Deep Kyoto

good places - good people

  • About Deep Kyoto
  • About Michael Lambe
    • ARTICLES BY MICHAEL LAMBE
    • ARTICLES FOR INSIDE KYOTO
  • Books
  • Deep Kyoto Hotels
  • Flea Market
    • Bag Stall
    • Furoshiki Stall
    • Kimono Stall
    • Nintendo Playing Cards
    • Pottery Fair
  • 日本語

A Close Encounter with Butoh Dance at the Kyoto Butoh-kan

June 30, 2017 By Michael Lambe

Today we have a special guest post from Florentyna Leow on the world’s first theatre expressly devoted to regular Butoh performances.

Butoh is an avant-garde dance style originating in Japan. First developed by Kazuo Ono and Hijikata Tatsumi in the 1960s, one of the central features of Butoh is its very indefinability – it is difficult to attach a definition or set of ‘rules’ to the dance form. There are at once rules and no rules. It is characterized by its exploration of taboo topics, the absurd, and grotesqueness. At the same time, it’s often hard to agree on what Butoh is or isn’t. What is clear, however, is that its emergence irrevocably changed the world of dance from that point onwards.

Given the international acclaim that Butoh enjoys, the lack of a national Butoh theatre or spaces where one can experience Butoh performances, strikes one as odd. This what Art Complex seeks to rectify by establishing Kyoto Butoh-kan, a permanent space in central Kyoto hosting regular professional performances. Here, veteran Butoh dancer and former core member of Byakkosha, Ima Tenko, performs her routine ‘Hisoku’ weekly. The two women who make up Okaeri Shimai – translated roughly as the ‘Homeward Sisters’ or ‘Returning Sisters’ – provide musical accompaniment to her performance on the shamisen. The all-female cast here is somewhat unusual for Butoh, but appropriate as they carry on the long tradition of female performers in Kyoto.

Ima Tenko

What’s particularly interesting about the Kyoto Butoh-kan is the space itself. Performances take place in a late-Edo period ‘kura’ or earthenware storehouse. According to the staff, it is around two centuries old. Amazingly, though much of Kyoto was set on fire during the skirmish between the rebels and shogunate forces during the Hamaguri Rebellion of 1864, this particular storehouse escaped unscathed. Instead of being demolished, the storehouse has now been reimagined as a space where visitors can experience the magic of Butoh at close quarters.

Walking into the storeroom, one is greeted by the pentatonic melodies of shamisen. The space is slightly larger than the average shoebox apartment in Tokyo, with a perilously steep wooden staircase leading to the upper floor, where the shamisen musicians are stationed. The Butoh-kan only accommodates 8 audience members, though as a preview that day there were 11 of us seated there. It felt quite intimate huddling against the wall together, to say the least.

Kyoto Butoh-kan – Photograph by Florentyna Leow

It is precisely the intimacy of the space which makes the Butoh performance more powerful. Sitting in close proximity to Ima Tenko makes you feel as though you are a part of this performance – you are so close to the energy radiating from her movements that you feel yourself being drawn into the dance. It also makes the impact of her performance that much more visceral: to the initiate, Butoh is not conventionally beautiful or graceful, and the expressions and explorations of the human body by Ima can come across as slightly shocking or grotesque. (A note to the uninitiated: her performance doesn’t shy away from partial nudity, either.) The handmade plaster walls of this small space also seem to make the shamisen melodies resonate more richly than they would in a more conventional space.

Each session is around 50 minutes – just right for the intensity of the performance. Any longer and one might be overwhelmed or bored! I’ll be the first to say that I don’t have a deep understanding of Butoh. But I enjoyed the performance nonetheless, and especially the experience of Butoh in such a special space and atmosphere – watching a video of a Butoh dance just isn’t the same. If you’ve always been curious about Butoh, this is a perfect place to experience it.

Kyoto Butoh-kan is located just north of the intersection of Koromonotana Street and Sanjo Street at Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-8202. Here is a MAP of the location. For more information on showtimes and ticket prices, please visit: http://www.butohkan.jp/

Florentyna Leow is a writer and photographer based in Kyoto who has written for outlets such as Lucky Peach, Roads & Kingdoms, and ZenVita. Her interests include food, doors and Thomassons. Her blog is updated at furochan.wordpress.com. She Instagrams regularly at @furochan_eats.

 Text and original images by Florentyna Leow – All rights reserved.

Butoh Workshops & Shiatsu Classes with Bridget Scott

May 19, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Our friend Bridget Scott says,

Bridget Scott

At last I am starting to teach my own monthly butoh workshop at Ichijoji Shukaijo – an old dojo in Ichijoji. In April I worked with Katsura Kan, who was the teacher who lead me into the butoh world in 1989. I also studied with Min Tanaka, and butoh greats: Kazuo Ohno and Yoshito Ohno. I feel as if I have come full circle after dancing with Katsura Kan again. Time to start anew!

My Butoh workshop will be inspired by these teachers and my own experiences as a performer for over 20 years. The workshop is open to anyone who is interested in expressing something with their body and exploring butoh ideas and movement. No experience necessary.

Now is an important time in Japan. If we are here, we should really BE here and do what we have to do.
This is an added reason to start my butoh class. I’ve been meaning to teach it for years…. Now is the time!
I’m also continuing my weekly shiatsu class on Saturday mornings.
If you are interested in studying either butoh or shiatsu, please contact me at:
bridgetscottnow@me.com

If there is something you’ve been meaning to do, get down to it! Now!

Here is the basic information for the Butoh workshop:

First workshop: Sunday 29th May 10am-1pm
Future workshops will be on the last Sunday morning of every month.
Location: Ichijoji Shukaijo
Fee: ¥2,000, ¥1,500 for students
Please wear clothes that are easy to move in.
Contact: http://www.bridgetscottshiatsu.com/bridget_scott_shiatsu/contact.html

Access:
By train: Take the Eizan line to Ichijoji Station then walk east from the station and follow the directions below.
By bus: Take bus No 5 to Ichijoji Sagarimatsu cho. Cross Shirakawa Dori at the traffic lights and follow the directions below.

Directions:
From Shirakawa Manshuin Michi. You will see Circle K on the right and a big pachinko parlor opposite it.
Go east on Manshuin michi until you see a stone tori for Hachidai Jinja.
There turn left (don’t go up the hill to Shisendo). Keep going north, in the second block you will see gates into what looks like a school yard and a hand carved sign with
上一乗寺集会所
Go through the gates and you will see a pine tree. Behind it is the old dojo.
This is Ichijoji Shukaijo.

Here is a Google Maps Link for Ichijoji Shukaijo.
Click on it to see the map.

Thanks Bridget! Bridget has also informed me that she will be performing a dance at the Velvet Moon event at Urbanguild this Saturday (May 21st). The event starts at 7pm and Bridget is scheduled to begin at 9pm.


 

Search hotels and more...

Destination

Check-in date

Sat 14 Jun 2025

Check-out date

Sun 15 Jun 2025
Booking.com

Kyoto: A Literary Guide #AD

Deep Kyoto’s Best…

BARS
CAFES
DINING
EVENTS
HOTELS

Japan Station

Japan Transportation Guide
Japan Transportation Guide
Kyoto Transportation Guide
Kyoto Transportation Guide
Osaka Transportation Guide
Osaka Transportation Guide