The Acoustics of Kabuki Theaters

ACTA ACUSTICA UNITED WITH ACUSTICA Vol. 105 (2019) 1105 –1113 DOI 10.3813/AAA.919389

Clemens Büttner1),Mitsuru Yabushita2),Antonio Sánchez Parejo3),YuMorishita4), Stefan Weinzierl1) 1) Technische Universität Berlin, Audio Communication Group, Einsteinufer 17 c, 10587 Berlin, Germany. [email protected] 2) YABCorporation, Yokohama, Japan 3) RSK Group, Manchester,UK 4) The University of Tokyo, Japan

Colour Figures: Figures in colour aregiven in the online version

Summary The study presents aroom acoustical investigation of arepresentative sample of eight Kabuki theaters as the most important public performance venues of pre-modern Japan. Room acoustical parameters according to ISO 3382 were measured for the unoccupied and simulated for the occupied condition. In comparison with European proscenium stage theaters, theyhavelower room heights in the auditorium, with usually only one upper tier,and no high stage house for movable scenery.The lower volume per seat results in lower reverberation times, The wooden construction and the audience seating arrangement on wooden strawmats on the ﬂoor instead of uphol- stered seats leads to amostly ﬂat frequencyresponse up to 4kHz, resulting in an excellent speech intelligibility,

as documented by values for deﬁnition (D50)and the speech intelligibility index(STI). The acoustical conditions support the dynamic acting space created by pathways extending the stage from the front through the audience to the rear of the auditorium. Theyallowgreat contrasts in the perceivedacoustical proximity depending on the selected acting position, and support ahigh degree of immersion of the audience into the dramatic action. ©2019 The Author(s).Published by S. Hirzel Verlag · EAA. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CCBY4.0)license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). PACS no. 43.55.-n, 43.55.Gx

1. Introduction stage in open air.In1624 the first permanent theater in The Kabuki is the most important genre of traditional Edo (Tok¯ yo)¯ wasestablished, called Saruwaka-za (later Japanese public theater.During the Edo period (1603– renamed Nakamura-za). It still had no roof above the au- 1868), it became the primary form of public entertain- dience seats, which were placed in front of the stage (hi- ment for the growing merchant class in the urban cen- radoma). ters of Japan, with aparticular type of performance venue. Permanent roofs started to appear from 1670, butitwas Only after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, characterized by only after the issuing of fireregulations in 1723, that tiled astate driven“modernization through westernization” af- roofs were required by the government, which needed new fecting all aspects of society,theaters inspired by Western supporting structures. This process wasanimportant step models were built in major cities such as Tok¯ yoa¯ nd Os- towards the development of the physical theater in its final aka. At the same time, the industrialization brought city form [1]. In 1724, the three big theaters in Edo, namely the culture to more rural areas and led to an increase in the Nakamura-za, the Ichimura-za, and the Morita-za were all construction of Kabuki theaters outside the cities. Until to- completely equipped with plastered walls and tiled roofs. day,the Kabuki is avital form of art, with about 20 active Around the same time, apathway called hanamichi with theaters throughout Japan. about 1.5 minwidth, which had started to develop from The earliest records of Kabuki date back to the begin- the end of the 17th century as atemporary extension of nings of the Edo period, describing female dance per- the stage, found its finaland permanent position at stage formances accompanied by flutes and drums, which took right [2, 3]. Starting in 1736, the practice of dividing the place on available Shrine stages, as well as on tempo- pit into rectangular areas of different prices (masu)was rary open-air stages in Kyoto.¯ These stages were inspired introduced. Around 1772 anarrower secondary pathway by existing stages for Not¯ heater of the time, featuring a (kari-hanamachi)was introduced at stage left, and the two roofed stage, while the audience wasseated in front of the were connected by atertiary path at the back of auditorium (ayumi). Gradually,the theater buildings for Kabuki devel-

Received3September 2018, accepted 25 November 2019. 2 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki, accessed: April 17, 2018

