{"id":51,"date":"2009-02-10T23:24:01","date_gmt":"2009-02-11T03:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/?p=51"},"modified":"2018-07-27T18:00:42","modified_gmt":"2018-07-27T18:00:42","slug":"kuromori-kabuki-%e3%81%8f%e3%82%8d%e3%82%82%e3%82%8a%e3%81%8b%e3%81%b6%e3%81%8d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/kuromori-kabuki-%e3%81%8f%e3%82%8d%e3%82%82%e3%82%8a%e3%81%8b%e3%81%b6%e3%81%8d\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Culture: Kuromori Kabuki (\u304f\u308d\u3082\u308a\u304b\u3076\u304d)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around February 15th in the city of Kuromori (\u304f\u308d\u3082\u308a<\/strong>) in Yamagata (\u5c71\u5f62<\/strong><\/span>) prefecture, the local people of Kuromori (\u304f\u308d\u3082\u308a<\/strong>) perform a kabuki (\u304b\u3076\u304d<\/strong>) play.\u00a0 The play is performed at the Hie jinja (\u65e5\u679d\u795e\u793e<\/strong><\/span>) or the Hie Shrine.\u00a0 It’s performed to honor the god that resides on Mount Hie (\u65e5\u679d<\/strong><\/span>).\u00a0 I always find these plays amusing because unlike the noh (\u80fd<\/strong><\/span>) festival, the actors have no professional training.\u00a0 Anything can go wrong.\u00a0 I’ve had some good times trying not to laugh when the actors mess up their lines.\u00a0\u00a0For those of you who are unfamilar with kabuki (\u304b\u3076\u304d<\/strong>), it’s a play where actors wear heavy makeup and elaborate costumes while singing and acting.<\/p>\n

Everything about the Kuromori Kabuki (\u304f\u308d\u3082\u308a\u304b\u3076\u304d<\/strong>) festival depends on teamwork.\u00a0 The plays are performed outside with a stage constructed by the local residents of the town.\u00a0 These makeshift plays always\u00a0have a hanamichi (\u82b1\u9053<\/strong>).\u00a0 A hanamichi (\u82b1\u9053<\/strong>) is a walkway that allows the actors to move through the audience.\u00a0 You can get a close up view of the actors and at the same time see their facial expressions.\u00a0 It allows the audience to connect with the actors that much more.<\/p>\n

\"\"The coolest part of the stage for me, is the mawari butai (\u307e\u308f\u308a\u3076\u305f\u3044<\/strong>).\u00a0 A mawari butai (\u307e\u308f\u308a\u3076\u305f\u3044<\/strong>) is a revolving stage that allows the scene of the play to change in an instant.\u00a0 From time to time I can see the stage hands move some props, but other than that, the mawari butai (\u307e\u308f\u308a\u3076\u305f\u3044<\/strong>) allows scenes to change flawlessly.\u00a0 Another cool aspect: the seri (\u305b\u308a<\/strong>).\u00a0 The seri (\u305b\u308a<\/strong>) is a trap door where actors can magically reappear before the crowd.<\/p>\n

Besides the feat of engineering required to pull off a kabuki (\u304b\u3076\u304d<\/strong>) play, the cooperation and sweat involved to put this together is what makes the festival enjoyable to watch.\u00a0 It’s just nice to see how working together can create an awesome result!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Around February 15th in the city of Kuromori (\u304f\u308d\u3082\u308a) in Yamagata (\u5c71\u5f62) prefecture, the local people of Kuromori (\u304f\u308d\u3082\u308a) perform a kabuki (\u304b\u3076\u304d) play.\u00a0 The play is performed at the Hie jinja (\u65e5\u679d\u795e\u793e) or the Hie Shrine.\u00a0 It’s performed to honor the god that resides on Mount Hie (\u65e5\u679d).\u00a0 I always find these plays amusing…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":6346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2761,2777],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-japanese-play","tag-kabuki"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t