Hello readers! JapanFan here with another Japanese artistic topic, music!

The Japanese shamisen, or sangen, is a three stringed musical instrument played with a bachi, also called a plectorum in English. (Kind of like a big, BIG guitar pick.) A shamisen is about the same length as a guitar, but it has no frets, and it’s body looks suspiciously similar to a drum. The drum like body is, sad to say, made of cat or dog skin, although in the past they were made of paper. (Japan is probably one of the only countries in the world where you can play your pet.) The strings are generally made of silk or nylon, and the bachies used to be made with ivory and tortoise shell, but now are generally constructed out of wood.

The shamisen can be played alone, with other shamisen, or with an ensemble of traditional Japanese instruments. Both men and women traditionally play the shamisen. Shamisen are used with kabuki, but they are most widely known for their part in Bunraku, a puppet type theater which involves three puppeteers per puppet, and a narrator who is accompanied by a shamisen.

Additionally in the 19th century female players carried on in a concert tradition, and around 1900 blind shamisen players (as well as shamisen players who could see) created a new style of playing. This new style was based on traditional folk tales, but involved a lot of impromptu playing as well as fancy fingerwork. Here’s a Youtube Video of two Shamisen players.

In the 20th century Shamisen were used to play non-traditional music, like blue grass. Yes, yes Japan has also been infected with country music.

That’s a brief blurb about the Shamisen! It is hoped that you will be able to better appreciate this beautiful Japanese instrument. (Even when it was used for country music.)

Hello readers, Japan fan here with another topic about Japan!

So Japan doesn’t have Broadway or Shakespeare, what does it have? It has Kabuki!

Kabuki started in 1603 by a miko, or priestess, named Okuni. She began to perform dances and dramas in dry riverbeds in Kyoto. It became immensely popular and more females began to perform with Okuni. They were cast as both male and female characters. However, soon the women began to attract too much attention, the wrong kind of attention. (Go figure huh?) So women were banned from performing in 1629. (Because of course that was the only way to protect them. Yeah, right.)

Young men took over the roles of Kabuki actors, and they placed an emphasis on drama rather than dance. The young men played both male and female parts. Because their voices were higher pitched they were easily able to carry out both roles. But will wonders never cease!! Soon these handsome young men also began to attract the wrong kinds of attention, and sometimes brawls would break out. So in 1653 the Shogunate ruled that adult males only could act in Kabuki. (I bet that made for some REALLY ugly female leads.)

Because adult males were all of the characters, Kabuki took on more of a sophisticated, comedic style of drama. Eventually this kind of Kabuki died out, especially when onnagata danced onto the secene. Onnagata were men who covered themselves in so much makeup and clothes they could truly fool the audiences into thinking they were female. (That must have taken a lot of makeup.)

Behold, the astonishing transformation from middle aged man to a…beauty?

From 1673-1735 Kabuki thrived. During this period Kabuki was officially stylized and several great Kabuki writers lived, releasing many influential works. Around 1750 Kabuki fell out of favor.

However, just as it survived through husky voiced males pretending to be pretty girls, Kabuki was once again revived around 1868, the time of the Meiji restoration. This time the Kabuki Theaters targeted the upper class, and occasionally a Kabuki drama was performed for the Emperor Meiji.

Kabuki took a hit after World War II when times were tough for all of Japan. But Kabuki is considered to be moderately popular today. There are a handful of large theaters in the major cities, and women have once again been welcomed back into the theater. (After World War II an all female troupe was formed, they are still around today.)

Additionally Kabuki has spread West. Kabuki troupes tour through America and Europe, and in addition to performing Japanese drams they will perform adapted versions of Shakespeare as well! (Imagine Romeo the playboy in a kimono!)

That’s a basic history of the Kabuki Theater! Look forward to more information about Kabuki dramas in upcoming posts!

Population: approximately 127.4 million

Capital: Tokyo

Language: Japanese

Location: Japan is an archipelago of roughly 3,000 islands. It rests on the East side of China and Korea. (I HOPE you know where Japan is.)

Climate: Japan is mostly temperate, but there is a large difference in temperatures between the north and south islands. (Yes, yes, yes, I KNOW the north Island of Hokkaido gets snow!)

History: The famous Japanese imperial court began some time in the 8^th century. In the 700s Japan mostly copied Chinese government and art, but around 794 true Japanese culture began to emerge.

Then came the feudal era, in which Japan was ruled by the warrior class, the samurai. Additionally, Mongols attempted to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281, but they were repelled by gargantuan typhoons both times.

In 1854 Commodore Perry of the US Navy forced Japan to open it’s shores to trade. Shortly after Emperor Meiji ascended to the throne, and was used by a group of world changing men to radically change Japan.

Japan became westernized by these men, who decided to keep Japan alive by adopting the ways of the westerners. It became the most powerful Asian country, and in 1937 invaded China. It continued to attack, eventually joining in World War II, and dragged America in as well by attacking Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Japan lost to America after two atomic bombs were dropped on its land. American soldiers created a constitution for Japan, which is still in use today. Japan has no real army as part of the post-war agreement, but it has one of the largest economies in the world.