Kabuki is a lyric music of Japan. Like most of the other narrative forms, it began with a close relation to the Kabuki popular theatre of the Edo period. The Eastern part of the present capital city of Tokyo was originally called Edo. The Edo period refers to the dynasty founded by Tokugu wa Ilyasu – a local warrior during 16th century. The word “Kabuki” means the art of singing and dancing.
Its musical events can be divided into on-stage activities and off-stage performance. In plays, derived from puppet dramas, the musicians called Chobo are placed on their traditional big size platform behind a curtained area of the stage close to the exit point. Although nearly all of the music can be heard in concert form today, still Kabuki productions are different form of narrative as well as lyrical styles. The most common dance scene today, however, is the one, in which the on-stage group consists of musicians who also take part in performance. The performers are placed on the stage according to the needs of the play.
In this process there are as many different types of music as they are used in Chinese or Western opera. The most interesting side of this is the combination of a variety of modern musical instruments with that of the musical instruments belonging to the Edo period, like bamboo flutes or drums.
Kabuki actor’s use elaborates costumes and their faces are heavily painted. Heroes usually are in white and villains in red costumes. Actors, all men, often fight pretended duels and mime actions such as drinking of milk or tea from invisible pots.
Kabuki is still very popular in Japan.