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Title |
Text |
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| 1 |
Bakuchi |
Gambling, or also games in which one wagers money or property and then competes over the outcome. The term can also refer to a gambler or someone who gambles for a living ( bakuchiuchi ). When written 博奕 it can also be read as bakueki or bakuyō . Can take the form of such dice amusements as su... |
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| 2 |
Bugaku |
Refers to the dance performed with gagaku accompaniment. Originally, it was thought that song and dance functioned not only to entertain humans, but also by being performed before the gods ( kami ) could soothe divine spirits ( shinrei ) and furthermore make manifest the communion b... |
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| 3 |
Busha matsuri |
A sacred archery ritual performed mainly around the New Year. It can be written with the characters 歩射 or 奉射, and has many variant pronunciations including bisha and hōsha . Performed widely at shrines throughout the country. In contrast to kisha (equestrian archery), busha entail... |
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| 4 |
Furyū |
Refers to beautiful and highly decorated structures ( tsukurimono ) and floats ( nerimono ) used in festivals, and also to the dances and music ( hayashi ) presented by costumed performers at festivals. The word furyū originally meant tradition ( ifū ) and nostalgia ( yo-in ) in China. ... |
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| 5 |
Gagaku |
Gagaku is said to be the exemplary musical form that was transmitted to Japan from the Asian mainland in ancient times. In ancient times it formed one branch of Japanese music, but as time passed musical forms created in Japan such as saibara and rōei also came to be incorporated into ga... |
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| 6 |
Kagura |
A ritual performance made as an offering to the kami. Most are performed only once a year or once every few years. The kami are invited (see kanjō ) to occupy the sacred area and worshiped with performances of music, song, and dance. The prevailing theory regarding the etymology of kagu... |
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| 7 |
Kisoi-bune |
A traditional event in which participants compete ( kisoi ) by rowing boats ( fune ). There are records that refer to Nagasaki peiron (Chinese-style dragon boat canoes) as kisoibune , but normally one writes the characters in reverse order and refers to these events as funakurabe or f... |
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| 8 |
Kurabe-uma |
Horse racing. Also called kioiuma , komakurabe or keiba . Held as court events from ancient times, but with the Heian period (794-1191) they took on new characteristics such as a display of martial skill by military officials and a ritual for dispelling the "bad airs" ( jak... |
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| 9 |
Sagi-odori |
"Heron dance." This folk ritual performance is a type of furyū dance also known as sagimai . Sagi-odori originated from dances performed to musical accompaniment at Kyoto's Giongoryōe observances, which evolved into the festival of the city's Gion Shrine (now called Y... |
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| 10 |
Sarugaku, Dengaku |
Sarugaku was the term used for the performing art of nō until the Edo period (1600-1867). It is also used to refer to the older sarugaku before its development into the classic nō . The origin of sarugaku can be traced back to the sangaku imported from China during the Nara period (710-78... |
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| 11 |
Shibai |
A popular term for "theater" ( engeki ). Originally the term referred to sacred grounds covered in lawn ( shibafu ) found within the precincts of temple or shrine. From the Edo period (1600-1867) onward it has been used to refer to kabuki or kabuki theaters in particular. Fu... |
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| 12 |
Shin-nō |
Divine nō theatre. A type of kagura dance. Part of the repertoire of the Izumo line of kagura , found in the classical Chūgoku region provinces of Izumo, Iwami, Bitchū, Bingo, and so forth (that is, the area bounded by Okayama Prefecture to the east and Shimane Prefecture to the west). U... |
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| 13 |
Shishi-mai |
Lion dance. Also called shishiodori . A dance in which the performer wears decorative headgear made to resemble a lion's head ( shishigashira ). " Shishi " is a term that can also refer to wild animals in general, and there are also traditions of "deer" ( kano... |
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| 14 |
Shishi-odori |
Deer dance. A folk ritual performance in which the dancers wear decorative deer heads with antlers. Thought to be a variation of the one-man shishimai (lion dance, also referred to as shishi-odori but written with different characters). The reading of the character for deer ( shika ,... |
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| 15 |
Sumō |
Also written with the characters 角力 and in ancient times called sumai . In China, there existed from before the Former Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.–8 C.E.) a kind of wrestling resembling sumō called kakuteigi or kakugi ( juedixi or juexi in Chinese) that belonged to the miscellaneous arts ... |
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| 16 |
Taiko odori |
A folk dance of the furyū odori type. It is a group dance, in which the dancers hang a drum (a taiko or a kakko ) from their chests or around their waists and carry banners ( nobori ) and a large altar ( himorogi ) on their backs. The drums are beat to the accompaniment of a hayashi instrumental ... |
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| 17 |
Torimono |
A prop dancers carry in their hands in sacred performances such as kagura . It is also written with the characters 執物 or 取物. The word may also refer to the prop a dancer holds when performing a dance to purify the implements to be used in a sacred ritual or dance. Originally, the torimono fu... |
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| 18 |
Yabusame |
A type of mounted archery in which the rider shoots arrows with a turnip-shaped head at a target from atop a galloping horse. One theory holds that the name is a contraction of yabaseuma (literally, "arrow galloping horse"), while another theory holds the word comes from t... |
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