Kabuki. Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama.
Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. In 2005, the Kabuki theatre was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value.
In 2008, it was inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The individual kanji, from left to right, mean sing, dance, and skill.
Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as the art of singing and dancing. These are, however, ateji characters which do not reflect actual etymology.
The kanji of skill generally refers to a performer in kabuki theatre. Since the word Kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning to lean or to be out of the ordinary, Kabuki can be interpreted as avant-garde or bizarre theatre. The expression kabukimono referred originally to those who were bizarrely dressed. It is often translated into English as strange things or the crazy ones, and referred to the style of dress worn by gangs of samurai. The history of kabuki began in 1603 when Izumo no Okuni, possibly a miko of Izumo-taisha, began performing with a troupe of female dancers a new style of dance drama, on a makeshift stage in the dry bed of the Kamo River in Kyoto. It originated in the 17th century.Japan was under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate, enforc
Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. In 2005, the Kabuki theatre was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value.
In 2008, it was inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The individual kanji, from left to right, mean sing, dance, and skill.
Kabuki is therefore sometimes translated as the art of singing and dancing. These are, however, ateji characters which do not reflect actual etymology.
The kanji of skill generally refers to a performer in kabuki theatre. Since the word Kabuki is believed to derive from the verb kabuku, meaning to lean or to be out of the ordinary, Kabuki can be interpreted as avant-garde or bizarre theatre. The expression kabukimono referred originally to those who were bizarrely dressed. It is often translated into English as strange things or the crazy ones, and referred to the style of dress worn by gangs of samurai. The history of kabuki began in 1603 when Izumo no Okuni, possibly a miko of Izumo-taisha, began performing with a troupe of female dancers a new style of dance drama, on a makeshift stage in the dry bed of the Kamo River in Kyoto. It originated in the 17th century.Japan was under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate, enforc
Wikipedia ...