Nihon Buyo

Nihon Buyo is different from most other traditional dances. It is intended for entertainment on stage. Nihon Buyo is a refined dance that has been improved throughout four centuries. (Japanese Dance Association Inc.) There are four parts to Nihon Buyo, the most significant part being Kabuki Buyo. Nihon Buyo was created directly from Kabuki Buyo before it became theater. The second part of Nihon Buyo is Noh. (Japanese Dance Association Inc.) Nihon Buyo takes a few key elements from Noh such as the circular movements and the tools that they incorporate in the dances. The third part of these dances comes from the folk dances. They took the spinning and jumping that is used in folk dances and has incorporated it in Nihon Buyo. The last part came from a mixture of European and American culture that is found in Japan today. (Japanese Dance Association Inc.) Today, with the combination of these dances we have Nihon Buyo, a refined dance that has become an art form made for entertainment on stage.

The Sparrow dance, called Suzume Odori (雀踊り), is a dance based upon the fluttering movements of the Eurasian tree sparrow. It was first performed, improvised, by stonemasons who were constructing Sendai Castle for the daimyo Date Masamune. The emblem of the Date clan incorporates two tree sparrows. The Sparrow dance is now performed yearly in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture at the Aoba festival in mid-May. School children in Miyagi prefecture learn and perform the Sparrow dance, especially during the Obon Festival.

Types of dance

Noh Mai

The origin of the Noh Mai can be traced back to as far as the thirteenth century,. Noh Mai is a dance that is done to music that is made by flutes and small hand drums. At some points they dance to vocal and percussion music, these points are called kuse or kiri. Noh Mai dances are put together by a series of forms. (The Noh, 2008) Forms are patterns of body movements that are done elegantly and with beauty.

There are several types of Noh Mai dances. A type that is neither slow nor fast is called Chu No Mai. A female usually performs this type of dance. A slower type of dance is the Jo No Mai. A female does this dance as well and can dress up as either a ghost of a noble woman, a spirit or deity. A male’s dance is Otoko Mai. The performer does not wear a mask in this dance and is portraying the character as being heroic. Another male dance is Kami Mai, where the dancer acts as though he is a deity. This is a very fast dance. The female version of this would be Kagura and can be performed in various ways. Gaku is a dance that is imitates music played by the imperial court and is usually done by the main character. These six types make up the Noh Mai dance and help give the dance its beauty.

Costumes are a huge part of Noh Mai. Sometimes a dance or play may start out very slowly, so the actors create very flamboyant costumes to keep the audience interested. They also dress to fit the region in which they represent, such as a bamboo hat worn during a play would represent country life. The most important part of the costume is the mask. The Noh Mai masks are thought to be the most artistic masks in Japan. The masks are only worn by the main characters. (Ishii, 1994, pg. 43) Also, the masks have neutral expressions so it is the job of the actor to bring the character to life. (Pitt Rivers Museum)

Bon Odori

Bon Odori is a dance performed during Obon., It was originally a dance to welcome the spirits of the dead. These dances and the music that accompanies them are different for every region of Japan. Usually, the bon dance involves people dancing around a yagura, a high wooden scaffold. The people move either counter clockwise or clockwise, away and towards the yagura. Sometimes they switch direction.

The movements and gestures in a bon dance often depict the history, work or geography of the region. For example, Tankō Bushi is a coal mining work song that originates from Miike Mine in Kyushu, and the movements in the dance depict digging, cart pushing and lantern hanging. Soran Bushi is a sea shanty, and the movements in the dance depict net dragging and luggage hoisting. Bon dances may employ the use of different utensils, such as fans, small towels and wooden hand clappers. For the Hanagasa Odori,the dancers use straw hats with flowers on them.

Japanese traditional dance

There are two types of Japanese traditional dance: Odori, which originated in the Edo period, and Mai, which originated in the western part of Japan. Odori grew out of Kabuki drama and is more oriented toward male sentiments. Mai is traditionally performed in Japanese HI instead of on the stage. It was influenced by the Noh Drama.

