Theatre of Japan

thumb|The July 1858 production of at the Ichimura-za theater theatre in Edo. [[Triptych woodblock print by Utagawa Toyokuni III.|383x383px]] alt=|thumb|Onoe Kikugorō VI as Umeō-maru in |279x279px is a classical form of Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.

is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuring a supernatural being transformed into a human hero who narrates the story. Noh integrates masks, costumes and various props in a dance-based performance, requiring highly trained actors and musicians. Emotions are primarily conveyed by stylized conventional gestures while the iconic masks represent specific roles such as ghosts, women, deities, and demon

thumb|The character Osono, from the play , in a performance by the Tonda Puppet Troupe of Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture

thumb|right|Rakugoka at Sanma Festival

traditional and modern theatres found in different parts of Japan

is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside Noh, was performed along with Noh as an intermission of sorts between Noh acts on the same stage, and retains close links to Noh in the modern day; therefore, it is sometimes designated Noh-kyōgen. Its contents are nevertheless not at all similar to the formal, symbolic, and solemn Noh theater; kyōgen is a comic form, and its primary goal is to make its audience laugh.

is one of the traditional styles of Japanese theater. It is composed of the lyric drama noh, and the comic theater kyōgen (狂言). Traditionally, both types of theatre are performed together, the kyōgen being interposed between the pieces of noh during a day of performances.

Japanese all-female theatre troupe

is a Japanese term meaning "double suicide", used in common parlance to refer to any group suicide of two or more individuals bound by love, typically lovers, parents and children, and even whole families. A double suicide without consent is called and it is considered as a sort of murder–suicide.

The is a recitation show that is performed at Yahashira Shrine in Kami-fukawa village, near the city of Nara.

thumb|A sarugaku troupe thumbnail|Stage for Sarugaku at Nogohakusan-Shinto shrine|jinja, [[Ibigawa, Gifu, Japan]] was a form of theatre popular in Japan during the 11th to 14th centuries. One of its predecessors was a , a form of entertainment reminiscent of the modern-day circus, consisting mostly of acrobatics, juggling, and pantomime, sometimes combined with drum dancing. Sangaku came from China to Japan in the 8th century and there mingled with indigenous traditions, particularly the harvest celebrations of dengaku.

thumb| (Heron Maiden) dance performed by Akifusa Guraku in 2011 , also , are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. It originated in 1629 after women were banned from performing in kabuki performances. There are many specific techniques that actors must learn to master the role of .

were rustic Japanese celebrations that can be classified into two types: that developed as a musical accompaniment to rice planting observances, and the dances that developed in conjunction with . The celebrated for rice planting was performed by villagers either at the New Year or during the planting season in early summer. It was only in the 14th century that these dances were brought to the cities and incorporated into Noh theater, notably by the playwright and actor Kan'ami. The instrument of is the , a wooden percussive instrument clapper, though there are other instruments that can be us

Japanese theatre director

thumb|A painting by Katsushika Hokusai of the most famous , [[Shizuka Gozen (Lady Shizuka), who was the lover of Minamoto no Yoshitsune.]]

Japanese writer (1839–1900)

(also rendered shimpa) is a modern form of theater in Japan usually featuring melodramatic stories, contrasted with the more traditional kabuki style. Taking its start in the 1880s, it later spread to cinema.

is a style of traditional oral Japanese storytelling. The form evolved out of lectures on historical or literary topics given to high-ranking nobles of the Heian period, changing over the centuries to be adopted by the general samurai class and eventually by commoners, and eventually, by the end of the Edo period, declining in favor of new types of entertainment and storytelling such as naniwa-bushi. It was at this time that the term kōshaku was abandoned and kōdan adopted. Today, after a failed attempt to revive the art in 1974, there are four schools of kōdan and only a very few performers b

thumb|Drawing depicting a yose scene thumb|The Asakusa yose thumb|Suehiro-tei in Shinjuku '''' is a form of spoken vaudeville theatre of Japan cultivated since the 18th century. The term also refers to the exclusive theater where yose'' is held.

was a leading form of theatre in Japan that was based on modern realism. Born in the early years of the 20th century, it sought to be similar to modern Western theatre, putting on the works of the ancient Greek classics, William Shakespeare, Molière, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekov, Tennessee Williams, and so forth. As it appropriated Western realism, it also introduced women back onto the Japanese stage.

is a concept of modulation and movement applied in a wide variety of traditional Japanese arts. Roughly translated to "beginning, break, rapid", it essentially means that all actions or efforts should begin slowly, speed up, and then end swiftly. This concept is applied to elements of the Japanese tea ceremony, martial arts (kenjutsu, iaido, kendō, karate), dramatic structure in the traditional theatre, and to the traditional collaborative linked verse forms renga and renku (haikai no renga).

Japanese type of musical based on anime, manga or video games

private school