Envision an orchestra pit filled with dozens of instruments, dancers adorned with bright pink eyeshadow, dresses that are decorated with the utmost detail, and men disguised as women.  This image may seem peculiar.  However, it is the reality of a traditional Japanese Kabuki performance. Unlike most Japanese dance styles, Kabuki is not performed as a means of preserving Japan’s historical roots.  Kabuki is primarily performed as an artistic impression of beauty.  These performances typically last four to five hours to encompass the full realm of beauty that Japanese culture has to offer.

Dancing in Japan was a common form of entertainment for aristocrats in the 1600s.  However, the “Tokugawa Ieyasu” overtook the country in 1623, unifying the social classes, giving people of all classes the ability to spend money on entertainment for the first time in centuries. It was also at this time that the Kamo River was left dry, leaving a large amount of space open for performances.  It was here that a woman by the name of Okuni began to dance for passerbyers.   As time passed, more and more people began to participate in these public performances.  It was commonplace for performers to include prostitutes.  These women utilized this dance style as a means to show off their dancing talents while still being able to show off their bodies.  As a result, the dance style was eventually pegged “Kabuki,” which loosely translates to “shocking.”

These public displays were short lived, however.  Tokugawa government officials often attended these performances. It became common culture for these men to take home the “prettiest” performers.  As the popularity of these performances amplified, often times there were not enough girls for the government officials to take home.  As a result, fights ensued; in 1629, all women were banned from performing Kabuki.  Surprisingly, the desire for this artform continued and vicariously men decided to take up this artform. It was at this time that the genre took on a dramatic new form.  The dance style morphed to become recognized more for men adorned in dramatic makeup wearing ornate costumes.

The government of the time kept strict watch over dancers and performers alike in order to keep relationships amongst audience members and performers to a minimum.  Often, the government went as far as to ban all performances in rural areas of the countryside. This forced performers to focus less on the storytelling elements of their dances and more on the visual elements in order to appease the government and keep tensions low.  Unlike other traditional dances of the time, Kabuki was considered a “performance art” that was primarily enjoyed by the people of lower classes.  Its movement lacked a basis in historical information or cultural storytelling.

Kabuki continued to keep a discreet existence until World War II.  It was this time period when the artform almost died out.  The Tokugawa government refused to share Japanese artforms with the rest of the world in order to confine Japanese culture to the country’s borders.  As Japan slowly opened its borders to the remainder of the world in 1868, the Kabuki genre was eventually saved.  Curious tourists from America and England gawked at the sight of men dancing in elaborate makeup and costumes, something not common in American or English culture.  Today, Kabuki is kept alive by the interest of curious visitors of Japan. While Kabuki is not commonly recognized as a prominent style of dance on the global level, it still has managed to be persevered throughout the ages in order to remain a staple presence in Japanese society.