page_title: Japanese traditional dance
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese traditional dance
caption_attribution_description: English: albumen
context_page_description: Japanese traditional dance describes a number of Japanese dance styles with a long history and prescribed method of performance. Some of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese dance may be among those transmitted through the kagura tradition, or folk dances relating to food producing activities such as planting rice and fishing, including rain dances. There are large number of these traditional dances, which are often subfixed -odori, -asobi, and -mai, and may be specific to a region or village. Mai and Odori are the two main groups of Japanese dances, and the term Buyō was coined in modern times as a general term for dance, by combining mai and odori.
  Mai is a more reserved genre of dance that often has circling movements, and dances of the Noh theatre are of this tradition. A variation of the Mai style of Japanese dance is the Kyomai or Kyoto-style dance. Kyomai developed in the 17th century Tokugawa cultural period. It is heavily influenced by the elegance and sophistication of the manners often associated with the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Odori has more vigorous stepping movements and is more energetic, and dances of the kabuki theatre belong to this category.
context_section_description: Japanese traditional dance describes a number of Japanese dance styles with a long history and prescribed method of performance. Some of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese dance may be among those transmitted through the kagura tradition, or folk dances relating to food producing activities such as planting rice (dengaku) and fishing, including rain dances. There are large number of these traditional dances, which are often subfixed -odori, -asobi, and -mai, and may be specific to a region or village. Mai and Odori are the two main groups of Japanese dances, and the term Buyō (舞踊) was coined in modern times as a general term for dance, by combining mai (舞) (which can also be pronounced bu) and odori (踊) (which can also be pronounced yō).
  Mai is a more reserved genre of dance that often has circling movements, and dances of the Noh theatre are of this tradition. A variation of the Mai style of Japanese dance is the Kyomai or Kyoto-style dance. Kyomai developed in the 17th century Tokugawa cultural period. It is heavily influenced by the elegance and sophistication of the manners often associated with the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Odori has more vigorous stepping movements and is more energetic, and dances of the kabuki theatre belong to this category.
caption: An early photograph of Japanese women in dance pose.
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