Celebrating the 20th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Japan, the embassy of the Land of the Rising Sun is continuing to teach the Ukrainians secrets of the Japanese soul which reveals itself to us through its ancient traditional art.
After prominent master Sen Genshitsu revealed some secrets of the Way of Tea in Kyiv this September, the Japanese Culture Month will continue with famed Japanese dancer Minosuke Nishikawa visiting Ukraine and demonstrating traditional Japanese dance Nihon Buyo. He is representing the ancient Nishikawa School, being the son of Senzo Nishikawa who has been designated a “living national treasure” by Japan.
“When the Japanese are wearing a kimono, applying theatrical makeup and acting out a story through body motions, they are telling Japanese history. Our nation’s traditional art is the aspect of our culture which allows one to see the true character of the Japanese,” Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Toichi Sakata notes.
Nihon Buyo belongs to the elite classical arts and combines dance, theater, music and singing. Koji Ono, a Japanese diplomat, told The Day that not every Japanese person gets to see this show even once in a lifetime back in the Home Islands, since the high art of Nihon Buyo has historically been the preserve of the higher social classes and inaccessible to ordinary citizens. Despite the fact that there are no such restrictions now, it traditionally stands apart from the mass culture.
The ambassador says that like the tea ceremony, Nihon Buyo is based on four principles, namely beauty, simplicity, space and shadow. The dance aims to bring harmony to a person and balance to their mind, body and emotions which are constantly exposed to the destructive influence of this ephemeral world.
There are more than 200 traditional dance schools in Japan, but just five of them are the great ones. Three major schools, Nishikawa, Hanayagi and Fujima, will perform in Ukraine, represented by their heads and descendants of prominent founders – abovementioned Nishikawa, Sasakimi Hanayagi and Ranko Fujima.
The main event will be The Old Pine dance, to be performed by Nishikawa, while the closing element of the performance will be the joint dance by all three artists called The Three Dolls.
The concerts will be held on November 8, 9, 11 and 13 in Kyiv, Lviv and Donetsk. However, the embassy has clarified these will be more than just concerts, involving also interactive lecture presentations, open for all interested persons.
The performances will be held at the Ukrainian Home in Kyiv (starting at 7 p.m.), Zankovetska Theater in Lviv (from 6 p.m.) and Music and Drama Theater in Donetsk (from 7 p.m.). Admission will be by invitation only, with invitations available at the Embassy of Japan to Ukraine, Ukrainian-Japanese Center of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute National Technical University of Ukraine, and the venues themselves.
