KABUKI KOOL

1. E1. Edo Food in Kabuki

   Apr 7, 2021 · 28m

   Kabuki often depicts traditional Japanese dishes. Actor Kataoka Ainosuke introduces scenes with several examples, and teaches us about what foods were popular in the Edo period. In "Hokaibo," a disreputable begging priest takes time off from abducting a beautiful girl for a bowl of soba noodles from a roadside stall.

2. E2. Two Kabuki Flowers of Evil: Kochiyama and Naozamurai

   May 5, 2021 · 28m

   Actor Kataoka Ainosuke explores the enduring appeal of 2 outlaws. Despite their crimes, they protect the weak and can be tender lovers. The villainous tea priest, Kochiyama (left) and Naojiro (right), ex-samurai and thief, but also a gallant lover, are our attractive villains.

3. E3. Spring Blossoms and the Festival in Asakusa

   Jun 2, 2021 · 28m

   Actor Kataoka Ainosuke explores a kabuki dance in which 2 actors play a total of 8 different roles featuring Tokyo's famous Sanja Festival. The most famous part of the dance features the legendary fishermen who caught the Buddhist image in the temple at Asakusa in their net.

4. E4. Devoted Love and Warring Clans

   Jun 30, 2021 · 28m

   Unswerving Devotion: The Japanese Twenty-Four Examples of Filial Piety. Kataoka Ainosuke is our guide to a play featuring a kabuki princess in a story of warring clans and the magic of a sacred helmet. Princess Yaegaki holding the sacred helmet and surrounded by the magical foxes. With the help of the magic of the foxes, she goes to save her lover's life.

5. E5. An Evil Villain vs. The Spirit of the Cherry

   Sep 1, 2021 · 28m

   This time, a fantastic dance play "The Snowbound Barrier" from the 18th c. with an ambitious villain defeated by the spirit of the cherry tree in the form of a beautiful woman.

6. E6. The Gallant Commoner: Banzui Chobei

   Oct 6, 2021 · 28m

   This time we look at a 17th century historical figure who was the champion of the commoners against the abuses of the samurai. We look at Chobei as a gang boss and then a play that shows his tragic end. Mizuno, the leader of a samurai gang, traps Chobei into going defenseless into the bath so that he can kill him.

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