Country Article / Postcards
Tokyo’s Finest Entertainment
Date: 08/28/2005
Modern Tokyo offers the best of Japanese traditional theater, including Noh plays, which date back to the 12th century. Read on for the best venues in town.
Dear International Living Reader,
Japan boasts three traditional forms of theater; Kabuki, Noh, and Bunraku, all of which can be seen at their finest in Tokyo. The National Theater of Japan, tel. (81)3-3230-3000, is the best for Kabuki and Bunraku. It was designed based on centuries-old Kabuki theaters.
Kabuki plays have fantastic plots, elaborate costumes, a lot of action, and singing. All parts are played by men, and performances go on for hours. (You don’t have to sit through an entire performance. It is acceptable to leave or arrive in the middle.) Musicians are seated on stage, and stagehands wearing black hoods bring actors their props during performances.
The largest Kabuki theater in Tokyo is Kabukiza, in the Ginza. (However, as mentioned above, the best place to see Kabuki is at the National Theater because performances are translated and explained via earphones.)
Bunraku--puppet versions of Kabuki--are heroic tales of samurai, enacted by life-size puppets. A small theater in the National Theater is designed especially for Bunraku.
Noh plays, which date back to the 12th century, are highly stylized and symbolic dramas. The stage is bare except for a backdrop showing a huge tree. Actors wear masks and speak in falsetto voices. The best places to see Noh plays are small Noh theaters, including Ginza Nohgakudo, 6-5-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku; tel. (81)33-571-0197 (for performances every even-numbered month); the National Noh Theater, 4-18-1 Sendagoya, Shibuya-ku; (for performances every Wednesday at 1 p.m. and every third Friday at 6 p.m.); Kanze Nohgakudo, 1-16-4 Shoto, Shibuya-ku; tel. (81)33-469-5241 (for performances on the first Sunday of every month at 11 a.m. and the second Thursday on even-numbered months at 5 p.m.); and Hosho Nohgakudo, 1-5-9 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku; tel. (81)33-811-4843 (for performances every second Sunday and every third Saturday at 1 p.m., except in July and August, and on Wednesday in odd-numbered months at 6 p.m.).
Prepared by the staff of International Living.
* This postcard is excerpted fromThe World’s Best, IL’s ultimate guide for the world traveler. Read on for more about the world's best, quirkiest, and most appealing destinations…and the very best things to do and sights to see once you arrive.
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