Theatre
Kabuki, noh and bunraku, all three still performed, all three on the UNESCO list, plus the geisha districts of Kyoto and the training behind an art that takes decades.
Part of Japan
32 moments in this segment.
- - Nō Costume (Nuihaku) with Blossoming Trees and Flowers. Garment, 1675–99, from the Cleveland Museum of Art open-access collection; a digitised reproduction of the original artefact.
- - Brooklyn Museum - A Kyoto Geisha - Yamaguchi Soken. maiko geisha Kyoto photograph.
- - Case (Inrō) with Design of Old Man and Woman (Jo and Uba) and Pine Trees (from Noh Play "T. Inrō, 19th century, Japan, Metropolitan Museum of Art open-access; digitised reproduction of the original artefact.
- - Incense Box with Scene from Noh Play Kokaji. Box and tray, second half of the 19th century, Japan, Metropolitan Museum of Art open-access; digitised reproduction of the original artefact.
- - Kabuki actors dressed as samurai in 1880. samurai photograph 1860s Japan. Kabuki actors dressed like samurai, handcolored photograph around 1880
- - Momijigari (1899) - Digitally Restored. An excerpt from the digital restoration of Momijigari, filmed in 1899 with kabuki actors Ichikawa Danjuro IX and Onoe Kikugoro V, the oldest surviving Japanese film shot by Japanese hands.
- - Adachigahara UMEWAKA Rokuro 55th. noh theatre performance stage Japan. stage photo: Noh play Kurozuka(Adachigahara), UMEWAKA Rokuro(55th)
- - Kagekiyo KONPARU Eijiro ARS30. noh theatre performance stage Japan. stage photo: Noh play Kagekiyo, KONPARU Eijiro
- - Terumasa Hino plays Freedom Jazz Dance, 1971. Terumasa Hino with the Swing Journal jazz poll winners in 1971, at the height of the Japanese modern jazz boom that followed Miles Davis's electric period.
- - Ennosuke III: Kabuki Actor. Documentary following Ichikawa Ennosuke III preparing two major productions, including the 1979 revival of the five-hour play Date no Juyaku.
- - Geisha Kyoto Gion. maiko geisha Kyoto photograph. This photograph of a geisha at work in Gion was taken by the original author with the geisha's permission.
- - Geisha-kyoto-2004-11-21. maiko geisha Kyoto photograph. 2 Maiko (apprentice Geisha) conversing near the Golden Temple in Kyoto, Japan. Parts of the kimono and the special make-up are clearly visible. Foreground: senior maiko donning the ofuku hairstyle, background: junior maiko marked by the profusion of hair decorations an
- - Dancing geisha, Gion, Kyoto - August 30, 2007. maiko geisha Kyoto photograph. A geiko (Kyoto geisha) named Mamechika dances in Gion, Kyoto.
- - National Bunraku Theatre1. bunraku puppet theatre Japan. 国立文楽劇場
- - Bunraku doll in national theatre Osaka 1. bunraku puppet theatre Japan. Bunraku_doll_in_national_theatre_Osaka
- - Bunraku doll in national theatre Osaka 2. bunraku puppet theatre Japan. Bunraku_doll_in_national_theatre_Osaka
- - Bunraku: Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, Horikawa Gosho Scene. National Bunraku Theatre performance of the opening act of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, with chanter Toyotake Fusadayu and shamisen player Tsuruzawa Seisuke.
- - Fuji-no-Ma in the Kyoto State Guest House 03. gagaku court music performance. Elegant Japanese Cultural Traditions Take the Stage - The space hosts traditional dance, noh, koto (a type of stringed instrument), and gagaku (court music) performances, offering distinguished visitors an experience of Japanese cultural traditions.
- - Bunraku: The Sake Shop Scene from Hadesugata Onna Maiginu. Subtitled bunraku performance filmed without an audience during the pandemic, featuring the celebrated Osono no Kudoki lament; bunraku is UNESCO-listed.
- - Bunraku: The Fire Tower Scene from Date Musume Koi no Higanoko. Subtitled bunraku performance of the Yaoya Oshichi story, in which Oshichi climbs the fire tower knowing it means execution; filmed without an audience.
- - Noh: Matsukaze. Full Tessen-kai performance of the Noh play Matsukaze at the Hosho Noh Theatre, with Takao Nishimura as the ghost of Matsukaze.
- - Living National Treasure: Kabuki Chanter Aoidayu Takemoto. Ota City documentary on Aoidayu Takemoto, a Living National Treasure in kabuki takemoto narrative music, part of a series on holders of Important Intangible Cultural Property status.
- - Bunraku Puppet Theatre at Rohm Theatre Kyoto. Digest of a bunraku programme staged for the theatre's fifth anniversary, presenting Kinoshita Kage Hazama Kassen and Tsuma Moyo Yumeji no Kadomatsu.
- - A 17-Year-Old Maiko's First Stage at the Kamogawa Odori. Yomiuri TV documentary following Ichikoto, a novice maiko in Pontocho, through ten months of training and pandemic cancellations to her debut in the 150-year-old Kamogawa Odori.
- - Welcome to the Noh Theatre: How Noh and Kyogen Work. Nohgaku Performers' Association primer in which working actors explain the Noh stage, its conventions and the two forms, with footage from the Tokyo 2020 Noh festival.
- - Kyoto's Five Hanamachi: A Maiko of Gion Kobu. Kyoto Traditional Musical Art Foundation film introducing the five geisha districts of Kyoto through an interview with Maya, a maiko of Gion Kobu.
- - Kanda Matsuri: Return of the Palanquins to the Shrine. The chakurensai, in which the shinkosai procession returns to Kanda Myojin after circuiting the parish, again led by kiyari chanters.
- - Backstage at the Kabukiza, Ten Years After Rebuilding. Nippon TV culture feature in which kabuki actor Ukon Onoe guides viewers behind the scenes of the Kabukiza theatre, rebuilt in 2013.
- - Noh and Kyogen: Ohara Goko and Kiyomizu Zato. Full Kamakura Noh Butai programme at the Kanze Noh Theatre, pairing Nomura Mansai's kyogen with the Noh play Ohara Goko, preceded by a scholarly lecture.
- - Noh: Miwa (Hakushiki Kamikagura). Kamakura Noh Butai performance of Miwa in the rare Hakushiki Kamikagura variant, with Kanta Nakamori as the Miwa deity and Nomura Mansai in the kyogen.
- - Kokuho and What Changed in Japanese Cinema. Asahi Shimbun analyses the exceptional 2025 run of Lee Sang-il's Kokuho, a nearly three-hour kabuki drama that broke the 22-year record for live-action Japanese box office, and the role word-of-mouth on social media played.
- - The Toji Road: Kusatsu to Shima with Ichikawa Danjuro. Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro, appointed onsen culture ambassador, retraces the Edo-period cure route from Kusatsu through Sawatari to Shima, where bathers went for the finishing waters.
