Noh - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and consists of five Noh plays interspersed with shorter, humorous kyōgen

Kyogen

is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside Noh, was performed along with Noh as an intermission of sorts between Noh acts, on the same Noh stage, and retains close links to Noh in the modern day; therefore, it is sometimes designated Noh-kyōgen...

pieces. However, present-day Noh performances often consist of two Noh plays with one Kyōgen play in between.

While the field of Noh performance is extremely codified, and regulated by the iemoto
Iemoto
Iemoto is a Japanese term used to refer to the founder or current head master of a certain school of traditional Japanese art...

system, with an emphasis on tradition rather than innovation, some performers do compose new plays or revive historical ones that are not a part of the standard repertoire. Works blending Noh with other theatrical traditions have also been produced.

History

Together with the closely related kyōgen

Kyogen

farce, Noh evolved from various popular, folk and aristocratic art forms, including Dengaku

Dengaku

Dengaku Dengaku Dengaku (田楽）were rustic Japanese celebrations that can be classified into two types: dengaku that developed as a musical accompaniment to rice planting observances and the dengaku dances that developed in conjunction with sangaku. The dengaku celebrated for rice planting was...

, Shirabyoshi

Shirabyoshi

were female dancers, prominent in the Japanese Imperial Court, who performed traditional Japanese dances dressed as men. The profession of shirabyōshi developed in the 12th century...

, and Gagaku

Gagaku

Gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that has been performed at the Imperial Court in Kyoto for several centuries. It consists of three primary repertoires:#Native Shinto religious music and folk songs and dance, called kuniburi no utamai...

.

Kan'ami

Kanami

Kan'ami Kiyotsugu , was a Japanese Noh actor, author, and musician during the Muromachi period. Born Yūzaki Kiyotsugu in Iga Province, Kan'ami also went by the names 'Miyomaru' and 'Kanza Kiyotsugu' ....

and his son Zeami Motokiyo

Zeami Motokiyo

Zeami Motokiyo , also called Kanze Motokiyo , was a Japanese aesthetician, actor and playwright.-Acting:...

brought Noh to what is essentially its present-day form during the Muromachi period

Muromachi period

The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...

(1336 to 1573) under the patronage of the powerful Ashikaga clan, particularly the third shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

was the 3rd shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who ruled from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was the son of the second shogun Ashikaga Yoshiakira....

. It would later influence other dramatic forms such as Kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

and Butoh

Butoh

is the collective name for a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement inspired by the movement. It typically involves playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and is traditionally performed in white body makeup...

. During the Meiji era, although its governmental patronage was lost, Noh and kyōgen received official recognition as two of the three national forms of drama.

By tradition, Noh actors and musicians only rehearse

Rehearsal

For other uses, see Rehearsal or Dress rehearsal A rehearsal is a preparatory event in music and theatre that is performed before the official public performance, as a form of practice, and to ensure that all details of the performance are adequately prepared and coordinated for professional...

together once, a few days before the actual performance. Generally, each actor, musician, and chorus member practises his or her fundamental movements, songs, and dances independently, under the tutelage of a senior member of the school. Thus, the mood of a given performance is not set by any single performer but established by the interactions of all the performers together. In this way, Noh could be seen as exemplifying the medieval Japanese aesthetics of transience, exemplified by the saying of Sen no Rikyu

Sen no Rikyu

, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on chanoyu, the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of wabi-cha...

, "ichi-go ichi-e

Ichi-go ichi-e

Ichi-go ichi-e is a Japanese term that describes a cultural concept often linked with famed tea master Sen no Rikyu. The term is often translated as "for this time only," "never again," or "one chance in a lifetime."...

", "one chance, one meeting".

One of the important centres of Noh was Nagoya, which upholds its tradition in today's Nagoya Noh Theatre

Nagoya Noh Theatre

The Nagoya Noh Theatre is a Noh drama theatre building located in the city of Nagoya, central Japan.- History :The history of Noh in Owari Province dates back to the heydays of feudal rule, when performances were shown at the Ninomaru Palace of Nagoya Castle...

Roles

There are four major categories of Noh performers: shite, waki, kyōgen, and hayashi.

