| Japanese Theatre |
| Gigaku |
 Gigaku was a dance and musical entertainment performed with a mask. It originally came to China from the central Asia. Mimashi, who came from Kudara, a part of the ancient North Korean Peninsula, is said to have introduced it to Japan.
The Court of Yamato patronised Gigaku and made a lot of entertainers learn it. It was performed in religious ceremonies in the big temples especially in the representative temples in the Yamato period such as Daian-ji, Kofuku-ji, and Todai-ji.
The golden age of Gigaku was during the Nara period. The one which was performed at the ceremony of opening the eyes of Daibutsu in Todai-ji-Temple--- Buddhist mysteries for investing a newly made image with sacred qualities ---showed the
height of prosperity of Gigaku. In the Heian period, however, Bugaku took the place of Gigaku and Gigaku gradually declined and finally disappeared from the Court at the end of the Kamakura period.
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| Sangaku |
| Sangaku is called Hyakugi in China. It is a colourful entertainment and means a hundred plays including tricks, acrobatics, jugglery, illusion magic, and mimicry. It came to Japan after Gigaku. Emperor Shomu enjoyed watching Roso, a trick of spears in 735, and it was the first record of Hyakugi. At that time there was a training school called Gakko,
which belonged to the Court of Nara. At the beginning of Heian period, Gakko was abolished. Sangaku gradually became the
entertainments among the people and its mimicry elements were succeeded to Sarugaku later. Nowadays there are several folk entertainments that are reminiscent of Sangaku and are full of tricks and acrobatics.
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| Bugaku |
| Bugaku is one of the musical entertainments which were imported to Japan about the seventh century. It is also called Gagaku. In the middle of Heian period, Bugaku was rapidly Japanized and the programs and the systems of
musical instruments were classified and united. Then the original form of today's Court music performance
was established. Tsugaimai required a pair of performers; the Chinese-origined Togaku was called saho, the left
side; the Korean-origined Komagaku was called Uho, the right side. These were performed in the Court ceremonies, temple ceremonies, and other formal events. In Kamakura period, however, Bugaku gadually disappeared from the Court and spread to the country side. |
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| Dengaku |
| Dengaku is one of the genres of classical Japanese dancing, including both Dengaku dance, accompanied
by instruments such as Binzasara, and acrobatics with Kakaashi and Katanadama, to mark the rice planting.
The dances were performed by a Dengaku-Houshi, a Dengaku-master, who was a dancer by profession. "One of the most famous Dengaku was the."large" Dengaku, performed in the first year of Eicho (1096) by the aristocracy and the common people of Kyoto. At the end of the Kamakura Period, Dengaku surpassed Sarugaku, another well-known classical dance, and some performers were praised even by Zeami, the most famous of those who established Noh. At the end of the Muromachi Period, however, Dengaku declined, while Sarugaku gained in popularity.
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| Ennen |
| Ennen was an entertainment given at a large temple, with priests and child temple attendants to mark the
visit of Kuge, or aristocrats. Various types of perfomance popular at that time, such as Shirabyoshi and Ranbu were featured. Kaikou, Touben and Renji, types of poetry competition, were also part of the Ennen. "Large" Huryu and "small" Huryu were closely connected with Sarugaku-Noh. In the Middle Ages, Ennen was held at Enryaku-ji-Temple,
Kouhuku-ji-Temple, Tounomine, and elsewhere. Now, Ennen can be seen only at Hiraizumi-moutsu-ji-Temple and Mino-nagataki. |
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| Noh, Kyogen |
 Noh and Kyogen both originated form Sarugaku, a performance of miming. By the time of Nambokucho, Sarugaku split into Noh, which acquired an operatic style, and Kyogen, which developed from the short comedy. Noh was established by Kan'ami and Zeami, who were father and son. Kan'ami incorporated Kusemai into Noh, and Zeami developed the art of
quiet beauty in operatic performance. For Kyogen, a lot of plays performed today were already produced
by the end of Muromachi period, more than four hundred years ago. In Edo period, Noh was officially performed at the rituals of the feudal regime, and most clans themselves employed Noh actors. Utai, the chanting of Noh text, became popular among the common people in that era, and many librettos have been published.
