JAPAN: Japan looks to children to bring traditional performing Art of Kabuki back to its popular roots

Record ID: 465413

  • Title: JAPAN: Japan looks to children to bring traditional performing Art of Kabuki back to its popular roots
  • Date: 11th February 2006
  • Summary: WIDE SHOT KABUKI THEATRE AUDIENCE WATCHING SAWAMURA IN THE CLASSICAL PIECE 'SUKEROKU' ; SAWAMURA AS SUKEROKU WITH AN UMBRELLA DANCING ON STAGE
  • Embargoed: 26th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA7M1CIPY98WSIG19E42IY1HGH0
  • Story Text: In the world of Japanese traditional arts, there is a saying that one must start lessons at the age of 6 on June 6 in order to achieve any sort of success.
    But at the Edo Tokyo Museum in Tokyo, a programme is on to introduce children of varying ages from all walks of life to Kabuki -- a form of traditional theatre which was recently added to UNESCO's list of heritage masterpieces to join the ranks of whirling dervish ceremonies of Turkey, Brazilian sambas, ethnic Berber poetry from Algeria and other cultural treasures.
    Kabuki is a highly stylized form of theatre where men play all roles, including those of women. Most of the stage names of the actors as well as roles they play are handed down from father to son and few outside the exclusive world manage to enter the family-controlled actors' guilds.
    To make the art form more accessible to ordinary Japanese the Association for the Traditional Performing Arts of Japan (ATPA), a non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation of traditional Japanese performances, is providing opportunities for children to experience the traditionally closed world of Kabuki.
    For a fee of 65,000 yen (550 U.S. dollars) any child, regardless of gender, who passes an initial audition can go through three months of training by certified Kabuki performers in a programme which hopes to return the theatre to its roots as entertainment for the masses.
    Believed to have started in 1603, the performances were originally done by an all-women cast but the shows were soon banned for being too sexy.
    In recent years, the increased appearances of younger Kabuki actors has diversified the audience base which used to be predominantly middle-aged or elderly women.
    But for the children taking part in the course, their interest and enthusiasm are real.
    "I got interested in Kabuki at the age of four or five years old when I went to the Kabuki theatre and saw for the first time with my grandmother," said Raichi Haruki (pronounced RAH-EE-CHI HA-ROO-KEE), an eight-year-old boy from Tokyo who like many of the children interviewed aspired to become a Kabuki actor.
    "I would like to continue (with Kabuki) and become like the actor Kuniya," said Shunsuke Watanabe (SHUN-SOO-KEH WAH-TAH-NAH-BEH), another eight year old.
    Kuniya Sawamura (KOO-NEE-YAH SAH-WAH-MOO-RAH) is one of the few Japanese Kabuki actors that began his career as a child but did not inherit his credentials from his parents.
    Kuniya, as he is known to Kabuki fans, is now 27 and a rising young star often given choice roles such as the heroic playboy lead in the classical Kabuki piece "Sukeroku" (SOO-KEH-ROH-KOO).
    He sees the growing movement of children in Kabuki as an important way to introduce them to the dying art, even if the child does not pursue a career as an actor.
    "It's great that these children get to learn Kabuki while it's still all play -- and I am flattered some of them want to be Kabuki actors -- but if it's fun for them and whether they become actors or spectators, at least they get the experience of Kabuki," Kuniya told Reuters.
    Compared to its pre-war, hey-days, Kabuki is no longer the popular entertainment it once was. Movies, dramas and other forms of entertainment have nearly wiped out the art and it has survived thanks to a handful of aficionados, and powerful Kabuki families.
    "What makes Kabuki great is that actors hone their skills as children and give us great performances," said Mitsuko Murase (MEE-TSOO-KOH MOO-RAH-SEH), a 63 year old Kabuki fan who says she attends the performances more once a month.
    "I think UNESCO made Kabuki into a heritage masterpiece because it recognised Kabuki's superb artistic, cultural value," said ATPA director general Genichi Takeshiba (pronounced GHEN-EE-CHII TAH-KEH-SHEE-BAH). "But Kabuki needs successors to be what it is -- successors that will compete against each other and create an even more sublime art. Otherwise even with UNESCO's help, you might as well just put it in a museum and that is not good."
    He and many seeking to preserve Kabuki as a living art form are hoping that many of the children on stage today will take up that call.
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