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Figure 1. Typical Kabuki performance scene: Shibaraku (1858)atthe Ichimura-za theater.Woodblock print by UtagawaToyokuni III.2 oped their characteristics distinguishing them from the No¯ situ measurements and room acoustical simulations of a stage theyhad originated from. The roof above the stage, representative sample of remnant Kabuki theaters. The typical of the Nos¯ tage, disappeared from the Kabuki the- main goal of the study wastodescribe the range of room aters from around 1796. By 1830, the Kabuki theater (or acoustical conditions of this performative genre, with a shibaigoya as theyare usually referred to in Japanese)had special focus on the particular features of these venues in reached its mature form [4]. contrast to theater buildings in the European tradition. Kabuki performances present adramatic plot from a standard repertoire of plays created in the 18th and 19th 2. Description of the theaters century.Staging historic events centered around the Samu- rai class or the life of the commoners of the feudal age, All theaters investigated are two-storeywooden structures. these plays consist of acharacteristic form of singing, as Theyexhibit the typical architectural features of this build- well as acting and dancing accompanied by music on and ing type (Figure 2),and all of thema are still used for off stage. At the core of aKabuki performance are the so performances of traditional Kabuki plays. Twoofthem, called mie poses, in which the actor stays in acertain pose the Ho¯o-za¯ and the Kanamaru-za, were built in premodern at the eshichisan point of the hanamichi for amoment to Japan, during the late Edo period (1603–1868), while six emphasize the action of the plot. These poses, as well as of them were built in the subsequent Meiji period (1868– the beginning and the end of aplay are accompanied by 1912). Geographically,the theaters are located in three of rhythmical motives, played on woodblocks (ki or tsuke) the four main islands of Japan, including the islands of placed at stage left. Asmall ensemble of one or more Shikoku and Kyush¯ ui¯ nsouthern Japan, and Honshu as the stringed instruments (shamisen), flutes as well as percus- largest and most populous island in central Japan. sion instruments, placed behind aslatted wall on stage The Kanamaru-za, located on the island of Shikoku and right, contribute music and sound effects. Plays can also completed in 1835, resembles the Kabuki theaters at the consist of anarrator sitting on aplatform on stage accom- heyday of their development. In terms of size, dimensions, panying himself on the shamisen,orpassages of acting and and stage machinery,itmatches the dimensions of the dancing without dialog accompanied by asmall orchestra three big Edo theaters [7]. The proximity to the Kompira of shamisen musicians on stage, which is visible to the Shrine, considered one of the most sacred places of wor- audience. The shamisen is plucked with aplectrum and, ship in Japan, seems to be the reason for finding such a together with the percussion instruments, forms arhyth- remarkable example of Edo period architecture in the ru- mically accentuated background music, while the singers ral area of the Kagawaprefecture. The other theater in the deliversustained legato notes to it. island of Shikoku, called the Uchiko-za, located in Uchiko In the current study,wepresent the results of several town, Ehime prefecture, wasbuilt in 1916, celebrating the room acoustical measurement campaigns [5][6], with in- coronation of Emperor Taisho [8].

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Table I. Year of opening, volume (derivedfrom the geometric models), capacity (derivedfrom the literature), and volume per person for the eight theaters of the current investigation.

Name Opening Volume Capacity V/N m3 Nm3 Ho¯o-za¯ 1827 790 600 1.3 Kanamaru-za 1835 2935 800 3.7 Murakuni-za 1882 1195 200 6.0 Hakuun-za 1890 1225 400 3.1 Meiji-za 1895 1800 500 3.6 Yachiyo-za 1910 1648 500 3.3 Uchiko-za 1916 2165 650 3.3 C A Kaho Gekijo 1921 3787 1200 3.2