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| Kabuki |
 Kabuki developed from a primitive dance-based style with simplistic lines to the sophisticated drama-based
style during the Genroku period (1688-1704) by introducing a unique type of performance such as Aragoto (exaggerated postures, make-up, and costumes) and Wagoto (love scenes). Starting in the Kyoho period (1716-36), the scheme
of scripts, acting, and production, all of which were stimulated by puppet shows, the development of stage equipment, and the evolving dance drama, were refined. After the Kansei period (1789-1801), Kabuki developed in the direction of realism. Kabuki was so influential among commoners that it determined fashions for designs of clothes, hairstyles, and accessories. |
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| Ningyo Joruri |
 Ningyo Joruri has three components; Tayu (Chanter), Shamisen (musical instrument), and puppets. Two
playwrights, Chikamatsu Monzaemon and Takemoto Giddy, created so-called Gidayu style -- playing Shamisen vigorously --- a style which .was qualitatively different from the old Joruri. A new technique of performance, that is, three puppeteers
controlling one puppet, was invented then. At its height, between the Enkyo and Houreki periods (1744-64), a series of masterpieces were produced which are performed even in today's Bunraku and Kabuki. Though the number of new works declined
after this, directing became more elaborate. Eventually, Joruri became popular with a wider range
of people as the number of shows performed went up and a lot of people started practising Joruri for fun. |
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| Shimpa |
| A new form of theatre called Soshi Shibai and Shosei Shibai developed in the late 1880s with the growth of
freedom and the Human Rights Movement. At the same time, actors who were not satisfled with this political form of drama drew large audiences by presenting fashionable family dramas and dramas which were translated into modern theatre. This new
form of theatre, Shimpa, means "new school," in opposition to Kabuki, the old school of actors. People started to call the new form "Shimpa" around the beginning of 1900s. The majority of actors were Onnagata (female impersonators) under the influence of Kabuki, but shimpa aimed at more realistic acting styles. The primary focus shifted from melodrama to
everyday life stories set in the world of Geisha and other female subcultures. Furthermore, the
performance of Onnagata in Shimpa has been taken over by actresses. |
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| Shingeki |
| Shingeki (literally 'new theatre'), which started from the translated plays of western countries, is
differentiated from the traditional drama like Noh and Kabuki. Performances of Ibsen were given in
Japanese at the end of the Meiji era, and they gained support from the intellectuals for the reasons that the
presentation gave emphasis to interaction among actors and turned people's attention to the relationship between the individual and society. Along with the presentation of translated plays and newly-created plays on the stage, research was carried out concerning several related aspects, such as the training of Shingeki actors, the manner of performance,
theadcal art, and stage lighting. In the late Taisho era, in consequence, theatres were built exclusively for the
perfomance of Shingeki. Early in the Showa era, although proletarian dramas were actively perfomed,
the government oppressed them, which made their activity decline. In the post-war period, however, the Shingeki companies were reformed and made a fresh start. Their activity has continued to the present day.
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| New National Theatre |
| This is a modern drama troupe founded in 1917 by Sawada Shojiro. Its hit plays include the sword-action
plays Kunisada Chuji and Daibosatsutoge, as well as original works such as Tomioka Sensei, all of which drew large audiences. Following the sudden death of Sawada, Shimada Shogo and Tatsumi Ryutaro took over his role and the troupe continued to perform various plays. |
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| Comedy |
| Soganoya Goro and Soganoya Juro organised the Soganoya Troupe in 1904 to create a contemporary comic form. Both Goro and Juro were playwrights as well as actors, and were responsible for creating a comedy boom with their hit play Muhitsu no Gogai, which was based on the Russo-Japanese War. Due to this boom, many comic actors joined the troupes "Shochiku Kateigeki" and "Shochiku Shinkigeki," which carried on the comic tradition. |
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| Light Comedies |
| The economic recession at the end of the Taisho period and the Japanese modernism movement in the
performing arts gave rise to new types of comedy and revue that included nonsense and eroticism. Newly erected theatres such as Casino Folly and Warai no Tengoku in Asakusa, the centre of the entertainment business, and Moulin-Rouge in Shinjuku produced shows which featured parodies of Kabuki and high fashion. |
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| Striptease |
| The popularity of striptease was ignited by "the Gakubuchi show" (Frame show) performed at the
Shinjuku Teito theatre in 1947. This led to a series of ship-show theatres such as the Asakusa theatre, the
France theatre, Nichigeki Music Hall etc... There were short comedies performed between the dances.
These were the places where novice playwrights and comedians strove to improve their works and performances. |
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| Girls Performance |
| This performance was a kind of revue performed by young women. The Takarazuka Kagekidan, literally,
"the Takarazuka Opera Company", prior to 1940 the Takarazuka Girls Opera Company, was founded in
1913 by the entertainment tycoon and politician Kobayashi Ichizo and boomed with the advent of new age musicals and real revues. Shochiku also began to perform as the Shochiku Girls Opera Company, called SKD in Japan. Mizunoe Takiko, called "Taaki" in Japan, is one of the famous actresses of this tradition.
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| Musical |
| This is a play in which a plot developed by dialogue is interspersed with songs and dances. In Japan, this
tradition began with Asakusa Opera. After World War I , the flrst famous musical was the one performed at
the Teikoku Theatre. The Broadway musical My Fair Lady at the Takarazuka Theatre (1963) was the flrst
serious musical in Japan. Now, Toho and Gekidan shiki, the most popular and the best attended major theatre groups in Japan, are also very popular for their translated perfomances and their original ones.
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