Japanese Dance: Fuji Musume (The Wisteria Maiden)

MTC: Yardley Hall • 1:30 PM

Japanese Dance: Fuji Musume (The Wisteria Maiden)

Performed by Asuka Wakayagi Kichi Iijima

Experience one of the most celebrated works of Japanese classical dance as Fuji Musume (The Wisteria Maiden) comes to life on stage, performed by Nihon-buyō (Japanese Dance) Master Asuka Wakayagi Kichi Iijima.

First performed in 1826, Fuji Musume tells the story of a wisteria maiden who steps out of an Ōtsu-e painting, taking the form of a young woman and expressing the joys, longing, and heartbreak of unrequited love through graceful movement and gesture.

The dance has remained a beloved part of the Kabuki and Nihon Buyō repertoire for two centuries. It has also found a new international audience through Lee Sang-il’s acclaimed film Kokuho (National Treasure), in which Fuji Musumeand the art of onnagata—male Kabuki actors specializing in female roles—figure prominently.

At the Greater Kansas City Japan Festival, Wakayagi Kiku Asuka (Asuka Iijima) of Maebashi, Japan, will perform an excerpt from Fuji Musume, offering audiences a rare opportunity to experience this enduring Japanese dance tradition live.

About the Performer

Asuka Wakayagi Kichi Iijima began her study of Japanese Dancing at age seven, studying under Master Wakayagi Kichikomae. She has over twenty years of dance training. Her stage performances include: Hane no Kamuro, Fuji Musume, Kioi Jishi, and Shigure Saigyo. She studied abroad for advanced academic degrees from 2000 to 2005 completing both master’s and PhD degrees. Since 2007, she has been performing to popular Japanese ballads and local folk songs such as Yagibushi rather than traditional kabuki style music.

In 2021, she was certified as Shihan (Master of Japanese Dancing ) and is preparing to open a school of dance. She received a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics and English Education from Keio University; a master’s degree in composition and TESOL (a certificate for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania; and a PhD Degree in Composition and TESOL from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Currently, she is an English instructor at Keio University in Tokyo and serves as an English instructor and tutor for various academic institutions.

Image Citation

Wisteria Maiden (Fuji Musume), 1615–99. Japan, Edo period (1615–1868). Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper; with mount: 154.9 x 28.9 cm (61 x 11 3/8 in.); painting only: 71 x 25.2 cm (27 15/16 x 9 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Anonymous Gift, 1963.96