Shite (仕手, シテ). In plays where the shite appears first as a human and then as a ghost, the first role is known as the maeshite and the later as the nochishite.
- Shitetsure (仕手連れ, シテヅレ). The shite's companion. Sometimes shitetsure is abbreviated to tsure (連れ, ツレ), although this term refers to both the shitetsure and the wakitsure.
- Kōken (後見) are stage hands, usually one to three people.
- Jiutai (地謡) is the chorus, usually comprising six to eight people.
Waki (脇, ワキ) performs the role that is the counterpart or foil of the shite.
- Wakitsure (脇連れ, ワキヅレ) or Waki-tsure is the companion of the waki.
Kyōgen
Kyogen
is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside Noh, was performed along with Noh as an intermission of sorts between Noh acts, on the same Noh stage, and retains close links to Noh in the modern day; therefore, it is sometimes designated Noh-kyōgen...

(狂言) perform the aikyōgen (相狂言) interludes during plays. Kyōgen actors also perform in separate plays between individual noh plays.
Hayashi (囃子) or hayashi-kata (囃子方) are the instrumentalists who play the four instruments used in Noh theater: the transverse , or , the , and the . The flute used for noh is specifically called .

A typical Noh play always involve the chorus, the orchestra, and at least one shite and one waki actor.

Plays

The current repertoire consist of approximately 250 plays, which can be divided according to a variety of schemes. The most common is according to content, but there are several other methods of organization.

Mood

Mugen nō (夢幻能) usually deals with spirits, ghosts, phantasms, and supernatural worlds. Time is often depicted as passing in a non-linear fashion, and action may switch between two or more timeframes from moment to moment.
Genzai nō (現在能), as mentioned above, depicts normal events of the everyday world. However, when contrasted with mugen instead of with the other four categories, the term encompasses a somewhat broader range of plays.

Style

Geki nō (劇能) or drama plays are based around the advancement of plot and the narration of action.
Furyū nō (風流能) or dance plays focus rather on the aesthetic qualities of the dances and songs which are performed.

Okina (or Kamiuta) is a unique play which combines dance with Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

ritual. It is considered the oldest type of Noh play, and is probably the most often performed. It will generally be the opening work at any programme or festival.

Sources

The Tale of the Heike
The Tale of the Heike
is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War...

, a medieval tale of the rise and fall of the Taira clan, originally sung by blind monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

s who accompanied themselves on the biwa

Biwa

The is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto....

, is an important source of material for Noh (and later dramatic forms), particularly warrior plays. Another major source is The Tale of Genji
The Tale of Genji
is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first psychological novel or the first novel still to be...

, an eleventh century work of profound importance to the later development of Japanese culture. Authors also drew on Nara

Nara period

The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...

and Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

Japanese classics, and Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

sources.

Some famous plays

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Noh plays: A-M N-Z.

Plays with a separate article are listed here.

The following categorization is that of the Kanze school.

Name	Kanji	Meaning	Category
Aoi no Ue Aoi no Ue (play) Aoi no Ue is a Noh play based on an episode in the Tale of Genji and named for Lady Aoi, one of the novel's characters. It is an example of the fourth category of "miscellaneous" Noh plays. Aoi no Ue was the first of many Noh plays based on the Tale of Genji...	葵上	Lady Aoi	4 (misc.)
Aya no Tsuzumi Aya no Tsuzumi Aya no Tsuzumi is a Japanese Noh play by an unknown author which depicts the evil consequences of unrequited desire.-Title:...	綾鼓	The Damask Drum	4 (misc.)
Dōjōji Dōjōji (Noh play) ' is a famous Noh play of the fourth category , of unknown authorship. Traditionally it is said to be written by Kan'ami and revised by Zeami, while others assign it to Kanze Nobumitsu; there are many variations in different texts, and a popular adaptation for kabuki theatre...	道成寺	Dōjōji	4 (misc.)
Hagoromo Hagoromo (play) is among the most-performed Japanese Noh plays. It is an example of the traditional swan maiden motif.-Sources and history:The earliest recorded version of the legend dates to the eighth century. The play however apparently combines two legends, one concerning the origins of the Suruga Dance and...	羽衣	The Feather Mantle	3 (woman)
Izutsu Izutsu ' is a classic Noh play written by Zeami, the dominant figure in the early history of Noh theatre.Izutsu is based on an old story, Tsutsu-Izutsu , from the Ise monogatari, a 10th century collection of stories, many of which are based on stories about the romantic encounters of a "certain man",...	井筒	The Well Cradle	3 (woman)
Kagekiyo	景清	Kagekiyo	4 (misc.)
Kanawa	鉄輪	The Iron Ring/Crown	4 (misc.)
Kumasaka	熊坂	Kumasaka/The Robber	5 (demon)
Matsukaze Matsukaze ' is a play of the third category by Kanami, revised by Zeami Motokiyo. One of the most highly-regarded of Noh plays, it is mentioned more than any other in Zeami's own writings, and is depicted numerous times in the visual arts.-Plot:...	松風	The Wind in the Pines	3 (woman)
Nonomiya	野宮	The Shrine in the Fields	3 (woman)
Sekidera Komachi	関寺小町	Komachi at Sekidera	3 (woman)
Semimaru	蝉丸	Semimaru	4 (misc.)
Shakkyō	石橋	Stone Bridge	5 (demon)
Shōjō Shojo The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...	猩々	The Tippling Elf	5 (demon)
Sotoba Komachi	卒都婆小町	Komachi at the Gravepost	3 (woman)
Takasago	高砂	At Takasago	1 (deity)
Tsunemasa	経政	Tsunemasa	2 (warrior)
Yorimasa	頼政	Yorimasa	2 (warrior)
Yuya	熊野	Yuya	3 (woman)

