Anime About Traditional Japanese Dance
Japan has a fascinating culture with a rich history of theatre, music and art. There are several anime that depict the history and culture of Japan, but not a lot of them focus solely on a particular activity that is unique to the culture.
I have compiled a list of anime that base themselves around a certain Japanese activity that includes types of theatre, dance and competitive games. Now that I think about it, the term “pastime” may not be an accurate way to classify these activities since they are not just leisurely hobbies, but can all be performed or played at a professional level.
I tried to only include shows that had a more centralized theme around their respective activity but some of these shows will have a bigger focus on it than others. I also chose not to include anime about Japanese sports or Martial Arts, since that can be a whole other list on its own.
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The shows on this list will give you a unique and entertaining insight into traditional Japanese activities that will leave you feeling a bit more knowledgeable on this unique part of Japanese culture.
Introduces us to Chihaya Ayase, a bored high school girl who turns to karuta to escape her discouraging family life. She forms powerful bonds with other student outcasts, and aims to become a “queen, ” or top-ranked karuta player. Two anime series ran from 2011-2013, and the manga has been serialized in
, this show caused a spike in the popularity of competitive karuta; though the anime was generally well received, the game itself has failed to gain traction in the West.
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. These poems are the ones used in competitive karuta—both in real life and in the show—and are memorized word for word by strong players so that they can act on hearing the first couple of syllables. The mental fortitude and dedication required to excel at the game embodies a major theme of the series: according to creator Yuki Suetsugu, high school is a time when “you can dedicate the most genuine part of yourself to something.” Karuta begins as a form of escape for Chihaya, and becomes a passion as well as a way to reunite with a beloved childhood friend.
aired earlier this year and is considered by many as the dark horse of last season. It is a historical anime set between the 1940’s through to the 1960’s (Shouwa Era) and is about the dying Japanese theatrical art form called Rakugo. The show also focuses on the relationships between characters as they try to survive in a culturally shifting Japan. There are also full length Rakugo performances throughout the series that are wonderfully acted out. It was not highly appreciated by the wider anime fanbase because of its alleged “dry-sounding historical premise.” But to be honest, it was one of my favorite shows from last season for many reasons, but that review will be saved for another time.
Joshiraku is a slice-of life comedy anime that follows the everyday lives of five young female rakugo comedians. The art of Rakugo is not explored as in-depth as in Shouwa Genroku, but instead uses the satirical, slapstick style of Rakugo as a platform for a satirical, slapstick anime. The appeal of this show is mainly because of its moe protagonists. In each episode they basically discuss random things and usually reach an unusual or humorous conclusion that’s far from the initial discussion topic. The manga of this adaptation was also written by the author of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
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Hikaru no Go is an popular anime that aired from 2001 to 2003. It mixes the traditional board-game, Go, with supernatural elements. Much like with Chihayafuru, the anime follows a boy named Hikaru through his teenage years and blossoming Go career, and it traces the development of his skill and passion in a way that promotes the game to viewers. Each episode even finishes with a brief educational clip starring Go master Yukari Umezawa, in which she teaches viewers a lesson applied in the episode they had just seen. The manga and anime, both of which ended in 2003, were responsible for a surge in Go’s popularity among young players on both sides of the Pacific. Fun fact: Go is the one of the oldest board games in the world that is still played today. Also it’s kinda like chess, but much more complex. It is also traditionally played in China and Korea.
Shogi is actually more similar to western chess than with Go. The object and setup are broadly similar to Western chess as shogi also has a king, pawns, rooks, knights, and bishops, but also lances, silver generals, and gold generals.
, but in a much darker context. At the beginning of the show, a murderer kills 5-year-old Shion Yasuoka’s parents and challenges her to a game of Shogi. The incident renders Shion mute, and she develops an obsession with the game that turns into a quest to find her family’s killer. She enters the realm of female professional Shogi at the age of 13, guided by a family friend who is also a professional. A 22-episode anime series ran from 2007 to 2008, finishing a few months before the end of the manga.
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The show revolves largely around Shion’s development as a Shogi player, as well as the creation of an integrated Shogi tournament to discover the murderer’s identity. It also focuses on the gender segregation in the sport. In particular, one character disguises himself as a girl for a faster route into professional Shogi because the female league has lower standards for qualification.
Hanayamata is an insanely beautiful animation about cute girls doing cute things. More specifically Yosakoi, which is a traditional style of Japanese dance. It is a light hearted slice of life anime, much like
, but it also focuses a lot on school life and the school club setting. It has some of the best animation I’ve ever seen and it is also praised for its well executed character development.
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Yosakoi is a unique style of dance that is danced at festivals and events all over Japan. It is a relatively new style of tradition dance, with the first Yosakoi festival being held in 1954 in Kochi. Yosakoi-style dancing has spread throughout much of Japan. The style of dance is highly energetic, combining traditional Japanese dance movements with modern music. The choreographed dances are often performed by large teams. Along with a number of professional yosakoi schools and town dance teams, yosakoi is also a popular event during the sports festivals held by Japanese elementary, junior, and senior high schools. One of the defining aspects of yosakoi dance is the use of naruko: small wooden clappers that are held in the hands of each dancer (which you can see the girls holding in the GIF above). Naruko were originally used in Kōchi Prefecture to scare birds away from rice fields.The really frustrating thing about watching Hanayamata is the fact that all of the characters are so hard to convince to join the Yosakoi club. Seven episodes in and we’re still not playing with a full deck. It used to bug me until I started thinking more about it, and I realized that the story Hanayamata is telling is a lot more complex than I thought at first. It all comes down to the dominant theme of the show: the clash of foreign cultures, and how it can illuminate the absurdity of social conventions, and ultimately help us challenge the things that we take for granted.
Consider the way Hana and Naru parallel one another. One of the first things we learn is that Naru is a girl who is obsessed with Western fairy tales, much to the chagrin of her father who sees them as a waste of time. She fondly remembers the first time she saw Disney’s Cinderella in the movie theatre, and secretly hopes that one day she will meet a fairy who will make her “dazzling.” In fact the idea is so deeply ingrained in her mind that the first time she actually sees a white person, she thinks it must be a fairy, and chases after her.
The “fairy” is actually Hana, a girl from America who is obsessed with Japanese culture, and in particular traditional Yosakoi dancing. After the two become friends, Hana’s stereotypical American shamelessness causes Naru so much embarrassment that she starts avoiding her. Hana doesn’t understand why her beloved Japan isn’t full of people who share her zeal for what she naively considers “Japanese culture, ” and she’s completely oblivious to how ridiculous she looks as a loud, obnoxious white girl who wants to start a Yosakoi club.
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However, while most of the girls in the school clearly don’t want to join the Yosakoi club, even the ones who do want to find themselves unable to because of cultural barriers that stand in their way. For the stereotypical American Hana, “I want to start a Yosakoi club” is reason enough for her to do it, regardless of what other people think. She even tells Naru early on that she will dance Yosakoi even if she’s the only one doing it, and you can tell she really means it.
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