Japanese Dance
(Nihon-Buyo)

The roots of Japanese dance is recorded
in Japan's oldest history book, Kojiki, which was completed in 712, that
a goddess, Ame-no-Uzume-no-mikoto, whose hair and dress were decorated
with grasses, danced on a large pail.
But the prototype of today's Japanese dance is
Nembutsu-Odori (Nembutsu Dance) of Izumo no Okuni {1572(?) - 1613(?) }.
Nembutsu means prayer to the Buddha, and Izum no Okuni was
a medium of Izumo-Taisha (famous shrine in Shimane Pref.)
Izumo no Okuni performed Nembutsu Dance in Kyoto and it became very popular.
She is also the founder of Kabuki.
So, there is a close connection between Japanese dance and kabuki,
and have been developed in parallel.


Now , there are approximatery 200 schools of Japanese dance.
Hanayagi-ryuu, Fujima-ryuu, Nishikawa-ryuu, Bando-ryuu, Wakayagi-ryuu
are the five biggest schools (in 2005)

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Fuji-Musume
Performed by Uchida Rurimichi (Uchida school)
Nohgaku-do, Apr. 29 '05




Maiko
Performed by Kato Noriko (Uchida school)
Nohgaku-do, Apr. 29 '05