B D E of 1.6 sfor different locations of source and receiver. The dodecahedron loudspeaker (TOA AN-SP1212)was placed at aheight of 1.5 m, and the microphones were placed at a height of 0.9 m, considering that the audience wassitting on the floor on tatami mats. Measurements were conducted Figure 2. Drawing illustrating the most important features of a for twosource positions on stage and up to 12 receiverpo- Kabuki theater building: the pathway (hanamichi,A), the seat- sitions, depending on the size of the theater (Figure 4). ing area in front of the stage (hiradoma)with the seating grid (masu,B), the boxes on the side (sajiki,C), the secondary path- Fortwo of the theaters (the Meiji-za and the Hakuun- way(kari-hanamichi,D), and the tertiary parallel pathway at the za), an exemplary investigation wasconducted, compar- back of the theater (ayumi,E). ing the acoustical conditions for the most important acting positions in the Kabuki play.Besides astage-front and arear-stage position, which exist also in theaters of the Four of the Kabuki theaters investigated are preserved in European tradition, these include aparticular location on the Gifu prefecture in central Japan. The Ho¯o-za¯ in Gero the Hanamichi pathway,where the most crucial parts of a city is the oldest and also the smallest of the theaters stud- Kabuki play such as the mie poses are presented. This is a ied. The original date of construction as anearby shrine point located seven-tenths away from the rear of the audi- stage is unknown (sometime in mid-Edo period)but it was torium, or three-tenths away from the stage (shichi-san). relocated to the current site in 1827 and has been used as Thus, in the measurements and simulations of these two atheater since then. The Murakuni-za, opened in 1882 in venues, three source positions were investigated: Kakamigahara city,the Hakuun-za opened in 1890 in Gero • SA located on the center stage, 0.8 mbehind the front city,and the Meiji-za, opened in 1895 in Kashimo village of the stage were constructed in the Gifu prefecture in the early years • SB located on the center stage, 5mbehind the front of of the Meiji era, when commoners in rural areas of this the stage prefecture came in contact with city culture through the • SC located on the Hanamichi, at the so called emerging silk industry which resulted in afurther devel- shichi-san point opment of Kabuki performances and the increased con- Foreach source position, 12 receiverpositions were mea- struction of venues for entertainment [9]. sured. Speech transmission index(STI)measurements The theaters on the island of Kyush¯ uw¯ ere also con- were carried out using abroadband speaker with adriver structed in the Meiji era. Theyinclude the Yachiyo-za, of 12 cm diameter. opened in 1910 in Yamagacity,Kumamoto Prefecture and Room acoustical parameters according to ISO 3382 [10] the Kaho Gekijo, opened in 1921, located in Iizuka city, were derivedfrom the impulse responses, including Fukuoka prefecture. Table Ishows the date of opening, the • the early decay time EDT as apredictor for perceived cubic volume, the capacity and the volume per person for reverberance, the eight theaters considered in this investigation. • the sound strength Gasapredictor for perceived loudness, 3. Acoustical investigation • the definition D50 (early to total sound energy ratio)as predictor for speech clarity,and 3.1. In-situ measurements • the early lateral energy fraction JLF as apredictor for In the eight theaters of the current study (Table I),room perceivedsource width. acoustical measurements according to ISO 3382 were car- 3 ried out [10], using alaptop-based measurement system 3 DSSF3 software, version 5.2.0.15, and sine sweeps to obtain impulse responses with alength http://www.ymec.com/manual/era/impulse.htm

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Kaho Gekijo Kaho Gekijo Murakuni-za Hōō-za

Meiji-za Hakuun-zaKanamaru-za Uchiko-za

0 510m

Figure 3. Floor plans of the eight theaters (true to scale).

