''Kakegoe'' () usually refers to shouts and calls used in performances of traditional

Japanese music In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). Japan is the world ...

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

theatre, and in martial arts such as

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...

Kabuki

In the kabuki theatre, the term is used to refer to melodramatic calls from an audience, or as part of call-and-response singing in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese folk music. It is a custom for people in the audience to insert ''kakegoe'' every so often, in praise of the actors on stage. There are special climaxes in kabuki theatre called " mie", where the actor puts on an extravagant pose and someone in the audience shouts the actor's

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

or guild name at just the right moment. Occasionally the shout is not a name, for example "Mattemashita!" ("This is what we've been waiting for!") as the curtain is drawn back.Rick Kennedy, ''Home Sweet Tokyo'', Kodansha, 1988 (p.151) There are three ''kakegoe'' guilds in Tokyo, totalling about 60 members. They receive free passes to the

Kabuki-za in Ginza is the principal theater in Tokyo for the traditional ''kabuki'' drama form. History The Kabuki-za was originally opened by a Meiji era journalist, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas in which Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and ot ...

. Almost all are mature male Japanese, but there have been examples of women and foreigners.

Folk music

In folk music some ''kakegoe'' are inserted in parts of song at will. Rather than names, ''kakegoe'' are usually words of encouragement for the musicians, singers, or dancers performing with the music. A commonly used word is "sore!", meaning "that", which conveys the sense "That's the way!", or "Just like that!" Another is "dontokoi!" meaning something like "Gimme your best shot!" or literally "Come quickly/don't hesitate!" "Sate!" means "So then!" Other words are "yoisho!", "yoi yoi yoi!", and "choi choi!" ''Kakegoe'' are also used in Buyō dancing, when the stage name of the performer is shouted at key points in a dance. A great deal of ''kakegoe'' are usually unvoiced parts of the repeating chorus of the song. In a famous folk song called "

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" the shout "ah dokkoisho, dokkoisho!" is said at the end of each verse. The verses of the song "Mamurogawa Ondo" always end in "ah dontokoi, dontokoi!" Some shouts are area-specific. In the Hanagasa Odori (Flower Hat Dance) of Yamagata, for example, the shout at the end of each verse is "ha yassho makasho!" (See Hanagasa Ondo.) This is a ''kakegoe'' heard only in this particular song and no others. "Ha iya sasa!" and "A hiri hiri" are shouts specific to Okinawan folk music.

Traditional music ensembles

''Kakegoe'' are used in traditional music ensembles, such as Hayashi,

Nagauta is a kind of traditional Japanese music played on the and used in kabuki theater, primarily to accompany dance and to provide reflective interludes. History It is uncertain when the was first integrated into kabuki, but it was sometime dur ...

Taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming m ...

, and

Tsugaru-jamisen or refers to both the Japanese genre of music originating from Tsugaru Peninsula in present-day Aomori Prefecture and the instrument it is performed with. It is performed throughout Japan, though associations with the Tsugaru remain strong. ...

. They are used to cue different parts of a musical piece. They can signal anywhere from the beginning or end of a particular rhythm, the beginning or end of an improvisation section for an instrument virtuoso, to cuing different instrument entrances. In Taiko, for example, there are certain rhythms that repeat until the leader shouts the go-ahead. In Tsugaru-Jamisen, a great deal of improvisation is used, and the player has to cue the drum when he is ready to end a session of improvisation. In larger music ensembles such as Hayashi and Nagauta, musicians need to tell each other where they are in a piece, so they use ''kakegoe'' to signal the ending/beginning of a section.

Matsuri festivals

can also be heard in different festivals or "". These also vary from region to region. In parts of Tokyo, , or float shrines are hoisted by people yelling "" The Hamamatsu Matsuri is famous for its enormous kites and large wooden carts called that are taken throughout the city. Each kite and cart has their own represented guilds, and each group marches through the streets to the beats of snare drums and bugles chanting "" Another example is in

Mie prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

, at Kuwana City's

Ishidori Matsuri Ishidori Matsuri (石取祭) can be literally translated from Japanese as "stone bringing festival." It is a festival in Kuwana, located in Mie Prefecture. The festival starts on the first Saturday of August, at midnight, and runs throughout the ...

where the chants of "" or "" are used in the festival. This is shouted out by participants after a sequence of

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming m ...

drumming and hammering of the Kane on the traditional cart. The city of

Kishiwada is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 190,853 in 88598 households and a population density of 2600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is well known for its Danjiri Matsu ...

in Osaka prefecture is also famous for its cart or festival. Participants pulling the rolling shrines all yell "" as they pull the danjiri. The list goes on and on, but these shouts generally mean something like the English "heave, ho! heave, ho!" The pitch and inflection changes from district to district based on timing and rhythm.

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