Discussion

What’s in a name? It’s succession, legacy and celebration in Japan’s Kabuki theater

resiros: Going to Kabuki was one of the most amazing experiences we had when visiting Japan. Although I am not a theater person, and the whole thing was in Japanese ,and we did not have the auto-translate tablets, we enjoyed it a lot. It was very beautiful, and funny.I recommend to anyone visiting that part of the world.

bitwize: I've never seen kabuki live, but it looks fun as balls to attend in person. People shout and cheer at their favorite actors and characters, Rocky Horror style. I also perceive a cultural throughline from kabuki to the flashy costumes, cool poses, "transformation sequences", heroic themes, and so forth in modern Japanese media like anime and tokusatsu. The stylized action, line delivery, and visual language of the costumes, makeup, and scenery are all over the top (esp. when compared to the more subdued and austere aesthetics of noh) and that tickles some deep inner geek in me. Maybe some of the original "punk" ethos of kabuki (kabuku = "to lean", or metaphorically "to be odd") was preserved in all those layers of tradition.