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Japan has various forms of entertainment. Theater is one such form of entertainment quite popular in Japan. Infact, the people of Japan are very fond lovers of theater, be it local production or productions from all over the world. There are different forms of Theater in Japan. One such popular form of theater in Japan is No Theater. This form of theater is a classical Japanese musical form of drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It has evolved from various popular, folk and aristocratic art forms, including Dengaku, Shirabyoshi, and Gagaku together with the closely-related kyogen farce. Japanese No Theater has been surprisingly slow and stylized for the past few centuries. The roots of this form of theater can be traced back to Chinese acrobatics, Sarugaku, and folk theatricals. No Theater was brought to its present day form by Kan'ami and his son Zeami during the Muromachi period under the patronage of the powerful Ashikaga clan. Japanese No Theater had later influenced other dramatic forms such as Kabuki and Butoh. No Theater lost governmental patronage during the Meji era but Noh and kyogen received official recognition as two of the three national forms of drama. No Theater in Japan features four major categories of performers Shite, Waki, Ky?gen, and hayashi. Shites are the most common from of actor in No Theater. Shite is the primary character and in plays appears first as human and then as a ghost, the first part is known as the maeshite and the latter as the nochijite. Shite's companion is Tsure. The Waki performs the the role that is the counterpart or foil of the Shite. Hayashi are the characters who play the instruments used in the play. Costumes used in No Theater are interesting. The Garb worn by actors is rich and designed in symbolic meaning of the role the actor is playing. The shite wears particularly extravagant costumes but costumes for the tsure, the wakizure, the aikoyogen, the musicians and chorus are protectively less sumptuous. The stage attendants are garbed in virtually unadorned black garments, much in the same way as stagehands in contemporary Western theater are. The shite or the main actor wears a mask. The Tsure in some cases may wear a mask, particularly for female roles. The masks are used to portray female or nonhuman characters. For more information on Japan visit AsiaRooms.com
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