Bando Tamasaburo Kabuki Coloring Book

Kabuki, one of Japan's two main traditional theater forms, is famous for not having female actors: all roles are played by men (children, teenagers, and adults) and some of its actors specialized in playing women's roles. In the last 40 years, the most famous among these onnagata performers as they are called, is Bando Tamasaburo, an actor so talented that even at age 73 he can act and dance with all the grace of a 20-year-old woman. The Bando Tamasaburo Kabuki Coloring Book gives you the opportunity to get to know Tamasaburo through some of the most fabulous costumes he wears for his more characteristic roles.

Across its 56 A4-sized pages, the Bando Tamasaburo Kabuki Coloring Book contains 13 images of Tamasaburo, both with and without colors. Using the colored ones as models, you can paint the others with markers or colored pencils and get to see from up-close the patterns and color combinations that make these clothes masterpieces in their own right. Among the roles featured are the courtesan Agemaki from Sukeroku, Okaru from Chushingura, and the eponymous Wisteria Maiden of Fuji Musume, all highlights from Tamsaburo's repertory. The book's final section even has a Tamasaburo paper doll that you can cut out and dress up!

Specs and Features:

• Size: A4
• Pages: 56
• Images: 13 from different roles: Agemaki, Yugiri, Sagi Musume, Okaru, Dote no Oroku, Hanako, Akoya, Yatsuhashi, Shizuka Gozen, Omiwa, Okuma, Fuji Musume, Minamoto no Yoshitsune
• Includes a dress-up paper doll