‘Kusemai’ was the name given to a particular type of musical entertain-
ment which flourished in Japan, mainly around Kyōto and Nara, in the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.1 The name implies dances (mai) which were peculiar and unconventional (huse), but the peculiarity of the performances lay not so much in the dance as in the music. The musical style of Kusemai put overwhelming emphasis on the beat at the expense of melody, and the novel effect to which this gave rise was sufficient, it seems,
to warrant the rather disparaging name. The dance itself was of very minor importance and probably consisted of little more than the performer turning and stamping in time to the music. In Kusemai the song was more important than the dance, and the music of the song more important than the words.