The parameters derivedfrom the measurements were ob- of 100 to 300 faces. Scattering coefficients were set as sug- tained using aMatlab script based on the ITAtoolbox [11]. gested in [14] (a scattering coefficient at 707 Hz is spec- The parameters derivedfrom the simulations were calcu- ified and afrequencyfunction of rising scattering values lated in the software (see 3.2). increasing with frequencyisextrapolated). Forthe stage and the Hanamichi, absorption coefficients 3.2. Simulations for wooden floor on joists were applied [15], while for the unoccupied and occupied Tatami, absorption coefficients Forthe acquisition of the geometry of the theaters, three- were determined by ownmeasurements (Section 3.3). dimensional point cloud data of the Meiji-za, Hakuun-za, Kanamaru-za and Uchiko-za wasobtained using acom- The remaining surfaces include different, mostly mercially available laser scanner.4 Forthe other theaters wooden materials, whose absorption values are quite ho- the geometry wasdetermined using alaser distance meter. mogeneous butcannot be specified exactly by measure- Based on plan and section cut images exported from the ments in situ. Therefore, a“residual” surface wasassigned laser scans, as well as on architectural drawings and pic- to all remaining surfaces and the values were fitted so tures, computer models were created for the eight theaters, that the resulting room average reverberation time would using SketchUp Make2017. match the measured results within aJND of 5% as de- As ageneral guideline, we have attempted to keep a scribed in ISO 3382. In the model, an omnidirectional minimum structural size of 0.5 minthe room acoustical source and listeners were inserted at locations correspond- models, which has turned out to deliverthe best simula- ing to the microphone positions in the in-situ measure- tion results [13, p.176], resulting in models with anumber ments. The simulations of the speech transmission index (STI)were carried out using the source directivity of a male speaker [16], assuming anormal vocal effort as de- 4 Focus 3D S120. Setting: 43.7M (43,694,0880)points/scan, fined in ANSI 3.5 [17] with abackground noise levelap- 6.136mm/10m, without color recording, 4mins/scan on average plying the NC 25 curve. The simulations were further veri-

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1.0

0.8 9 3 P2 P3 P1 0.6

4 s

1 α

10 5 2 0.4 12 6 11 7 0.2

8 0.0 125 250 500 1k 2k 4k finHz unoccupied Tatamifin Hz audience sitting on Tatami with jackets audience sitting on Tatami without jackets Figure 4. Geometric model of the Meiji-za theater showing the source and receiverpositions for room acoustical measurements Figure 5. Absorption coeﬃcient αs of unoccupied Tatami and and simulations. Similar source and receiverpositions were used audience sitting on Tatami with and without jackets, all derived in all rooms. from measurements in the reverberation chamber.

fiedbycomparing the measured and the simulated STI val- seems to be aplausible average of the historical seating ues, which showed adifference of below0.05 in all cases. density in the Kabuki theaters. Therefore, on twoTatami, The simulations were conducted using ahybrid mirror im- ten persons (five male, fivefemale)were seated in three age/ray tracing algorithm [18]. rows of two, three, and twopersons resulting in acompar- atively tight seating density of approximately three per- 3.3. Measurements of absorption coefficients sons per m2.Another factor influencing the sound absorp- Amain difference between the Western theater and the tion is the clothing of the audience. Therefore, measure- Kabuki theater of Japan is the seating arrangement. The ments were performed with persons wearing jackets and audience is not seated on chairs butonrice strawmats persons wearing no jackets. In Figure 5the sound absorp- called tatami.Since absorption coefficients of audience tion coefficients αs for Tatami as well as for persons sitting seated on Tatami, especially with respect to historical on Tatami with different clothing are shown. The values seating density were not available, measurements of the derivedfrom the measurements were converted to octave sound absorption according to ISO 354 [19] for unoccu- band values according to ISO 11654 [22] for the use in the pied Tatami as well as for audience sitting on Tatami were simulations described in Section 3.2. carried out in the reverberation chamber of TU Berlin (V 4. Results = 200 m3). Atest specimen consisting of six Tatami with a total surface area of S = 9.7 m2 wasplaced on the floor of 4.1. Reverberation times the chamber (type Amounting). The perimeter of the test The room average reverberation times values for the unoc- specimen wassealed with an acoustically reflective frame cupied case derivedfrom the measurements and the occu- made of 30 mm thick wood. pied case derivedfrom the simulations are shown in Fig- Forthe measurements of the absorption coefficient in ure 6. Forthe room averages, the central front stage po- the occupied case, twoTatami with atotal surface area sition and all receiverpositions were used. The values for of 3.2 m2 were placed in the corner of the reverberation the occupied state are slightly different from aprevious room. To obtain absorption coefficients of an “infinite sur- publication [23] due to the application of the measured ab- face”, the edges of the test specimen were covered with sorption coefficients of Tatami nowavailable. 500 mm high and 30 mm thick wood panels to avoid the The reverberation times of the unoccupied theaters increased aisle absorption, as suggested in [20]. To com- are in the range of 0.6 to 1.0 s, with the Murakuni-za pensate for the increased sound absorption due to the 3dB and the Kaho Gekijo slightly exceeding this range be- higher sound pressure levelinthe edges, acorrection was low500 Hz. The longer reverberation times in the case applied as suggested by [21], enlarging the test surface by of the Murakuni-za despite the rather small volume of 2 astrip of width b,where b = λm/8. V = 1195 m can be attributed to the fact that this wasthe According to [4], the three Edo theaters in 1841 accom- only theater within the sample not equipped with atatami modated fivepersons in one seating box (Masu), measur- floor as well as to ahigh ceiling height compared to the ing 1.3 mby1.35 m. In later years, it wastried to increase floor space. Values for the occupied state are in the range the capacity of the theaters by reducing the size of one of 0.4 to 0.8 s, with only the Kaho Gekijo, the largest of the rectangle to 1.2 mby1.3 m. While the exact size of these theaters measured, exceeding this range with Tm = 1.0s. rectangles and the number of persons seated there changed The bass ratio (BR) assumes values between 0.9 and overtime, seating ten persons on twoTatami (3.2 m2) 1.3 in the unoccupied condition, rising to between 1.0 and

