Japan Living Arts by Steve Beimel

14-minute video featuring 35-year old Kabuki Super Star, Ebizo…………………….     Kanjinchō Last week, I saw an outstanding Kabuki performance by ICHIKAWA Ebizo, a 35-year old, 11th generation super star Kabuki…

FUNABENKEI…..   7-minute video of a performance of Funabenkei, one of the most well-known pieces in the Noh Theather. Taken from the life of Yoshitsune, an actual historic figure who…

Japanese Lullaby……….. 4-minute audio—This haunting Japanese lullaby from the Edo period (1603~1868) features a 6-piece ensemble of Shakuhachi flute, two 13-string Koto (zither), 3-string shamisen, biwa (Japanese short-neck lute) and…

Contemporary Kabuki Performance 7-minute video from modern Kabuki.

Kabuki Tap Dance The late Kabuki actor, 18th generation Nakamura Kanzaburo, performs the role of a drunk in a highly demanding dance in wooden clogs.

8-minute video–A truly magical performance of Tezuna, a traditional form of Japanese Magic.  

28-minute video of Chushingura, the famous Kabuki play about the 47 loyal retainers of an actual 18-century historical event.  This NHK production features English narration.

  10-minute video introduction to one of the world's great theater forms, 400-year old Japanese Bunraku puppetry.  Unlike puppet theaters in many cultures which are created for children, Bunraku is dramatic…

9 minute video:  Kabuki superstar Bando Tamasaburo talks about his life as an onagata: "I act [the role of] a woman with the eyes and feelings of a man, like…

VIDEO–moderate length.  Informative English narration.  Kabuki superstar, Tamasaburo, performs the classic dance, Fuji Musume (Whisteria Maiden), first introduced to the theater in 1826.