Performing Arts

What Is Taiko Drumming?

What is taiko drumming? Japan’s ensemble percussion tradition — performance styles, famous groups, and how to experience it.

Traditional Japanese music instruments explained: koto, shamisen, shakuhachi, taiko, biwa — construction, sound, and repertoire.

What is Rakugo? Japan’s one-person comic storytelling tradition — technique, the sitting performance style, and famous schools.

What is Bunraku? Japanese puppet theater — the three-person puppeteers, the chanter, the shamisen, and its UNESCO recognition.

What is Noh theatre? Japan’s oldest stage art — masks, slowness, yugen, and why it remains one of the world’s great theatrical forms.

What is Kabuki? Japan’s flamboyant theater tradition — mie poses, kumadori makeup, onnagata, and how to watch a performance.