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(a) unoccupied (b) occupied

1.0 Uchiko-za 1.0 Kaho Gekijo ns Kanamaru-za Ti 0.5 Meiji-za 0.5

1.0 Yachiyo-za 1.0 Hakuun-za ns Murakuni-za Ti 0.5 Hoo-za 0.5

125 250 500 1k 2k 4k 8k 125 250 500 1k 2k 4k 8k finHz finHz

Figure 6. Reverberation times for the eight Kabuki theaters investigated. Values for the unoccupied case are derivedfrom measurements (a),for the occupied case from simulations (b).

1.5 in the occupied condition. Towards higher frequencies, the reverberation times of all Kabuki theaters except the 0 Murakuni-za are characterized by an almost ﬂat frequency 1 2 3 4 5 response up to 4kHz. -10

4.2. Early reﬂections dBr -20

IR Individual early reflections, which can makeanoticeable -30 contribution to the acoustic characteristics of aroom, ar- rive at the listener for times belowthe perceptual mixing -40 time, which is between 50 and 100 ms for rooms of this 20 40 60 80 100 size[24]. 0 Forthis time window, Figure 7shows the typical pattern 1 2 of early reflections appearing for different positions of the -10 3 actor on stage, both from measurements in the Hakuun-za 4 theater.With the source located at the center stage posi- dBr -20

tion (top), the direct sound is followed by stronger frontal IR first-order reflections from the floor (1),anupper reflec- -30 tion from the gable roof (3),alateral reflection from the slanted walls on the side of the stage (4),and alateral -40 20 40 60 80 100 reflection from the sidewalls (5).Another strong reflec- tinms tion arriving approximately 7msafter the direct sound (2) seems to be alateral second-order reflection from the side Figure 7. Typical pattern of early reflections in Kabuki the- of the Hanamichi and the floor. aters, derivedfrom squared impulse responses, measured in the

With the source located at the Hanamichi, strong frontal Hakuun-za theater for asource at center stage (SA,top)and at first order reflections can be identified coming from the the Hanamichi pathway (SC,bottom), both at receiverposition floor (1),upper reflections from the twosides of the gable S2.The individual reflections are resolved in Section 4.2. roof (2,3), as well as alate frontal reflection from the back wall of the stage (4). tionally supported by room average values for Gbetween 6.0 and 9.7 dB. 4.3. Room acoustic parameters The values for sound strength Gatindividual listening The room average values of the reverberation time T20,the positions in the eight theaters (occupied)are between 3.4 early decay time EDT,the sound strength G, the definition and 12.9 dB. The decrease with increasing source-receiver D50 and the speech intelligibility indexSTI for the unoc- distance is shown exemplarily for the Kaho Gekijo theater cupied and the occupied case are shown in Table II. (Figure 8),with simulated values for the occupied condi- Values for D50 between 0.68 and 0.91 and for the STI tion compared to predictions by the classical diffuse field between 0.63 and 0.74 (both occupied)illustrate the ex- theory and Barrons’srevised theory [29, 30]. Although the cellent speech intelligibility in all theaters. This is addi- revised theory systematically overestimates the simulated

