| To talk about belly dancing in Japan, we have to first | | | | Later (During Osman's empire) from Japan, coming to |
| meet the history of belly dancing. | | | | sultan's palace, they had to watch and finally they |
| Japan is not the first country in the word to have belly | | | | started to love the dance. That's how, firstly by vague, |
| dancers in. In fact, when you combine the words 'belly | | | | unsure descriptions, 'belly dancing Japan' started to |
| dancing Japan' people look at you as if you were | | | | make a little more sense. But it was really hard to |
| totally mad. In fact the phrase 'belly dancing Japan' has | | | | make it just from being a spectator. The girls, even, in |
| a lot of sense because there are really good belly | | | | Japan were considered as 'exotic dancers' which is |
| dancers in Japan, so to speak. But let's see where and | | | | not true nowadays anymore. |
| when belly dancing originally comes from. | | | | Why were they considered 'exotic dancers'? |
| The history | | | | Because opium in Japan was very very popular. It |
| Belly dance comes from Arabia in Asia. In Arabic (raks | | | | was very probable, when in Japan, when a visitor |
| al-baladi) it means dance of the people. It is an art form | | | | wanted to try their opium, it was served by a beautiful |
| with a long history. The origins of Bellydancing can be | | | | Japanese woman, who, as a bonus, as a belly dancing |
| traced back some 5,000 years. Belly dancing was | | | | Japan girl, offered the stranger a belly dance. As belly |
| originally for women only. No men were allowed to | | | | dancing propagated in Europe too, European |
| participate or to watch the dance. It was for women | | | | prostitutes often offered them a belly dance as a |
| and only for women. It helped women in childbirth, as | | | | bonus, as something "exotical", as something |
| the intense undulations helped to more or less remove | | | | "Japanese". So western people started to call belly |
| birth pains. Later still, belly dance moved to the harem | | | | dancing "Japan" girls exotic dancers and more |
| of sultans. | | | | offensive things, while it was exotically only for them |
| There, beautiful ladies danced for the pleasure of the | | | | Nowadays |
| sultan (Arabic king) and his bezyrs( Arabic ministers). | | | | Nowadays, belly dancing 'Japan' girls and boys are |
| When there were diplomatic guests from China and | | | | common but they are not very famous. |