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KU Libraries has the variety of videorecordings of Japanese performing arts in both DVD and VHS. This page lists DVDs of Japanese stage arts, both traditional and contemporary, available at KU. All are with optional English subtitles and/or English audio commentary.
Kabuki & Kyogen
- Ichinotani futaba gunki. Kumagai jinyaCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 I35 2002One of the classics of the jidaimono or historical plays, this famous act chronicles a dramatic incident during the Battle of Ichinotani, during the long war between Genji and the Heike Clans.
Based on an adaptation of the puppet play written by Namiki Sōsuke. - Ise ondo koi no netaba [videorecording] : Nohara jizōmae no ba kara ; Aburaya okuniwa no ba madeCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 I824 2004Based on an actual multiple murder in the Aburaya Tea House, this play is one of the most popular in the Kabuki repertoire, combining action, intrigue and murder. This play is a staple of summer Kabuki performances in the belief that the audience will be cooled as they shiver with fear through the horrific killing scene.
- KagamijishiCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 4"[Lion Dances] features a young castle maid who is ordered to perform with a wooden lion head that she holds in one hand" -- Container.
- KanjinchōCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 K32 2004Performance of a kabuki play set in the 12th century, an age of civil war, when two military clans battle for political supremacy.
- Kyōkanoko musume DōjōjiCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 1The maiden falls in love with a young Buddhist monk of the Dōjōji temple and later kills him.
- Onatsu kyōranCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 5Kabuki dances that represent early 20th century Kabuki reform. Musical style is Tomei School, established by Hiraoka Ginshu and featuring the voice and three-stringed shamisen.
- Sagi-musume; Kurokami; Kanegamisaki; Inabune; YamanbaCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 2Description Unavailable
- Togitatsu no utare: Noda-banCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 T64 2004First staged in 1925, this version has been updated by noted director Noda Hideki. A comic drama, inspired by a real life event from 1827, this piece takes the age-old theme of samurai honor and revenge presenting it in a refreshingly modern light with touches of irony.
- The treasury of loyal retainers: Act IX, act XICall Number: DVD PL794.6.K33 T67 2006 Act 9, 11Covers Act 9 and Act 11 of Chūshingura, a kabuki play based on a true story of revenge more widely known as the "Tale of the 47 Ronin."
Theatrical play performed at Tōkyō: Kabuki-za, Nov. 1977 (Act XI) and Jan. 1978 (Act IX). - Yōkihi; Takao; Orochi; Yūgiri; Kane ga MisakiCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 B36 2003 vol. 3The dance Yōkihi, featuring the character well known in China and the West as Yang Guifei, is a modern creation written and choreographed especially for Tamasaburō Bandō. It is a fusion of Kabuki dance and Peking opera with extra modern elements.
- Yoshitsune senbonzakuraCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.K3 Y674 2004
Noh Drama
- Noh DojojiCall Number: DVD PN2924.5.N6 N528 2001ISBN: 4877663541Presents highlights of the Noh play "Dōjōji" performed by three different schools of Noh performers. This film discusses the origins of the play, the staging of Noh plays, and designs of masks and costumes.
- Supika nō kyōgen: nō to hana no futaya : nō "Tsuchigumo" kyōgen "Kane no ne"Call Number: DVD PN2924.5.N6 S875 2008Hanaike (Vase): Teshigahara, the Headmaster of the Sōgetsu School of Ikebana performs flower arrangement including "Tsuchigumo (The Earth spider)" and "Kane no ne (The Bell’s ’Toll’)."
Special features include speeches about the art on the stage and the dressing of nō players on the stage.
Other Traditional Performing Arts
- Tōshi kyōgen Kanadehon ChūshinguraCall Number: DVD PL794.6.K33 T66 2010A true story of revenge more widely known as the "Tale of the 47 Ronin."
Collection of various puppet performances over a 25 year span put together to form the lengthy story. - Lovers’ Exile: the Bunraku Puppet Theatre of Japan in a film by Marty GrossCall Number: DVD PL793.4 .K5824 1980The story, one Chikamatsu’s domestic tragedies, recounts the love between a penniless clerk and an indentured prostitute.
"Adaptation of ’Meido no hikyaku’ (The courier for hell) by Chikamatsu Monzaemon"--Container.
Videodisc release of a 1980 production.
Contemporary Stage Performances
KU Libraries has selectively purchased contemporary stage performance series, “Geki x Shine” collection by E!Oshibai, to provide the latest stage activities in Japan. Geki x Shine, is a fusion of engeki (stage drama) and cinema, and it is an attempt to create new visual experiences by reconstructing and redirecting the recorded stage performance for screening by adding new visual effects, which would not be felt in live stage performances. Geki x Shine series thus attracts both movie fans and stage fans with its dynamic camera works and clear Dolby Digital sound. For more information, visit their website.
- Ashurajō no hitomiCall Number: DVD PL873.5.A35 A8424 2003
- AteruiCall Number: DVD PL873.5.A35 A8324 2002At the turn of the 9th century Japan the still young dynasty of "Mikado" is attempting to lead an expedition against the aboriginal Emishi in northeastern Japan.
- BanʾyūkiCall Number: DVD PL873.5.A35 B3624 2009Date-no-Domon and his three friends are about to complete their study in Kada-no-Kuni and return to their native land, HoÌ„rai-koku, with the advanced knowledge of the nation, and in particular, the religion called Ban-kyoÌ„. However, one night, Domon’s best friend is murdered, and he is falsely accused of the crime by the other two and sent to prison. Ten years later, with the assistance of the man called "Saji," Domon escapes from prison and swears revenge on those who killed his best friend and framed him for the murder.
- Dokurojō no shichinin "Akadokuro"Call Number: DVD PL873.5.A35 D6524 2004One of the most popular stages performed by a theatrical group "Shinkansen." Eight years after the fall of Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is attempting to unify the whole of Japan. He is opposed by Tenmaō, the mysterious masked resident of Skull Castle (Dokurojō). A wandering stranger named Sutenosuke rescues the girl Sagiri from Tenmaō’s men, and this encounter leads him to the ultimate showdown with Tenmaō. This DVD records the 2004 version, a.k.a. "Akadokuro" edition, starring Furuta Arata
Dokurojō no shichinin 2011Call Number: DVD PL873.5.A35 D6524 2013Shinkansen's popular stage, but the plot is revised for new cast members.- Goemon rokkuCall Number: DVD PL873.5.A35 G64 2008Ishikawa Goemon, the legendary bandit folk hero, is revived in theatrical group Shinkansen’s heavy metal rock musical. Goemon and Samonji gradually discover the secret of "gesshōseki" and become entangled in the struggle for the throne of Tatara
- Oboro no mori ni sumu oniCall Number: DVD PL873.5.A35 O2624 2008Inspired by William Shakespeare’s Richard III and Macbeth, this drama depicts a man who rises to power through lies and betrayals. In a deep forest where ancients gods live, Rai meets three spirits "Oboro," who promise him the throne in exchange for his life.
In Japanese with optional English subtitles; optional commentary in Japanese.