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G 6

4 Kaho Gekijo Diffuse field theory Barron’srevised theory 2 36912 15 18 21 Distance dfromsource in m

Figure 8. Sound strength Gm in dB overdistance dinmfor the occupied Kaho Gekijo theater,compared to predictions by the classical diffuse field theory and Barrons revised theory. values by about 1dB, it offers aconsistently better fit than the classical theory,also in all other theaters considered.

The values for early lateral energy fraction JLF,calcu- lated for the Meiji-za and the Hakuun-za theater (Table III) are similar to those reported for 19th century theaters in Vienna such as the old Burgtheater (JLF = 0.15), the Kärnt- nertortheater (JLF = 0.25)and the Theater an der Wien (JLF = 0.25)[27].

4.4. Room acoustics and acting position In contrast to the classical European proscenium stage the Kabuki theatre allows actors to takeupdifferent positions in front of, inside and behind the audience. By the example of twotheatres (Meiji-za and Hakuun-za), Table III Figure 9. STI grid response from the simulation with the source and Figure 9illustrate the acoustic effect of the differ- located at the Hanamichi (top), at the back of the stage (mid- ent acting positions (main stage front, main stage back, dle), and the front of the stage (bottom)for the Meiji-za theater, Hanamichi pathway). With Speech Transmission Indices assuming abackground noise of NC 25. STI ≥ 0.65 and D50,m values ≥ 0.73, speech intelligibility is always good regardless of the source location in both Table III. Comparison of ISO 3382 parameters (room average)at theaters. Nevertheless, there is anotable increase of both the three different source locations in the Meiji-za and Hakuun- za occupied condition. loudness (Gm), intelligibility (STI)and direct-to-diffuse ratio (ascharacterized by D )with the speaker moving 50 Meiji-za Hakuun-za from stage back to stage front to the Hanamichi position. S S S S S S The big difference between the stage back and stage front A B C A B C positions is due to the absence of astage canopy, which EDTm 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.5 is whythe rear position is only supported by aweak ceil- D50,m 0.81 0.74 0.88 0.75 0.73 0.79 ing reflection at the lower edge of the stage portal. As the JLF 0.21 0.20 0.21 0.21 0.18 0.26 G 6.6 4.6 8.4 9.2 7.0 10.5 most important acoustical cues for the perceiveddistance, m STI 0.70 0.65 0.72 0.72 0.67 0.79 these differences between the acting positions entail no- table different sensations of proximity between actors and audience. and that several actors can be positioned at different loca- As an example, the spatial distribution of STI values for tions at the same time. the three source locations (Figure 9) illustrates howdiffer- ent parts of the audience are addressed by different posi- 4.5. Original Data tions of the actors and howthe sensation of being within the dramatic action evolves, when taking into considera- The original CAD-Models (.skp)ofthe eight theaters, in- tion that the actors can freely move between these points, cluding the source and receiverpositions used in the mea-

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Table II. Room acoustic parameters for the unoccupied (u) and the occupied (o) case. The values are averages for the octave bands suggested in [10]. The values in bold print are derivedfrom the measurements. Standard deviations are givenfor the occupied condition to illustrate the homogenity of the sound ﬁeld in the audience area.

