Noh
NOU redirects here. For the airport with the same IATA code see La Tontouta International AirportNoh or
Nō (
Japanese:
能) is a major form of classical Japanese musical
drama that has been performed since the
14th century. Together with the closely-related
kyogen farce, it evolved from various popular, folk and aristocratic art forms, including
Dengaku,
Shirabyoshi, and
Gagaku. Surprisingly, although Noh has been slow and stylised for the past few centuries, its roots can be traced back to Chinese acrobatics,
Sarugaku, and folk theatricals.
Kan'ami and his son
Zeami brought Noh to its present-day form during the
Muromachi period. It would later influence other dramatic forms such as
Kabuki and
Butoh. During the
Meiji era, although its governmental patronage was lost, Noh and
kyogen received official recognition as two of the three national forms of drama.
Noh is unique in its slow, spartan grace and its use of distinctive masks.
Noh is a chanted drama, and some commentators have dubbed it "Japanese
opera." 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 familiar to all who know the earlier
waka and the much-later
haiku, with an economy of expression, and an abundance of allusion.
The Noh play takes place on a sparse stage made out of
hinoki (Japanese
cypress) wood. The stage is bare with the exception of the
kagami-ita, a painting of a
pine-tree at the back of the stage. There are many explanations for this tree, one of the more common being that it symbolizes a means by which deities were said to descend to
earth in
Shinto ritual. Another unique feature of the stage is the
hashigakari, the narrow bridge to the left of the stage that the principal actors use to enter the stage. This would later evolve into the
hanamichi in
kabuki.
In contrast to the unadorned stage, costumes are lavish. Many actors, especially those in the
shite role, wear rich
silk brocades.
There are four major categories of Noh performers:
Shite,
Waki,
Kyōgen, and
Hayashi.
*The
Shite are the most common form of actor in Noh. They perform various functions, including:
**
Shite (Primary actor)
**
Tsure (
Shite's companion)
**
Jiutai (chorus, usually 6-8 actors)
**
Koken (stage assistant, usually 2-3 actors).
*The
Waki perform the role that is the counterpart or foil of the
Shite.
*The
Kyogen perform the
aikyogen interludes during plays.
Kyogen actors also perform in separate plays between individual noh.
*The
Hayashi are the instrumentalists who play the four instruments used in Noh theater, the transverse
flute (
nohkan), hip-drum (
okawa or otsuzumi), the shoulder-drum (
kotsuzumi), and the stick-drum (
taiko).
A typical Noh play will involve all categories of actors and usually takes 30-120 minutes.
There are approximately 250 plays in the current repertoire, and five categories, organized roughly by subject:
* 1st Category: God plays
* 2nd Category: Warrior plays
* 3rd Category: Woman plays
* 4th Category: Miscellaneous plays.
* 5th Category: Demon plays.
Okina/Kamiuta is a unique play that combines dance with
Shinto ritual. It is considered the oldest type of Noh play.
The Tale of the Heike, a
medieval tale of the rise and fall of the
Taira clan, originally sung by blind
monks who accompanied themselves on the
biwa, is an important source of material for Noh (and later dramatic forms), particularly warrior plays. Another major source is
The Tale of Genji, an eleventh century work, which is acknowledged as the world's first novel. Authors also drew on
Nara and
Heian period Japanese classics, and
Chinese sources.
The following categorization is that of the
Kanze school.
*
Aoi no Ue --
Court Lady Aoi (Category 4)
*
Dojoji --
Dojoji (Category 4)
*
Hagoromo --
The Feather Mantle (Category 3)
*
Izutsu --
The Well Cradle (Category 3)
*
Matsukaze --
Pining Wind (Category 3)
*
Sekidera Komachi --
Komachi at Sekidera (Category 3)
*
Shakkyo --
Stone Bridge (Category 5)
*
Shojo --
The Tippling Elf (Category 3)
*
Yorimasa --
Yorimasa (Category 2)
*
Yuya --
Yuya (Category 3)
There are about 1500 professional Noh actors in Japan today, and the art form continues to thrive. The five extant schools of Noh acting are the
Kanze (
観世),
Hōshō (
宝"),
Komparu (
金春),
Kita (
喜多), and
Kongō (
金剛) schools. Each school has a leading family known as
Sōke, and the head of each family is entitled to create new plays or edit existing songs. The society of Noh actors is quite feudalistic, and strictly protects the traditions passed down from their ancestors (see
iemoto).
According to
Zeami, all Noh plays should create an aesthetic ideal called '
Yugen', meaning subtle and profound spirit, and '
Hana", meaning novelty. Noh truly represents the Japanese culture of finding beauty in subtlety and formality.
The masks in Noh (
能面 nō-men or 面
omote, feature) all have names.
Usually only the
Shite, the main actor, wears a mask. However, in some cases, the
Tsure may also wear a mask, particularly for female roles. The
Noh masks are used to portray female or nonhuman (divine, demonic, or animal) 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,
waki, wears no mask either.
When used by a skilled actor,
Noh masks have the ability to depict different emotional expressions according to head pose and lighting. An inanimate mask can have the appearance of being happy, sad, or a variety of subtle expressions. Studies by
Michael J. Lyons a researcher based in
Kyoto, and
Ruth Campbell, at
University College London, have explored this aspect of the masks [
1].
*
Iemoto*
Translations of thirteen Noh plays *
Kyogen: Classical Japanese Comic Theatre*
Studies of the variable expressions of Noh masks*
Virtual Reality and Virtual Irreality:On Noh-Plays and Icons