Performance elements

Noh performance combines a variety of elements into a stylistic whole, with each particular element the product of generations of refinement according to the central Buddhist, Shinto, and minimalist aspects of Noh's aesthetic principles.

Stage

The traditional Noh stage

Stage (theatre)

In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...

consists of a pavilion

Pavilion

In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...

whose architectural style is derived from that of the traditional kagura

Kagura

- Fictional characters :*Kagura Tsuchimiya, the protagonist of Ga-rei*Kagura, an InuYasha character*Kagura Sohma , a Fruits Basket character*Kagura, an Azumanga Daioh character*Ten'nōzu Kagura, a Speed Grapher character...

stage of Shinto shrines, and is normally composed almost entirely of hinoki
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan.It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown...

(Japanese cypress

Chamaecyparis obtusa

Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan.It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown...

) wood. The four pillars are named for their orientation to the prominent actions during the course of the play: the waki-bashira in the front, right corner near the waki's standing point and sitting point; the shite-bashira in the rear, left corner, next to which the shite normally performs; the fue-bashira in the rear, right corner, closest to the flute player; and the metsuke-bashira, or "looking-pillar", so called because the shite is typically faced toward the vicinity of the pillar.

The floor is polished to enable the actors to move in a gliding fashion, and beneath this floor are buried giant pots or bowl-shaped concrete structures to enhance the resonant properties of the wood floors when the actors stomp heavily on the floor (compare nightingale floor). As a result, the stage is elevated approximately three feet above the ground level of the audience.

The only ornamentation on the stage is the kagami-ita, a painting of a pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

-tree at the back of the stage. The two most common beliefs are that it represents either a famous pine tree of significance in Shinto at the Kasuga Shrine

Kasuga Shrine

is a Shinto shrine in the city of Nara, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Established in 768 AD and rebuilt several times over the centuries, it is the shrine of the Fujiwara family...

in Nara

Nara, Nara

is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...

, or that it is a token of Noh's artistic predecessors which were often performed to a natural backdrop.

Another unique feature of the stage is the hashigakari, the narrow bridge to the right of the stage that the principal actors use to enter the stage. This would later evolve into the hanamichi
Hanamichi
The is an extra stage section used in Japanese kabuki theater. It is a long, raised platform that runs, left of center, from the back of the theater, through the audience, to connect with the main stage. Generally it is used for characters' entrances and exits, though it can also be used for...

in kabuki

Kabuki

.

All stages which are solely dedicated to Noh performances also have a hook or loop in ceiling, which exists only to lift and drop the bell for the play Dōjōji
Dōjōji (Noh play)
' is a famous Noh play of the fourth category , of unknown authorship. Traditionally it is said to be written by Kan'ami and revised by Zeami, while others assign it to Kanze Nobumitsu; there are many variations in different texts, and a popular adaptation for kabuki theatre...

. When that play is being performed in another location, the loop or hook will be added as a temporary fixture.