Name T20,m in sEDTm in sGmin dB D50,m STI uououou ouo

Ho¯o-za¯ 0.6 0.5 ± 0.02 0.5 0.3 ± 0.12 8.3 6.4 ± 2.1 0.78 0.91 ± 0.02 0.72 0.82 ± 0.04 Kanamaru-za 0.9 0.8 ± 0.03 0.9 0.8 ± 0.09 7.2 5.7 ± 1.9 0.63 0.68 ± 0.05 0.62 0.64 ± 0.01 Murakuni-za 1.0 0.7 ± 0.04 0.9 0.6 ± 0.22 9.5 7.7 ± 1.3 0.69 0.80 ± 0.04 0.63 0.70 ± 0.04 Hakuun-za 0.7 0.6 ± 0.01 0.7 0.6 ± 0.05 11.2 9.7 ± 1.9 0.70 0.75 ± 0.03 0.73 0.73 ± 0.03 Meiji-za 0.7 0.6 ± 0.02 0.6 0.5 ± 0.05 8.4 6.6 ± 1.7 0.68 0.81 ± 0.03 0.72 0.73 ± 0.04 Yachiyo-za 0.7 0.6 ± 0.03 0.6 0.5 ± 0.22 8.0 6.4 ± 1.3 0.74 0.84 ± 0.03 0.68 0.70 ± 0.03 Uchiko-za 0.9 0.8 ± 0.02 0.9 0.7 ± 0.07 9.8 7.7 ± 1.5 0.62 0.74 ± 0.03 0.70 0.71 ± 0.01 Kaho Gekijo 1.0 1.1 ± 0.03 0.9 0.8 ± 0.20 8.0 6.0 ± 1.4 0.64 0.68 ± 0.09 0.62 0.51 ± 0.06 surements and simulations are available as an electronic publication [28]. 18 1.5 5. Discussion 17 The Kabuki as the most important traditional Japanese 16 public theater form with its characteristic mixture of spo- 13 3 8 kenand sung vocal passages with instrumental accompani- 1.0 10 ment has brought forth also aparticular architectural type 11 7 2 ns 12 9 14 of performance venue. It is ausually two-storeybuilding Ti with arectangular floor plan, and with the audience sit- 4 65 15 ting on Tatami mats on the floor and on one surrounding 1 gallery.Measurements and simulations of arepresentative 0.5 Kabukitheaters (1827–1921) sample of eight Kabuki theaters built between 1827 and SmallItalianOperahouses(1838–1870) British proscenium theaters (1766–1899) 1921 (late Edo, Meiji and Taisho period)indicate the char- Viennese court theaters (1801–1870) acteristic acoustical conditions of this genre. In comparison with European proscenium stage theaters such as the 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 Viennese court theatres or the small Italian opera houses Vinm3 of the same epoch (Figure 10, [25, 27]), the Kabuki theaters are less reverberant relative to their size due to the Figure 10. Vo lume Vand reverberation time T(unoccupied) relatively small volume per seat of 1–4 m3,except of one for different groups of theaters. Ho¯o-za¯ (1),Kanamaru-za (2), venue which is slightly larger.Although Kabuki plays Murakuni-za (3) Hakuunza (4) ,Meiji-za (5),Yachiyo-za (6), combine elements of song, pantomime and dance with in- Uchiko-za (7),Kaho Gekijo (8),Dragoni, Meldola (9),Comu- nale, Russi (10),Comunale, Cesenatico (11),Comunale, Cervia strumental accompaniment, the acoustical conditions con- (12),Petrella, Longiano (13),Theatre Royal, Bristol (14),Wyn- sistently seem to be designed for optimal speech intelli- dham’sTheatre, London (15),Burgtheater Wien (16),Kärner- gibility,which is indicated by early to late energy ratios tortheater,Wien (17),Theater an der Wien (18). (D50,m)above 0.68 and speech transmission indices (STI) above 0.63 in the occupied condition, as well as arather flat frequency-dependent reverberation time for all theaters mance space and ahigh degree of immersion into the dra- of the sample up to 4kHz. The conditions in terms of size matic action with respect to the social, visual and acousti- and reverberation are most comparable with those of En- cal experience, as illustrated both by the overall change in glish theatres from this period such as Theatre Royal in room acoustical conditions and the spatial distribution of Bristol or Wyndham’sTheatre in London [26]. room acoustical parameters such as the speech transmis- One main difference when comparing the Kabuki the- sion index(STI)for the different acting positions. ater to most stages in European tradition is "the unlimited These acoustic conditions characterize not only the ex- freedom of its theatrical space where stage and auditorium perience of the audience of atheatrical genre of particu- merge and actor and audience sympathetically fuse into lar importance for Japanese culture, with its peculiar mix- one" [7, p. 49]. This is achievedbyanextension of the ture of spoken theatre and music; theyalso theycharac- main stage by three pathways surrounding the audience, terize the cultural experience of aJapanese audience with with the Hanamichi (stage-right)asthe most important. the room acoustic conditions of music and theater perfor- Together with the seating arrangement, which does, unlike mances in general, at atime when Western concert cul- European proscenium theaters, not predetermine the spec- ture came to Japan after the opening of the country fol- tators’ viewing direction, this creates adynamic perfor- lowing the Meiji Restoration of 1868. In contrast to aEu-