A variation of the Mai style of Japanese dance is the Kyomai or Kyoto Style Dance. Kyomai developed in the 17th century Tokugawa cultural period. It is heavily influenced by the elegance and sophistication of the manners often associated with the Imperial Court in Kyoto.

Traditional clothing

Traditional Japanese clothing distinguishes Japan from all other countries around the world. The Japanese word kimono means "something one wears" and they are the traditional garments of Japan. Originally, the word kimono was used for all types of clothing, but eventually, it came to refer specifically to the full-length garment also known as the naga-gi, meaning "long-wear", that is still worn today on special occasions by women, men, and children. Kimono in this meaning plus all other items of traditional Japanese clothing is known collectively as wafuku which means "Japanese clothes" as opposed to yofuku (Western-style clothing). Kimonos come in a variety of colours, styles, and sizes. Men mainly wear darker or more muted colors, while women tend to wear brighter colors and pastels, and, especially for younger women, often with complicated abstract or floral patterns.

The kimono of a woman who is married (tomesode) differs from the kimono of a woman who is not married (furisode). The tomesode sets itself apart because the patterns do not go above the waistline. The furisode can be recognized by its extremely long sleeves spanning anywhere from 39 to 42 inches, it is also the most formal kimono an unwed woman wears. The furisode advertises that a woman is not only of age but also single.

The style of kimono also changes with the season, in spring kimonos are vibrantly colored with springtime flowers embroidered on them. In the fall, kimono colors are not as bright, with fall patterns. Flannel kimonos are ideal for winter, they are a heavier material to help keep you warm.

One of the more elegant kimonos is the uchikake, a long silk overgarment worn by the bride in a wedding ceremony. The uchikake is commonly embellished with birds or flowers using silver and gold thread.

Kimonos do not come in specific sizes as most western dresses do. The sizes are only approximate, and a special technique is used to fit the dress appropriately.

The obi is a very important part of the kimono. Obi is a decorative sash that is worn by Japanese men and women, although it can be worn with many different traditional outfits, it is most commonly worn with the kimono. Most women wear a very large elaborate obi, while men typically don a more thin and conservative obi.

Most Japanese men only wear the kimono at home or in a very laid back environment, however it is acceptable for a man to wear the kimono when he is entertaining guests in his home. For a more formal event a Japanese man might wear the haori and hakama, a half coat and divided skirt. The hakama is tied at the waist, over the kimono and ends near the ankle. Hakama were initially intended for men only, but today it is acceptable for women to wear them as well. Hakama can be worn with types of kimono, excluding the summer version, yukata. The lighter and simpler casual-wear version of kimono often worn in Japanese summer festival is called yukata.

Formal kimonos are typically worn in several layers, with number of layers, visibility of layers, sleeve length, and choice of pattern dictated by social status, season, and the occasion for which the kimono is worn. Because of the mass availability, most Japanese people wear western style clothing in their everyday life, and kimonos are mostly worn for festivals, and special events. As a result, most young women in Japan are not able to put the kimono on themselves. Many older women offer classes to teach these young women how to don the traditional clothing.

Happi is another type of traditional clothing, but it is not famous worldwide like the kimono. A happi (or happy coat) is a straight sleeved coat that is typically imprinted with the family crest, and was a common coat for firefighters to wear.

Japan also has very distinct footwear.

Tabi, an ankle high sock, is often worn with the kimono. Tabi are designed to be worn with geta, a type of thonged footwear. Geta are sandals mounted on wooden blocks held to the foot by a piece of fabric that slides between the toes. Geta are worn both by men and women with the kimono or yukata.

Japanese language

Japanese is the official and primary language of Japan. Japanese is relatively small but has a lexically distinct pitch-accent system. Early Japanese is known largely on the basis of its state in the 8th century, when the three major works of Old Japanese were compiled. The earliest attestation of the Japanese language is in a Chinese document from 252 AD.

Japanese is written with a combination of three scripts: hiragana, derived from the Chinese cursive script, katakana, derived as a shorthand from Chinese characters, and kanji, imported from China. The Latin alphabet, rōmaji, is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when inputting Japanese into a computer. The Hindu-Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also common.