Most of us know that Kabuki got its name because the facial features, in particular the long palpebral fissures, long eyelashes and lower lid eversion are reminiscent of the make-up of the actors in Kabuki theatre, a traditional Japanese play. But did you know that the samurai played a direct role in the name of the syndrome of our children?
In the early 18th century, samurai were members of Japan’s highest class. These warriors were not required to work, as they were to stay in constant fighting form to defend the regimes from their enemies. According to an article in the December 2003 issue of National Geographics, the samurai’s violent reign lasted for nearly 700 years. Initially combat was done on horseback with bow and arrow, but eventually the sword became the preferred weapon. Over the years, various clans fought one another for power and land.
Then, in the 1600’s came a 250-year-long reign of peace. The state-subsidized aristrocatic samurai became idle – power without the glory. One of the forbidden pleasures, the warriors began attending Kabuki theatre, attracted by the silk-laden geishas. Scandals involving the Kabuki actresses and the samurai eventually compelled the government to ban female actresses from the Kabuki stage. Hence, male actors now needed to play the female parts. That is the reason for the exaggerated eye makeup we now see Kabuki actors don.
So it comes to be that the samurai’s sexual scandals would eventually influence the naming of our children’s syndrome!