ABSTRACT
During the Tokugawa regime, the Bugaku dances were performed at the Shishii-den Palace, Kyoto, every year, but it had begun to lose its popularity towards the end of the Tokugawa dynasty and gradually fell out of fashion. The Bugaku Dance, a court-dance of ancient Continental origin, was first introduced to Japan from Shiragi, a kingdom in Korea, when the Empress Jingo sent an expedition against the peninsular kingdom in 200 A.D. The young children who buy the cheap sweets for one sen can thereby enjoy the pictorial play, which the dealer explains in a most dramatic manner. One feature common to many countries which travellers quickly discover is that children’s games are universally similar. The Kami-shibai is very popular among the children of lower classes. “Sendai-hagi” is one of the most popular classical dramatic plays in Japan. Hatsuko Misawa, who is represented as Lady Masaoka on the stage, was born at Tottori in 1639.
