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Why did gigaku disappear as a Japanese performing art by the 12th century?
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Japanese performing arts
Bugaku, a court dance adapted to Japanese tastes from the dance and music of 8th-century China and Korea.
Gigaku disappeared as a Japanese performing art by the 12th century primarily because it was supplanted by bugaku as the official form of entertainment at the Japanese court.12
While gigaku was introduced to Japan in 612 by the Korean performer Mimaji and reached its peak during the Nara period (710–784), its popularity waned as the court shifted its patronage toward bugaku. By the middle of the Heian period (around 990), gigaku was no longer being practiced, and it had fully disappeared as a performing art by the 12th century.12