Costumes

The garb worn by actors is typically adorned quite richly and steeped in symbolic meaning for the type of role (e.g. thunder gods

Raijin

is a god of lightning, thunder and storms in the Shinto religion and in Japanese mythology.His name is derived from the Japanese words rai and shin . He is typically depicted as a demon beating drums to create thunder, usually with the symbol tomoe drawn on the drums...

will have hexagons on their clothes while serpents have triangles to convey scales). Costumes for the shite in particular are extravagant, shimmering silk brocades, but are progressively less sumptuous for the tsure, the wakizure, and the aikyōgen.

For centuries, in accordance with the vision of Zeami, Noh costumes emulated the clothing that the characters would genuinely wear, whether that be the formal robes of a courtier or the street clothing of a peasant or commoner. It was not until the late sixteenth century that stylized Noh costumes following certain symbolic and stylistic conventions became the norm.

The musicians and chorus typically wear formal montsuki kimono

Kimono

The is a Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" , has come to denote these full-length robes...

(black and adorned with five family crests) accompanied by either hakama

Hakama

are a type of traditional Japanese clothing. They were originally worn only by men, but today they are worn by both sexes. Hakama are tied at the waist and fall approximately to the ankles. Hakama are worn over a kimono ....

(a skirt-like garment) or kami-shimo, a combination of hakama and a waist-coat with exaggerated shoulders (see illustrations). Finally, the stage attendants are garbed in virtually unadorned black garments, much in the same way as stagehands in contemporary Western theater.

Masks

Noh mask

Mask

A mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...

s (能面 nō-men or 面 omote) all have names. They are carved from blocks of Japanese cypress (檜 "hinoki"), and painted with natural pigments on a neutral base of glue and crunched seashell.

Usually only the shite, the main actor, wears a mask. However, in some cases, the tsure may also wear a mask, particularly in the case of female roles. Noh masks portray female or nonhuman (divine

Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...

, demon

Demon

call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

ic, or animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

) characters. There are also Noh masks to represent youngsters or old men. On the other hand, a Noh actor who wears no mask plays a role of an adult man in his twenties, thirties, or forties. The side player, the waki, wears no mask either.

Several types of masks, in particular those for female roles, are designed so that slight adjustments in the position of the head can express a number of emotion

Emotion

Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...

s such as fear

Fear

Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...

or sadness

Sadness

Sadness is emotional pain associated with, or characterized by feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, helplessness, sorrow, and rage. When sad, people often become outspoken, less energetic, and emotional...

due to the variance in lighting and the angle shown towards the audience. With some of the more extravagant masks for deities and monster

Monster

A monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...

s, however, it is not always possible to convey emotion. Usually, however, these characters are not frequently called to change emotional expression during the course of the scene, or show emotion through larger body language

Body language

Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously....

.

The rarest and most valuable Noh masks are not held in museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

s even in Japan, but rather in the private collections of the various "heads" of Noh schools; these treasures are usually only shown to a select few and only taken out for performance on the rarest occasions. This does no substantial harm to the study and appreciation of Noh masks, as tradition has established a few hundred standard mask designs, which can further be categorized as being one of about a dozen different types.

Props

The most commonly used prop in Noh is the fan

Fan (implement)

A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...

, as it is carried by all performers regardless of role. Chorus singers and musicians may carry their fan in hand when entering the stage, or carry it tucked into the obi

Obi (sash)

is a sash for traditional Japanese dress, keikogi worn for Japanese martial arts, and a part of kimono outfits.The obi for men's kimono is rather narrow, wide at most, but a woman's formal obi can be wide and more than long. Nowadays, a woman's wide and decorative obi does not keep the kimono...

. In either case, the fan is usually placed at the performer's side when he or she takes position, and is often not taken up again until leaving the stage.

Several plays have characters who wield mallets, swords, and other implements. Nevertheless, during dance sequences, the fan is typically used to represent any and all hand-held props, including one such as a sword which the actor may have tucked in his sash or ready at hand nearby.

When hand props other than fans are used, they are usually introduced or retrieved by stage attendants

Kuroko

are stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre, who dress all in black.In kabuki, the kuroko serve many of the same purposes as running crew. They move scenery and props on stage, aiding in scene changes and costume changes. They will also often play the role of animals, will-o-the-wisps, or other...

who fulfill a similar role to stage crew in contemporary theater. Like their Western counterparts, stage attendants for Noh traditionally dress in black, but unlike in Western theater they may appear on stage during a scene, or may remain on stage during an entire performance, in both cases in plain view of the audience.