1112 Büttner et al.:Kabuki Theaters ACTA ACUSTICA UNITED WITH ACUSTICA Vol. 105 (2019) ropean audience whose experience wasshaped by avari- 40th Italian (AIA)Annual Conference on Acoustics and the ety of performance venues including large and reverber- 39th German Annual Conference on Acoustics (DAGA). ant spaces such as churches, large baroque festivalhalls, 2013. or even by Renaissance music theater in rooms with 2– [12] ISO 18233:2006: Acoustics –Application of newmeasure- ment methods in building and room acoustics. 3sreverberation [32], the Japanese audience only knew [13] M. Vorländer: Auralization: Fundamentals of acoustics, open-air performances, such as the older NoT¯ heater,and modelling, simulation, algorithms and acoustic virtual re- the conditions of the Kabuki theater represented by the ality.Springer,Berlin, 2008. sample of rooms described here, with adensely packed [14] Odeon A/S: Scion DTU, Diplomvej, building 381, DK- audience and very clear acoustics. Western room acoustic 2800 Kgs. Lyngby,ODEON Room Acoustics Software, 7, standards for musical concerts with areverberation time of 2016. about 2swere thus highly unusual for aJapanese audience [15] W. Fasold and E. Veres: Schallschutz und Raumakustik in der Praxis: Planungsbeispiele und konstruktive Lösungen. and could establish themselves only with agreat delay in Huss-Medien, Berlin, 2003. the second half of the 20th century [33]. [16] W. T. Chu, A. C. C. Warnock: Detailed Directivity of Sound Fields Around Human Talkers. IRC-RR 104. National Re- Acknowledgements search Council. Canada, 2002. [17] ANSI 3.5-1997: Methods for calculation of the speech in- The project wassupported by the German Research Foun- telligibility index. dation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, WE 4057/12- [18] J. Rindel: The use of computer modelling in room acous- 1).The authors would liketothank Norio Nakashima, tics. Journal of Vibroengineering 3 (2000)219–224. CEO of Nakashima Corporation for organizing the nec- [19] ISO 354:2003: Acoustics –Measurement of sound absorp- essary contact to makethis survey possible, as well as tion in areverberation room. the Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin for supplying the [20] U. Kath, W. Kuhl: Messungen zur Schallabsorption von Tatami used in the reverberation chamber measurements. Polsterstühlen mit und ohne Personen. Acta Acust united Ac 15 (1965)128–131. [21] U. Kath, W. Kuhl: Messungen zur Schallabsorption von References Personen auf ungepolsterten Stühlen. Acta Acust united Ac 14 (1964)50–65. [1] T. Kako: Karigakenoyane; Kenchiku koso¯ kara mita shibai [22] ISO 11654:1997: Acoustics –Sound absorbers for use in goya oyane¯ no hattatsu [Temporal roof, Development of buildings, Rating of sound absorption. main roof seen from the point of architectural conception]. [23] C. Büttner,S.Weinzierl, M. Yabushita, Y. 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