In Rural Japan, a 370-Year-Old Tradition Falls to One Child
SHITARA, Japan — More than three centuries of tradition rest on Mao Takeshita’s narrow shoulders. Mao is 6 years old and swaddled in a heavy kimono, her face covered in the thick white greasepaint of a Kabuki actor. Before her, an audience of hundreds sits on tatami mats. She steps forward, toward the footlights, and…
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