Stage properties in Noh including the boats, wells, altars, and the aforementioned bell from Dōjōji, are typically carried onto the stage before the beginning of the act in which they are needed. These props normally are only outlines to suggest actual objects, although the great bell, a perennial exception to most Noh rules for props, is designed to conceal the actor and to allow a costume change during the aikyogen interlude.

Chant and Music

Noh theatre is accompanied by a chorus and a hayashi

Hayashi (music)

A ' is a group of performers who provide musical accompaniment for Japanese Noh or kabuki theatre, yose performances of rakugo, or a festival.In Noh, the hayashi sit along the rear of the stage, facing the audience and fully visible...

ensemble (Noh-bayashi 能囃子). Noh is a chanted drama, and a few commentators have dubbed it "Japanese opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

." However, the singing in Noh involves a limited tonal range, with lengthy, repetitive passages in a narrow dynamic range. Clearly, melody is not at the center of Noh singing. Still, texts are poetic, relying heavily on the Japanese seven-five rhythm common to nearly all forms of Japanese poetry

Japanese poetry

Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry. For...

, with an economy of expression, and an abundance of allusion.

It is important to note that the chant is not always performed "in character"; that is, sometimes the actor will speak lines or describe events from the perspective of another character or even a disinterested narrator. Far from breaking the rhythm of the performance, this is actually in keeping with the other-worldy feel of many Noh plays, especially those characterized as mugen.

Noh hayashi ensemble consists of four musicians, also known as the "hayashi-kata". There are three drummers, which play the shime-daiko
Shime-Daiko
]The shime-daiko is a small Japanese drum. The word "shime-daiko" comes from a larger word "tsukeshime-daiko" often shortened to simply, "shime-daiko" or "shime." It has a short but wide body with animal skin drumheads on both its upper and bottom sides. The hide is first stretched on metal...

, ōtsuzumi
Otsuzumi
The , also known as the ōkawa, is an hourglass-shaped Japanese drum. It is a larger version of the tsuzumi, or kotsuzumi and is used in traditional Japanese theater and folk music. Its appearance and the sound it produces are slightly different than that of the tsuzumi...

(hip drum), and kotsuzumi (shoulder drum) respectively, and a shinobue
Shinobue
The shinobue is a Japanese transverse flute or fue that has a high-pitched sound. It is found in hayashi and nagauta ensembles, and plays important roles in noh and kabuki theatre music. It is heard in Shinto music such as kagura-den and in traditional Japanese folk songs...

flautist.

Jo, Ha, Kyū

One of the most subtle performance elements of Noh is that of Jo-ha-kyū

Jo-ha-kyu

is a concept of modulation and movement applied in a wide variety of traditional Japanese arts. Roughly translated to "beginning, break, rapid", it essentially means that all actions or efforts should begin slowly, speed up, and then end swiftly...

, which originated as the three movements of courtly gagaku
Gagaku
Gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that has been performed at the Imperial Court in Kyoto for several centuries. It consists of three primary repertoires:#Native Shinto religious music and folk songs and dance, called kuniburi no utamai...

. However, rather than simply dividing a whole into three parts, within Noh the concept incorporates not only the play itself, but the songs and dances within the play, and even the individual steps, motions, and sounds that actors and musicians make. Furthermore, from a higher perspective, the entire traditional Noh program of five plays also manifests this concept, with the first type play being the jo, the second, third, and fourth plays the ha (with the second play being referred to as the jo of the ha, the third as the ha of the ha, and the fourth as the kyū of the ha), and finally the fifth play the kyū. In general, the jo component is slow and evocative, the ha component or components detail transgression or the disordering of the natural way and the natural world, and the kyū resolves the element with haste or suddenness (note, however, that this only means kyū is fast in comparison with what came before it, and those unfamiliar with the concepts of Noh may not even realize the acceleration occurred).

