Nogami - Japanese Noh Plays

Written for the benefit of travellers to Japan, this concise guide explains all aspects of the Noh performance, including the layout of the theatre, music, masks and costumes, acting, typical themes of the plays and appreciation of Noh theatre. Readers will gain insights into this fascinating aspect of Japanese culture and be well prepared to attend performances when visiting Japan.

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First published in 2005 by
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Kegan Paul, 2005

Printed in Great Britain

All Rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electric, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

ISBN: 0-7103-1022-6

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Applied for.

It is a common desire among; tourists to learn something of the culture of the countries they visit, as well as to see their beautiful scenery. To see is naturally easier than to learn, but flying visits merely for sightseeing furnish neither the time nor opportunity for more than a passing acquaintance with the culture of any foreign people. This is specially true of Japan and her people.

The Board of Tourist Industry recognizes both the obligation and the difficulty of providing foreign tourists with accurate information regarding the various phases of Japan's culture. It is, therefore, endeavouring to meet this obligation, as far as possible, by publishing this series of brochures.

The present series will, when completed, consist of more than a hundred volumes, each dealing with a different subject, but all co-ordinated. By studying the entire series, the foreign student of Japan will gain an adequate knowledge of the unique culture that has evolved in this country through the ages.

For those who wish to follow up these studies with a closer investigation, bibliographies are appended, which we trust may be found reliable and authoritative guides in their study.

Board of Tourist Industry,

Japanese Government Railways.

The Japanese Government has adopted a new system of spelling for certain Romanized Japanese syllable sounds. Though the spelling has been modified, the pronunciation remains the same. The modified spelling is given below with the old phonetic spelling in brackets :

Naturally, the change has caused the spelling of certain familiar names of places and things to be altered, for instance :

Mask of a gentle god

(Kantan Otoko)

This brochure was written at the request of the Board of Tourist Industry of the Japanese Government Railways for the benefit of foreigners who have not yet become familiar with the Japanese Noh plays.

To the Noh plays I have myself conducted, or arranged for others to conduct, a number of foreigners from time to time. Among these have been Monsieur Paul Claudel, then French Ambassador, Dr. Wilhelm Solf, then German Ambassador, Profs. Admund Blunden and Robert Nichols of the Tokyo Imperial University and others. I observed that most of them understood the Noh plays quite well, and were much interested in them, though they sometimes seemed to find the long recitals rather tedious. Yet, strang-e to say, they thoroughly understood the artistic intention of the Noh. The reason I say it is strange that they should understand the Noh is. because not many, even among the Japanese, understand it well. This will be proved by asking Japanese ladies and gentlemen who you meet if they go to Noh preformances. I am sure most of them will probably say that they do not. The Noh of today is, therefore, far from the life of most Japanese, and there must be few who really appreciate it.

The reason why the Noh has become so neglected is that the speech and manner of its representation have begun to appear too antiquated to the Japanese of today. Now, this is an art founded five centuries ago and retained under the patronage of the Sygun throughout the feudal ages. But at the time of the Restoration of 1868 it was abandoned along with other old customs, and revived later on, not as an ordinary entertainment but as a curious literary survival. Then followed the period when things Western were overvalued and native things undervalued. During this period artistic forms peculiar to us were to a great extent lost, but it was fortunate that the Noh survived this doom. This was mainly due to Prince Tomomi Iwakura who patronized it, and to three great Noh actors of the period, Hsy-Kur