Enjoy Listening to Kabuki | Production and Music in Kabuki (2024)

Kabuki originated in song and dance, and finds rich expression through music and sound. Song and instrumental performance both take place on the stage, so you can really enjoy listening to Kabuki.

First, there is a small room fronted with blinds on the shimote (stage right) side of the stage called the kuromisu (musicians’ room). Here, sound effects and music are produced to match developments on-stage, depicting each scene. These include vocal music known as nagauta, created through song and shamisen (a type of stringed instrument), and instrumental ensembles or narimono, created by many different types of instruments, especially percussion and fue (flute). When the actors dance, the musicians may line up at the front of the stage and perform.

On the other hand, there are also programs that make use of music known as joruri, which narrates more details of the story together with a similar shamisen accompaniment. When Ningyo-joruri (Japanese puppet theatre) programs are adapted as Kabuki, the gidayu-bushi music they incorporate is known as takemoto, and this supports the story development of many programs. Joruri such as tokiwazu-bushi, which makes use of melodies with broad appeal,, and kiyomoto-bushi, with its plaintive tunes, are especially indispensable as accompaniment to dances.

You can also hear sounds made with rectangular wooden instruments known as ki, which let you know when the curtain is opening and closing and when there is a scene change, and tsuke, which are sound effects that emphasize the actor’s performance and represent footsteps.