Inc Description Kabuki

Kabuki is Japanese theater, a stage drama full of singing and dancing. Its actors wear a distinctive face makeup called kumadori. My first encounter with it was on E. Honda, the sumo wrestler in Street Fighter. If you watched the Tokyo 2020 Olympics opening ceremony, you might have spotted a kabuki actor there too.

The lines in kumadori exaggerate the muscles and veins of the face, and the colors mean something. Red is the hero: justice, courage and strength. Blue is the villain: ruthless and evil. Brown is for non-humans like demons and monsters.

I said “actors” for a reason. In 1629, women were banned from the kabuki stage for being an unhealthy influence, thanks to their suggestive moves on and off stage. (A bit like those awkward scenes that pop up out of nowhere on Netflix at dinner time.) Men took over the female roles, known as onnagata, and women still can’t perform kabuki today.

Smart Doll Kabuki wears bold red kumadori. She’s our heroine, standing up to the forces that oppress. As for the touch of blue on her face, I’ll leave that for you to decide ;-)