There is also a raised catwalk aisle that is left of center and by which actors may enter from the rear of the theater passing through the audience to join the action on the stage.

It is on this catwalk-like path that many of the poses are struck resulting in the shouting and great applause.

We did not have any prior knowledge about the kabuki play that we went to see. There were no program notes in English. You must remember that Japan is a very homogeneous culture that is considered to be 99% pure Japanese so the accommodation to westerners is the use of Romanji in most public signage. Romanji is the phonetic spelling of Japanese words in the Arabic alphabet, as I have used in this essay. It is not a translation. It is still Japanese but you might be able to approximate the pronunciation. While spoken Japanese is not very difficult having only 39 syllabaries, written Japanese is very complex and it is difficult to learn the 3,000 characters written in three different writing systems necessary to be considered literate (the Chinese characters being the most complex and the most difficult to learn). Well, we were on our own to follow the story line without program notes that we could understand.

The play had three parts and new characters were introduced with each new part, but the actors were the same and the archetypes were repeated. At intermission while we were eating Kathy and I were able to debrief and compare impressions about the story line. We concluded that this was a play about three stages in the life of a women who moves from youth to age while circumstances of improving social and economic status swirl about her. Her circumstances changed twice and she was always at the mercy of men who were always at the mercy of her charms. It was very enjoyable and we arrived home late. It was a very expensive outing. The cost of the tickets were about like you would pay for a Broadway show in Chicago but because of the high price baby-sitters are paid in Japan and the long hours the play ran with a meal in the middle, the total was substantial but well worth the price because of the experience. By the way, later when we were telling one of the literature professors at the University about the play and he asked if we understood the plot and story line, I proceeded to explain what we had determined must be the plot at which point he informed us we had seen three one-act plays. Alas, I wonder how many people seeing Hamlet would decide that Hamlet was mad without the added information either program notes or professorial instruction.

These original prints in the exhibition were produced during the “classic” period of Japanese woodblock printing in the mid-nineteenth century. The technique is called Ukiyo-e, which translates as “pictures of the floating world.” A more descriptive definition of Ukiyo-e would be “pictures of the transient pleasures of the teahouses, restaurants, theater, and courtesans.” Prints reflecting the kabuki theater as subject were originally used as advertisements for theater performances or portraits of popular actors as theater idols. Kunisada was one of the most skilled and most popular of the Ukiyo-e artists.

A collection of 69 Japanese woodblock original prints by Kunisada Toyokuni III that were produced between 1847 and 1861 are the focus of the exhibition in the Barton Museum. This exhibition supports the Global Focus initiative of the College to provide programming that supports global awareness and education. The fascinating images depict scenes or popular actors from plays in the Kabuki theater. These images have grown from functioning as a type of “Playbill” to becoming collector items for admirers of Japanese art and theater. The prints were a gift to NC State University Gallery of Art and Design by the Utagawa Society of Japan.

Also on exhibit will be some examples of Japanese decorative and functional arts from the Barton Museum Permanent Collection and the collection of Mr. and Mrs. J. Chris Wilson. The exhibition will run from February 26-March 28.

The Barton Museum is located in the Case Art Building on the Campus of Barton College at the Intersection of Whitehead Avenue and Gold Street. The Museum is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, closed March 18-22. Friends of the arts and of Barton College were invited to a gallery talk on Wednesday, February 27 from 12:30-1:30 PM by J. Chris Wilson, Director Barton Museum, and by Susan Fecho, Chair of the Department of Art. Wilson showed images of Japan and the Kabuki Theater and talked about the cultural context of the prints. Fecho discussed the technique of Ukiyo-e, showing images of the process. This essay and images are from that presentation.