Society

Foreign guests treated to Japan traditional arts at banquet

Oct 24 (Kyodo) - Foreign dignitaries enjoyed a rare joint show of Japanese traditional arts on Wednesday at a banquet following the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito the previous day.

During the evening event, hosted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie at a Tokyo hotel, top-level actors from three different traditional arts -- Kyogen, Kabuki and Bunraku -- performed together in a single play. It was followed by a Noh masked theater performance with a parent-child succession of lions as its theme.

Nomura Mansai, 53, of Kyogen comedy, Ichikawa Ebizo, 41, of Kabuki theater, and Yoshida Tamao, 66, of Bunraku puppet theater, together performed "Sambaso," a play for celebratory occasions in which actors dance as an expression of wishes for a rich harvest.

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