Apr 21st - Apr 29th 2012:
Place: Mibu Dera Temple - Access : 20-30 min. from Kyoto Sta. by Kyoto city bus No. 206 or No. 208. Gett off at Mibudera-michi Bus Stop, and then walk 5 min.
■Characteristics of Mibu Kyogen are as follows■
* All performers are men.
* Performers don’t speak during the performance.
* All performers wear masks, and they show their expressions by using traditional Japanese bell, drum and flute.
Kyogen is the classical Japanese comedy which is performed between each Noh play. Mibu Kyogen was designated as an important intangible cultural asset in1976. This was the first designation in Kyoto prefecture.
It is believed that Mibu Kyogen was started by Enkaku Syonin, or Saint Enkaku, (1223-1311) in 1300. Because there were no loudspeakers at that time, pantomime was the best way to introduce Buddhism to a lot of people. In the modern era, Mibu Kyogen drifted away from its original religious purpose and developed into a popular entertainment
5 performances everyday.
Houraku-wari: Hundreds of unglazed pans thrown with wishes from the stage to get broken
Tsuchigumo: Depicts the fight between the Heian warlord and the monstrous ghosty spider
Oketori: An old guy falls in love with a 3-fingered young beauty and betrays his ugly wife and so on.
