Non-Western Art II: Kabuki and Bunraku

Kabuki is said to be founded in the 17th century by Okuni, a shrine maiden who performed her dance in the dry river beds of the old capital, Kyoto. This form of entertainment became very popular in the Edo period, (1600-1868). Early Kabuki was often an ensemble of dancing women, although it has changed much, being comprised of not just dance, but part play, music, singing and dancing. The Genroku period is when theater flourished and both Kabuki and Bunraku were developed.

Some developments include the formation of onnagata. You see, women in theater were often prostitutes, but the government banned them soon after it’s creation to protect the peoples morals.This put more value on performance rather than beauty, drama rather than dance. Men who play the parts of women are now called onnagata. The tachiyaku is the head male role. Below you can see a drawing of the famous mie (mee-eh) pose, where the actor stared really hard to one side, causing one of his eyes to look crossed.

"mie" pose

Kabuki plays could be a grand story of princes saving princesses, or it could be a simple story involving peasants. The narrator explains the story in the video, which I encourage you all to watch! Mind, this is only an excerpt of the play, not the whole thing…

My next video is of a Bunraku performance; that is, Japanese puppetry. Bunraku and Kabuki influence each other greatly during the 1700′s, and that is partly why I have chosen the two for this project.

The shamisen, as you can hear, is a very twangy sounding guitar instrument. There are three strings on the instrument. The sound is unique to Eastern theater, having a very strong vibrato. You can hear the singer match this vibrato very beautifully throughout the play. The wooden piece sitting next to the instrument in the picture below is much like a pick, where the musician cradles the long part in their palm, catching the strings with the curved side of the pick. Both are used to emphasize the actions in the play.

Shamisen

The chanter, or tayu is the narrator for the play. The tayu are divided into two categories: utai and katari. The following Bunraku video displays both of these. You can hear the utai, or singing part in conjunction with the katari, or reciting and chanting. The utai is telling the emotions of the character, while the katari is telling the basic story, or what is happening to cause the character’s, (utai’s), song.

The daiko (dah-ee-koh) drum and the tsuzumi sound very much alike. They are both very important to the mood of the play. You can differentiate the two because the daiko is usually the one that signals the start and the end of the play. The tsuzumi has a very distinct “pon” sound, being the basis for the entire drum section and symbolizing  Japanese sound. All of these instruments are used in Kabuki and Bunraku, showing how similar both are to each other.

daiko drum

Tsuzumi

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