Japanese cultural festival today

Kyogen is a form of traditional comic Japanese drama that depicts daily life and conveys simple messages and emotions with the skillful use of intonations, dramatic body gestures and props.
 

On February 23, Bangalore will get a taste of this ancient Japanese art form as part of a two-day Japanese cultural extravaganza called Japan Habba 2013.

“This will be the first time we will be performing Kyogen in India and we hope the universal themes we convey through the drama will have common resonance with the people here,” said Miyake Tokuro, headmaster of the renowned Izumi School of Kyogen, who comes from a long line of practitioners of the art. Kyogen has been performed in 13 different countries in the past 30 years by the Izumi School whose members have been specially invited to perform it in the City during Japan Habba.

There will also be a Kyogen version on Tenali Rama that will be performed by Indian performers during the Habba.

Japan Habba has become an annual feature in the City since 2005 and the one last year was attended by nearly 1,000 people. “This year, we are expecting more people as it will include more programmes and more special guests than the last time. We hope the Habba will further help strengthen cultural exchange and the 60 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries,” said Yukio Takeyari, MD of Sony India Software Centre Pvt Ltd.

A number of other cultural activities involving people from both countries will also be take place during the event.

The cultural event is being organised by the Japan Habba Organising Committee in association with the Japanese Consulate in Bangalore, the Japan Foundation in Delhi, Bangalore University, Japanese Language Teachers Association, Bangalore, Kyo Japanese Speaking Group, Japanese Association of Bangalore and the Indo-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Karnataka).