Saying their lines out loud, children in kabuki makeup and bright costumes put on a splendid performance on a stage in Tokyo in August.
The Organization for the Preservation of Kabuki, an incorporated body, held a recital for children at the National Theatre in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, which can accommodate about 600 people.
The children had joined a kabuki workshop that is held every summer to have elementary school students learn the joy of performing kabuki.
About 80 children -- fourth, fifth and sixth-grade elementary school students -- performed a scene from " Kotobuki Soga no Taimen." It is a scene of a revenge story in the Kamakura period (late 12th to early 14th century), where the Soga brothers -- Soga no Juro Sukenari and Goro Tokimune -- meet Kudo Suketsune, who is the brothers' enemy because he killed their father, at Suketsune's mansion for the first time.
Riko Watanabe, 12, a sixth-grade student from Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, enthusiastically played the role of Soga no Juro Sukenari. "I felt nervous, but now I'm happy as I could perform it well. I practiced a lot by reading the script many times," she said.
Watanabe, who said it was her second time joining the program, had a huge smile as she held a certificate of completion in her hand that she received after the recital.
"I'm glad if children can learn the appeal and importance of Japanese culture by experiencing it in their childhood," said kabuki actor Nakamura Baigyoku, 72, who instructed and directed the play.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
