#bugaku

【陵王(蘭陵王)】

一瞬だけハラハラと桜が🌸 舞楽は行事撮影の時に、時々拝見しますが 数歩しか離れていないような目の前で見たのは初めて。 豪華な衣装と、勇壮で美しい舞に魅入りました✨ 息が上がってないのが凄い(笑) 西念寺にて撮影 2026年4月19日

Regal antique obi with an amazing butterfly on the taiko area and a hiôgi (formal cypress fan used by Heian era noble women), paired with a perfectly matching butterflies tsukesage kimono.

Because of the fan presence, the obi butterfly might be a nod to this bugaku (Heian court dancing) costume:

節分 Traditional Japanese Dance (Kagura/Bugaku) at Setsubun Event at Kyoto

“Miko Kagura is a ritual dance performed by shrine maidens known as Miko. In old times Miko were like shamans and their dance was thought to channel spirits. Bugaku is old Imperial dance going back 1200 years. This style here was children dressed as celestial beings known as Karyobinga, a type of bird, who enjoys music and dance. 

After the dances, the setsubun devils came accompanied with their own sound effects. They were dispatched with beans thrown by the Karyobinga dancers and another pair was defeated by Miko shooting arrows and throwing some kind of string.”

I noticed that most interesting and unique part of Japanese culture such as this originate during Heian Period, an era where art and culture was at its peak. 

Kagura ("god-entertainment") is a specific type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. Its name indicates the presence of god in the practice. It involves a procession-trance process. Usually a female shaman will perform the dance and obtain the oracle from the god----in the setting, the dancer herself turns into god during the performance. Once strictly a ceremonial art, today it is very much a living tradition, with rituals tied to the rhythms of the agricultural calendar.

Gigaku was a form of Buddhist processional dance-drama, which reached Japan in the 7th century from Central Asia through Korea and China. It  blended religious themes with comedy, and even burlesque scenes, while the performances took place in temple courtyards. Its performance tradition died out in the Heian period (794–1192).

Bugaku is a traditional dance that has been performed to select elites, mostly in the Japanese imperial court, for over twelve hundred years. The dance is marked by its slow, precise and regal movements. It is still performed both in the temple context and in court festivities, such as the Emperor’s coronation ceremony.

Noh (derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent") is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It was developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami. It is often based on tales from traditional literature with a supernatural being transformed into human form as a hero narrating a story.

Kyogen ("mad words" or "wild speech") is a form of traditional Japanese comic theatre. It developed alongside Noh and was performed along with Noh as an intermission of sorts between acts on the same stage. Its contents are nevertheless not at all similar to the formal, symbolic, and solemn Noh theatre; it is a comic form, and its primary goal is to make its audience laugh. It is thought to derive from a form of Chinese entertainment that was brought to Japan around the 8th century; it became known as sarugaku and initially encompassed both serious drama and comedy. By the 14th century, these forms of sarugaku had become known as Noh and kyōgen, respectively.

Me: The Manzairaku costume looks so cool. I'm gonna draw Hokushin in it for the next North Bound cover image. Me: *15 seconds in and drawing while holding three reference books* OMGGG WHYYYYYYYYyyyy

I forgot I hate drawing patterns and detailed historical costumes and basically everything that this is made up of lmaooo sob. 

As mentioned in my Tale of Genji-related posts, Manzairaku is an ancient imperial court dance with imagery of dancing phoenixes. It is particularly associated with the enthronement ceremony for a new Emperor.