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Special Collection
This collection of video segments produced by KET provides examples of Japanese culture through aesthetics, drama, and music.
Japanese Aesthetics explains the major difference between Western and Eastern aesthetics.
Bunraku, a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, is featured in this collection as well as several videos segments about Kabuki theater. The Kabuki segments include the basics of the genre, techniques, make-up, symbolism, and a performance. All the Kabuki videos feature Shozo Sato, a Kabuki master.
The koto, the national instrument of Japan, is played by Kazue Sawai, a well-known koto player in the Koto video segment.
| RESOURCE | GRADE LEVEL | MEDIA TYPE |
|---|---|---|
Japanese Culture: BunrakuIn this excerpt from a documentary on Bunraku, students meet an apprentice studying to be a puppeteer at Bunraku Theater in Osaka. In addition, they learn a little bit about the history of this classic Japanese art form and see puppets being manipulated. |
6-12 |
Video |
Japanese Culture: Japanese AestheticsShozo Sato provides a brief overview of Japanese aesthetics and explains the major differences between Western and Japanese aesthetics. He talks about the Japanese emphasis on stylization and the function of art and the artist in Japanese society. |
6-12 |
Video |
Japanese Culture: Kabuki Actor's TechniqueShozo Sato describes Kabuki acting technique and the training that Kabuki performers, traditionally all male, go through in order to learn how to play male, female, young, and old characters. He demonstrates vocal inflections and actual movements—walking, how the head is held, poses—of various Kabuki characters. |
6-12 |
Video |
Japanese Culture: Kabuki Fan SymbolismKabuki master Shozo Sato discusses the origin of fan use in Kabuki theater and demonstrates the common usage and symbolism of the various fan movements, using the fan to represent a tray, a sunrise, the wind, rain, cutting with a knife, drinking, and other items and ideas. |
6-12 |
Video |
Japanese Culture: Kabuki MakeupKabuki master Shozo Sato applies makeup to actor Michael Goldberg as he discusses about how makeup is applied and how colors and lines help suggest character. In Kabuki theater, makeup is used to express a character’s personality. |
6-12 |
Video |
Japanese Culture: KotoKazue Sawai, a well-known koto player and widow of Tadao Sawai, who is considered the greatest modern koto player, performs “Midare” (“Chaos”) on the traditional Japanese instrument. Used with permission of Films for the Humanities and Sciences, a division of Films Media Group, Princeton, NJ. All rights reserved. |
6-12 |
Video |
Japanese Culture: Scene from Macbeth Kabuki-StyleIn the segment Macbeth: Kabuki Style, actors Michael Goldberg and Barbara Robertson perform the scene from Macbeth in which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plot the murder of Duncan. The text used by the actors in this video was adapted to better suit Kabuki-style performance and only resembles the standard text of Macbeth. |
6-12 |
Video |
Japanese Culture: Shakespeare Meets Kabuki: Scene IntroductionIn the segment Shakespeare Meets Kabuki: Scene Introduction, Shozo Sato explains why he created “American Kabuki” to help Americans understand and appreciate this art form and why he chose to use Shakespeare to introduce Western audiences to Kabuki theater. |
6-12 |
Video |
Japanese Culture: What Is Kabuki?Shozo Sato, a Kabuki master, presents an overview of Kabuki, pointing out major characteristics such as male actors, stylized acting, and audience. He also discusses the distinction between Kabuki and Noh theater, the other classical Japanese theatrical style. |
6-12 |
Video |