Audience etiquette

Audience etiquette is generally similar to formal western theater – the audience quietly watches. Surtitles

Surtitles

Surtitles, also known as supertitles, are translated or transcribed lyrics/dialogue projected above a stage or displayed on a screen, commonly used in opera or other musical performances. The word "surtitle" comes from the French language "sur", meaning "over" or "on", and the English language word...

are not used, but some audience members follow along in the libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

. At the end of the play, the actors file out slowly (most important first, with gaps between actors), and while they are on the bridge (hashigakari), the audience claps restrainedly. Between actors, clapping ceases, then begins again as the next actor leaves. Unlike in western theater, there is no bowing, nor do the actors return to the stage after having left. A play may end with the shite character leaving the stage as part of the story (as in Kokaji, for instance) – rather than the play ending with all characters on stage – in which case one claps as the character exits.

During the interval, tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

, coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

, and wagashi

Wagashi

is a traditional Japanese confectionery which is often served with tea, especially the types made of mochi, azuki bean paste, and fruits.Wagashi is typically made from natural ingredients...

(Japanese sweets) may be served in the lobby. In the Edo period, when Noh was a day-long affair, more substantial makunouchi

Makunouchi

is a popular type of Japanese bento which consists of fish, meat, pickles, eggs and vegetables along with rice and an umeboshi. There are also other kinds such as a chestnut-rice, sweetfish sushi and meat-and-rice-casserole forms....

bentō

Bento

is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware...

(幕の内弁当, "between acts bento") was served. On special occasions, when the performance is over, お神酒 (o-miki, ceremonial sake) may be served in the lobby on the way out, as it happens in Shinto

Shinto

rituals.

In terms of seating, there is seating in front of the stage, to the left side of the stage, and in the corner front-left of stage; these are in order of decreasing desirability. While the metsuke-bashira pillar obstructs the view of the stage, the actors are primarily at the corners, not the center, and thus the two aisles are located where the views of the two main actors would be obscured, ensuring a generally clear view regardless of seating.

Actors

There are about 1500 professional Noh actors in Japan today, and the art form continues to thrive. Actors begin their training as young children, traditionally at the age of three. Historically, the performers were exclusively male. In the modern day, a few women (many daughters of established Noh actors) have begun to perform professionally. Zeami isolated nine levels or types of Noh acting from lower degrees which put emphasis on movement and violence to higher degrees which represent the opening of a flower and spiritual prowess. Many people also study Noh on an amateur basis. While the field of Noh performance is extremely codified with an emphasis on tradition rather than innovation, some performers do compose new plays or revive historical ones that are not a part of the standard repertoire. Works blending Noh with other theatrical traditions have also been produced.

The five extant schools of Noh shite acting are the Kanze (観世), Hōshō (宝生), Komparu (金春), Kongō (金剛), and Kita (喜多) schools. Each school can have different leading families, where the iemoto family, carrying the same name of the school, is considered as the most important. The iemoto holds the power to create new plays or modify lyrics and performance modes.

The society of Noh (Nōgaku Kyōkai), to which all professionals are registered, strictly protects the traditions passed down from their ancestors (see iemoto
Iemoto
Iemoto is a Japanese term used to refer to the founder or current head master of a certain school of traditional Japanese art...

). However, several secret documents of the Kanze school written by Zeami, as well as materials by Komparu Zenchiku

Komparu Zenchiku

Komparu Zenchiku was a skilled Japanese Noh actor, troupe leader, and playwright. His plays are particularly characterized by an intricate, allusive, and subtle style inherited from Zeami which convolved yūgen with influences from Zen Buddhism and Kegon...

, have been diffused throughout the community of scholars of Japanese theater.

Actors normally follow a strict progression through the course of their lives from roles considered the most basic to those considered the most complex or difficult; the role of Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura...

in Funa Benkei
Funa benkei
Funa benkei is a Japanese Noh play written by Kanze Kojirô Nobumitsu, eventually adapted to Kabuki by Kawatake Mokuami in 1885. It was staged for the first time in November that year and starred Ichikawa Danjūrō IX.-Story:...

is one of the most prominent roles a child actor performs in Noh. Other 'graduation pieces' include Shakkyō, Dōjōji
Dōjōji (Noh play)
' is a famous Noh play of the fourth category , of unknown authorship. Traditionally it is said to be written by Kan'ami and revised by Zeami, while others assign it to Kanze Nobumitsu; there are many variations in different texts, and a popular adaptation for kabuki theatre...

and Hachi no Ki. In his maturity, an actor will be confronted with pieces where the main character is an elderly person, especially the 'Komachi' pieces, portraying the famous Heian period poetess Ono no Komachi

Ono no Komachi

was a famous Japanese waka poet, one of the Rokkasen—the Six best Waka poets of the early Heian period. She was noted as a rare beauty; Komachi is a symbol of a beautiful woman in Japan. She also figures among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....

