Kabuki

I'm kicking myself. Having just attended my first ever kabuki performance — Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees at Sadler's Wells in London — I'm annoyed that I never went in Tokyo. Yes, I was busy with work. But the truth is, I thought it would be boring: long, drawn out scenes in impenetrable ancient language with droning music and song. I should have known better.

The production, featuring Ebizo Ichikawa XI, was a perfectly balanced visual, musical and dramatic confection. I loved the acrobatic battle scenes, the little bits of stage 'magic' that made characters pop up where you weren't expecting them, the exquisite beauty of the costumes and sets. But what struck me most was how familiar it all was. The conventions of kabuki, the imagery, the dramatic poses, have so insinuated themselves into Japanese culture over the 400+ years of its existence that I have seen them everywhere...in advertising, on television, in cinema and even in the way people relate to one another.

Having been so focussed on modern Japan and its post-Meiji economic and political history, I have neglected some of the cultural traditions that would round out my understanding. I'll be sure to plan my next visit to Tokyo around the kabuki season.

Published by Elizabeth Saccente on Wednesday, Jun 23 2010.