Festival of Japanese Culture: Kabuki Meets Electronic Music

Ljubljana, 14 March

A presentation of Japanese kabuki theatre is to lift the curtain on a festival of Japanese culture at the Ljubljana-based Cankarjev dom arts centre. The festival will also showcase music, film, fine arts and literature.

Kabuki theatre, which combines songs and dance, originates in the 17th century and has had a major impact on the Japanese art.
It combines classical forms of Japanese theatre, like Noh, Kyogen and puppet theatre Bunraku, with a view of achieving an aesthetic ideal rather than realism.
The world of kabuki, in which even the female roles are played by men, will be presented by Kyozo Nakamura and Masanosuke Gojo. The presentation of specific kabuki costumes and make-up will be followed by dance productions.
The festival will also feature a wide range of concerts, from traditional to jazz and electronic music. One of the highlights will be guitarist Otomo Joshihide, the leader of a jazz ensemble. Joshihide, 45, has produced or co-produced around 100 projects.
An evening of jazz concerts will showcase pianist Satoko Fujii, trumpet player Natsuki Tamura, koto player Michiyo Yagi and pianist Masahiko Satoh.
Moreover, traditional Japanese music will be represented by one of its top interpreters: Ando Masateru is a virtuoso on the koto instrument who brings together ancient musical instruments and contemporary music developments.
Nubekazu Takemura, a big star of the Japanese electronic music scene, is also expected in Ljubljana, while author Teruto Soejima will speak about the Japanese free jazz history.
Acclaimed filmmaker Takeshi Kitano will represent Japanese film with his "Zatoichi", a historical action drama abundant in computer graphics, and "Dolls", which recounts three immortal, yet tragic love stories. The film was inspired by the Bunraku doll theatre.
During the festival, the Cankarjev dom Gallery will host an exhibition of Japanese wood engravings from the 19th century. The 250 wood engravings were bequeathed to the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts by Slovenian architect Janez Jager almost 40 years ago.
The literary part of the festival will focus on haiku, with one of the highlights being a visit by haiku poet Bany'a Nacuishi. Another visit bound to attract lovers of Japanese literature will be that of Ryu Murakami, the author of more than 40 books which deal primarily with controversial issues in the Japanese society.
Cankarjev dom, one of Slovenia's leading arts centres, is hosting the festival of Japanese culture after it has organised similar major presentations of non-European cultures which are not very well-known in Slovenia, namely Australian and West African ones.

Festival of Japanese Culture: Kabuki Meets Electronic Music

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