, has a classical repertory of plays. There are around 250 of these plays. Two of the main performers and playwrights were Kannami and his son, Zeami. It was under the reign of the military shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu that Noh flourished. This was while Zeami was writing and performing. Not only did Zeami write plays, but he also wrote many secret works describing the aesthetics of Noh. These explained how the art of Noh should be composed, taught, directed, acted, and produced (Background).

Noh has five categories of plays that are performed. However, these categories are not given exact names. It is known that there is a category for gods, another for beautiful women, another for warriors, another for supernatural beings, and one last one for miscellaneous characters. The Noh play also has certain characters. The main character is called the shite (said sh’tay) who in many plays in the first act appears as an ordinary person and in the second act appears as the ghost of a famous person from a long time ago. Sometimes the shite is accompanied by a character called the tsure. The secondary character in Noh plays is called the waki. The waki is often a traveling priest that questions the main character. These questions are important for the plot development. Sometimes the waki appears with another character called the waki-tsure (Background).

During the Edo Period (1603–1868), Noh become the official performance entertainment for the military government. Feudal military lords supported Noh troupes and some even practiced the art. However, with the reform of the Meiji Period (1868–1912), Noh lost the support of the government and almost died out. There were enough people that wanted to keep performing that the art did not die out. While Noh is not a popular form of entertainment in Japan today, there are still about 1,500 professional performers who make a living through teaching and performing Noh (Background).

Kyogen was created to give a type of intermission between the acts of a Noh play (Facts). It is also comic relief because the Noh acts are solemn (Kyogen) and they typically do not involve laughter (Introducing). When Kyogen was first developed, it was a vulgar improvisational art, but by the 16th century it became a refined comedic art that even included scripts (Introduction). Performances of kyogen have musical accompaniment from flutes, drums, and gongs, but the emphasis is on the speech (Kyogen). The speech in Kyogen is based on the vernacular of the everyday people. This speech is accompanied by finely tuned, sometimes exaggerated mime (Kyogen).

There are two type of Kyogen. One is hon-kyogen, which is simply to give the audience a break from the content of the Noh play and allows them to laugh. The other is ai-kyogen which is an interlude or set of interludes that has content that advances the Noh play. Kyogen generally had two to three performers and sometimes it is interactive (Kyogen).

Kabuki was created by Okuni in the 17th century. It seems odd that the art form was created by a woman because Kabuki is performed entirely by men. This is because kabuki was first performed by women who were prostitutes and the men in the audience would become too wild. Because of this, women were banned from performing kabuki by Tokugawa Shogunate. The first men to perform were also prostitutes and the audience became unruly when they performed as well. The Shogunate became strict and kabuki took the form of being more stylized so audience would not become as unruly (Culture). Kabuki was formed in opposition to Noh and uses wild costumes and sword fights. Kabuki is performed a large, revolving stage (Facts) and often has trapdoors and other features of a stage that allow for the changing of scenery and quick disappearance of actors. The stories of kabuki are usually based on well-known stories (Guide) and the acting is purposely done in a style that is considered rough. The acting is enhanced by makeup and costumes (Culture).

Bunraku is a form of Japanese theatre created at the end of the 16th century (History) that uses three to four foot tall puppets. Unlike in most puppet theatre, the puppeteers can be seen. They dress in completely black except for the head puppeteer who wears colorful clothing (Facts). Each puppet requires three puppeteers: One to operate the head, face, and right hand another to operate to operate the puppet’s left hand, and a third to operate the puppet’s legs and feet. The puppets have hollow heads and female puppets do not have legs (Puppets). The puppets are first divided by male and female characters and then they are separated by the ages of the characters and put into different groups.

The leader of the Bunraku plays also plays an instrument called the Shamisen (Facts). There are three types of shamisen: the thick-necked, the medium-necked, and the thin-necked. These stories are told through a chanter. It is said that the chanter must become one in spirit with the shamisen player so that the story can be easily understood (Chanter). Even though it has received government funding, Bunraku has unfortunately been losing popularity since the second half of the 18th century (Facts).

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