Kabuki - Japanese Traditional Theatre alive
 
When asked about Japanese traditional theatrical art, I would say Kabuki is the most popular among the famous ones, Noh, Bunraku (Japanese puppet theatre), Kabuki and so on. They each have their special appeal. While Noh play is amazing because of keeping the 600year-old original form and Bunraku is amazing for its sophisticated art of handling puppets, Kabuki has been putting very conscious efforts in appealing to the real-time audience. It is surprising that Kabuki has kept this style and survived through its 400-year history. There is a reason behind this.

Gifted great stage directors, for example Franco Zeffirelli and David McVicar, could produce great opera performances audiences would never forget. However, one rarely encounter such performance simply because there just aren’t so many great stage directors around. On the contrary, Kabuki performances are almost always excellent although there is no stage director for it. Instead of waiting for a genius director of a century to show up, Kabuki relies on the inheritance of the art from centuries of creative experiences by great Kabuki actors and musicians of the past. It is like the case of a vintage wine. What the audiences see at any second on stage is the crystallization of the art by Kabuki families over 400 years. Because of this, most people on stage perform just like having a genius director beside them. This is one of the wisdom Japanese has established long time ago.

One of the great Kabuki Actors is Mr. Tanosuke SAWAMURA (born August 4, 1932) who started his career at his age of 9. So, at his age 74 now, he now has 65 years of professional experience. He went through difficult times, especially through the time of the WW II, but he turns the experiences into his insights on humanity. His acts show the great depth of his understanding of the role. He is a real professional actor of high caliber.

Feudal government of Edo era (1603-1867) prohibited female actress to be on stage, as part of their ethics control. Hence, Kabuki is played by male actors only, even for the role of a female. When Tanosuke plays a role of a female, he appears to be more feminine than a real female.

This is not an easy task, as men are physically different from women and body would not respond to what you want. Kabuki actors have accumulated the know-hows on these problems. Of course it will take years of hard practice for Kabuki actors to integrate the know-hows in him so that he can represent the 400 years of history.

Tanosuke as “Onaka” (wife of Tatsugoro), Bando Kametoshi as the child in “Kamino-megumi wagohno-torikumi”

Tanosuke and other Kabuki actors teach the art to the successors everyday. They will also contribute their own inventions to the know-how accumulation, so that the know-how will be better than that of past and good actors continuously emerge to keep the art alive. Watching Tanosuke' s acting, one realizes that Kabuki is an art of how to express internal mental condition by subtle sophisticated movements. It is not just the vocal and facial expressions. From the perfectly tuned acting, the thought and emotions flow out and move the audience. Kabuki actors are outstanding psychologists as well as directors of their own. When Tanosuke plays male role, he will be a real very attractive man. How could he be a perfect woman some time and a perfect man some other time. For his great achievements, Japanese government gave him a "Human National Treasure" status, which is the highest honor in cultural field.

I should also mention about the musicians. Kabuki should not be considered as a play. Music part of Kabuki is also very important and is an art itself. Mind captivating recitativo by a singer off stage accompanied by Shamisen strings and percussions is extremely effective and is perfectly synchronized with the actor on stage, which in turn appeals to the audience far more than without it. This perfect harmony between the acting and the music is also a result of the 400 years of history. Well, I will never be able to describe all of these. You should go see it. (T.K.O.)