, such as Kayoi Komachi or Sekidera Komachi.

Besides professional acting, Noh is practiced by thousands of amateurs who train in chant and dance and often producing recitals.

Theatre practitioners

Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
Peter Brook
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Pierre Lecoq born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting instructor.He is most famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement and mime that he taught at the school he founded in Paris, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq from 1956 until his death in...
Jacques Copeau
Jacques Copeau
Jacques Copeau was an influential French theatre director, producer, actor, and dramatist. Before he founded his famous Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in Paris, he wrote theater reviews for several Parisian journals, worked at the Georges Petit Gallery where he organized exhibits of artists' works...
Eugenio Barba
Eugenio Barba
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Jerzy Grotowski
Jerzy Grotowski
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Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller was a German dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. Described as "the theatre's greatest living poet" since Samuel Beckett, Müller is arguably the most important German dramatist of the 20th century after Bertolt Brecht...
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
Osvobozené divadlo
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William Butler Yeats
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Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel
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Composers

William Henry Bell
William Henry Bell
William Henry Bell, known largely by his initials, W H Bell , was an English composer, conductor and lecturer....
Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
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Carlo Forlivesi
Carlo Forlivesi
Carlo Forlivesi is an Italian composer, performer and researcher.Forlivesi was born in Faenza, Emilia-Romagna. He studied at Bologna Conservatory, Milan Conservatory and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia of Rome...
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
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Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers...
David Byrne
David Byrne
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Harry Partch
Harry Partch
Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...

Aesthetic terminology

Zeami and Zenchiku describe a number of distinct qualities that are thought to be essential to the proper understanding of Noh as an art form.

Hana (花, flower): the true Noh performer seeks to cultivate a rarefied relationship with his audience similar to the way that one cultivates flowers. What is notable about hana is that, like a flower, it is meant to be appreciated by any audience, no matter how lofty or how coarse his upbringing. Hana comes in two forms. Individual hana is the beauty of the flower of youth, which passes with time, while "true hana" is the flower of creating and sharing perfect beauty through performance.
Yūgen (幽玄): an aesthetic term used to describe much of the art of the 13th and 14th centuries in Japan, but used specifically in relation to Noh to mean the profound beauty of the transcendental world, including mournful beauty involved in sadness and loss.
Kokoro or shin (both 心): Defined as "heart," "mind," or both. The kokoro of noh is that which Zeami speaks of in his teachings, and is more easily defined as "mind." To develop hana the actor must enter a state of no-mind, or mushin
Mushin
Mushin is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said to enter during combat. They also practice this mental state during everyday activities. The term is shortened from mushin no shin , a Zen expression meaning the mind without mind and is also referred to as the...

.
Rōjaku (老弱): the final stage of performance development of the Noh actor, in which as an old man he eliminates all unnecessary action or sound in his performance, leaving only the true essence of the scene or action being imitated.
Myō (妙): the "charm" of an actor who performs flawlessly and without any sense of imitation; he effectively becomes his role.
Monomane (物真似, imitation or mimesis): the intent of a Noh actor to accurately depict the motions of his role, as opposed to purely aesthetic reasons for abstraction or embellishment. Monomane is sometimes contrasted with yūgen, although the two represent endpoints of a continuum rather than being completely separate.
Kabu-isshin (歌舞一心, "song-dance-one heart"): the theory that the song (including poetry) and dance are two halves of the same whole, and that the Noh actor strives to perform both with total unity of heart and mind.

External links

An Introduction to Noh & Kyogen
Noh Stories in English Ohtsuki Noh Theatre Foundation
Nō Plays -Translations of thirteen Noh plays- Japanese Text Initiative, University of Virginia Library
Virtual Reality and Virtual Irreality On Noh-Plays and Icons
Page on the variable expressions of Noh masks
Noh plays Photo Story and Story Paper the-Noh.com : Comprehensive Site on Noh
"Hachi-No-Ki, A Perspective"

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