The Vocabulary of Front and Back

Kuromaku (黒幕): black curtain. In kabuki, a black cotton curtain that hides the stage between scenes or serves as a background. In everyday use, a person who stays out of view and directs or plots behind the scenes.

Tatemae (建て前): in building, raising the main frame of a house, its posts, beams and ridge, on the foundation. The same word is used for the public stance, in the pair tatemae to honne, public stance and true feelings.

Hara o waru (腹を割る): to split the belly. To tell one’s true feelings without hiding anything.

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