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• Kabuki theater


  Along with Noh Drama and Mingyo joruri (Bunraku), one of the three most prominent forms of traditional Japanese theatre
• Kabuki theater


  Classical Japanese dance drama invented by a shrine maiden, Izumo Okuni, around 1600
• Kabuki theater


  Reached its peak during the Edo era (1616-1853)
• Origin of Kabuki theater

  1. Izumo Okuni set up a performance in a dry reverbed where she performed a mixture of folk and religious dances, drawing interest from the lowest class

  2. Soon, acting troupes began imitating her style of dance
• Kabuki theater


  The most popular form of Traditional Japanese theatre
• Kabuki


  Comes from the word "Kabuku" meaning the art of singing and dancing
• Categories of Kabuki plays

  • History plays or jidaimono - dramatizations of major political events from the past (9th to 15th century)
  • Domestic plays or sewamono - deals with the affairs of townspeople from the playwright's era
  • Dance dramas or the shosagot - popular plays that deal with the world of spirits and animals
• Kabuki


  • Art form rich in showmanship
  • Aragoto or "rough style" of acting is exemplified by exaggerated actions, dramatic eye-catching makeups, and elaborately designed costumes
  • The highly styled movement served to convey meaning to the audience
• Kumadori


  Major style used in Kabuki, uses dark lines to create mask-like effect on the performer's face
• Onnagata or Oyama


  Kabuki actors who play female roles, including high-ranking samurai ladies, young maidens, or wicked witches
• Music that accompanies Kabuki


  • Debayashi (onstage ensemble) - accompaniment made up of the hayashi ensemble, and later on, the shamisen
  • Joruri (narrative) - derived from the gidayu-shamisen singer
  • Geza (off-stage music) - provides mood, sets scenes, and musical clues as to location or action
• Kabuki theatre


  • Has dynamic stage sets such as large, revolving stage and scenic backdrops and trapdoors for surprise entrances or prompt changes of scenes
  • Kamite (stage left) is often occupied by important or high-ranking characters, while Shimote (stage right) is occupied by low-ranking characters
  • Features a footbridge or hanamachi that leads through the audience, allowing for dramatic entrances or exits
  • Ambiance is aided with live music performance using traditional Japanese instruments
• Noh drama


  Another popular theatre in Japan, mysterious, tragic, usually supernatural, and ceremonial music dance-drama
• There are about 240 Noh texts
• Noh drama


  Written about 599 years ago by the members of one family, focusing on a single character, the shite, who is interrogated, prompted, and challenged by the waki
• Noh drama is more symbolic, poetic, spiritual, and serious in tone, focusing strongly on the strict performance of set forms (kata)
• There are several festivals and special events held in Thailand throughout the year, some celebrated nationwide while others are specific to cities or provinces
• Songkran


  The official Thai new year, lasts for 2 to 3 days, during which the streets fill up with people looking to soak and get soaked with pails and super-soakers, used as a symbol of cleansing at the start of the New Year
• Phi Ta Khon


  Also known as the ghost festival, reflects beliefs on ghosts and spirits in Loei Province, Thailand's most colorful festival where men dress up as spirits in bright, colorful costumes and masks
• Monkey Buffet


  Celebrated in the town of Lopburi, showing appreciation to their main attraction, monkeys, by serving a huge buffet of food solely for the adorable, smart animals
• Loi Krathong


  Festival celebrated by thousands of people who go to their local river or canal to make a wish by lighting a candle in the krathong (small floating object in the shape of lotus flower made from banana leaves) and setting it free to float with the current
• Ubos Ratchathani Candle Festival


  Held at the start of the Buddhist Lenten period, where artists create large wax sculptures as Buddhist offerings that are paraded through the streets afterwards
• Yi Peng


  In Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Loi Krathong is celebrated slightly differently with a religious festival where large lanterns made of tracing paper are attached to bamboo hoops and inflated by hot air from a wick of burning paper and paraffin wax held by wires in the middle of the loop, then released in the sky rather than water to pay homage to Buddha
• Both the Yi Peng and Loi Krathong light festivals have their earliest roots in Brahmanic tradition, but Buddhists later adopted it to honor Buddha
• For Buddhists, participating in these activities serves as a time to reflect and let go of personal demons and negativity, and the flickering flames and lights symbolize their veneration of Buddha
• Many festivals in Japan feature processions where the Shrine's kami (Shinto deity) is carried through the town in mikoshi (palanquin), and decorated floats (dashi) accompanied by drum and flute music
• Sapporo Snow Festival


  Large snow and ice sculptures are built in Odori Park
• Yokote Kamakura Festival


  The mid-winter festival is when igloo-like snow houses are made throughout the town, where children and others sit in the Kamakura and serve amazake and mochi to visitors, with an altar for the water deity carved in the rear of each Kamakura where people pray
• Omizutori


  A Buddhist religious service rather than a festival, the most spectacular among its many ceremonies is the nightly burning of torches on the balcony of the wooden temple hall
• Takayama Matsuri


  Large and elaborately decorated floats are pulled through the old town of Takayama
• Aoi Matsuri


  The main attraction is the large parade of people dressed in the aristocratic style of Heian Period that leads from the Kyoto Imperial palace to the Kamo Shrine
• Jidai Matsuri


  A spectacular parade which covers over 1000 years during which Kyoto served as Japan's capital, the procession leads from Kyoto Imperial Palace to the Heian Shrine
• Kodo Taiko Drum Festival


  Takes place every summer in the southeastern section of Sado, where the Kodo Taiko group, formed 25 years ago, is responsible for the incessant pounding of countless booming taiko drums, traditionally used to drive away evil spirits and give orders in war
• Kodo village


  Aspiring apprentices learn their trade for two years, maintaining a strict regimen of diet, exercise, practice and work designed to improve themselves physically, musically, and spiritually, also growing their own rice and other foods using traditional farming methods
• Kodo Earth Celebration


  A 3 day outdoor concert where Kodo presents musical collaborations with a guest group, with the first night featuring Kodo, the second night the guest group joined by some Kodo members, and the third night a mix of both groups
• Binislakan and Sakuting


  Different origins but both Ilokano dances that use sticks, with Binislakan imitating Chinese chopsticks and Sakuting staging a mock fight between Christians and non-Christians
• Binislakan dance


  Derived from the Chinese word Li-King-Tung meaning "to look backward and forward", performed to commemorate the stay of Limahong, a Chinese pirate who built his kingdom in Lingayen
• Sakuting dance


  Portrays the struggle between the lowland Christians and the highland Non-Christians in Abra, home to the Ilokano people
• Gateway drug


  The term used to explain a theory that the use of certain drugs may lead to an increased risk in the use of other drugs, with typical gateway drugs being alcohol, marijuana, or cigarettes
• Reasons why people smoke

  • Peer pressure
  • Out of curiosity
  • For enjoyment and pleasure
  • Creates a social atmosphere
  • Eases away depression
  • To belong to a group
  • Relief from problems and anxiety
  • Relieve stress