Kabuki and Koons

8/3/2013 - Tokyo, Japan 

The kabuki show started with actors squeaking Japanese, wearing kimonos with their faces painted white. They used precise hand and body motions in their performances. A man narrated with expressive song. We had no idea what was going on.

Later in the day, I visited the Mori art museum on the 52nd floor of a tower in the Roppongi district. Its theme was "love." That broad theme included portrayals of passionate love from the Tale of Genji, familial love in Frida Kahlo's paintings, God's love in a work by Dali, and packaged consumerist love by Jeff Koons. 

It was an interesting contrast. Kabuki, the old Japanese form, was precise and enigmatic. The new global art museum was anarchic.

Pictured: The Kabuki-Za Theater in Tokyo's Ginza neighborhood