1987年,日本歌舞伎女形艺术第一人坂东玉三郎专程到北京向梅葆玖学习京剧《贵妃醉酒》的台步、水袖程式,这是基于他的祖父和父亲与梅兰芳几十年的深厚情意。2007年,坂东玉三郎又专程来到苏州跟随张继青学演昆曲《牡丹亭》,在他看来,这才是日本戏剧的寻“根”之旅。耐人寻味的是,坂东玉三郎由京剧而昆曲的寻“根”历程,早在1919年和1924年梅兰芳的日本京剧之旅的过程中,日本的有识之士就已经发生过京剧、昆曲何为日本戏剧之“根”的争论。坂东玉三郎的寻“根”之旅正是近百年来日本戏剧寻“根”历程的历史回声,其衡量的尺度就是昆曲的经典遗音——《牡丹亭》。 In 1987, Japan’s first kabuki female art artist Bando Jade Saburo made a special trip to Beijing to study the Peking Opera “Drunken Beauty” step-by-step, water sleeves program based on decades of his grandfather and father and Mei Lanfang Deep affection. In 2007, Bando Jade Saburo made a special trip to Suzhou to follow the Kunqu Opera “Peony Pavilion” directed by Zhang Jiqing. In his opinion, this is the journey to find the roots of Japanese drama. Intriguingly, Taro Bando’s pursuit of “roots” by Peking Opera and Kunqu opera has already happened to Japanese people as early as 1919 and the 1915 Japan operas by Mei Lanfang Beijing Opera, Kunqu Opera is Japan’s drama “root ” argument. The search for “Taro” of Bando Jade Saburo is the historical echoes of the Japanese drama search for “root” course in the last hundred years. The measure of it is the classic remains of Kunqu Opera - “The Peony Pavilion.”