Japanese Noh Theatre

This article came from the Japanese dance theater. Nogaku or Noh came from the English words of talent or skill. It is a musical drama that can be identified as movies because the characters are masked. This drama was created from the 14th century and has still been going on. More than likely you will find men acting as females with the masks.

A Noh performance day last traditionally for a whole day and consists of five plays. In modern day you will find two plays in between but more than likely they will be humorous. Sometimes you will find old traditional plays being performed but now of days you will see new plays. The performances are so crucial that they only perform it once in pone day to make it perfect so they can perform by memory. The  mood of the whole performance is by each and every character identifying each and every mood.

Examples of the moods of plays and performances

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.

Some of the famous plays

Name	Kanji	Meaning	Category
Aoi no Ue	葵上	Lady Aoi	4 (misc.)
Aya no Tsuzumi	綾鼓	The Damask Drum	4 (misc.)
Dōjōji	道成寺	Dōjōji	4 (misc.)
Noh is a theatrical art form that has been handed down through generations and been labeled one of the worlds oldest performing arts. It has also been designated an “Intangible Cultural Heritage” by UNESCO. Noh is a total art form comprised of drama, music and dance elements. While often compared to western opera, the differences can be quite startling. Due to the use of masks in noh masks, one can call noh a “mask drama.” Stemming from the popular entertainments in Nara during the Heian period (794-1185), in conjunction with various ritual offering dances, noh was created during the latter half of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and the early part of the Muromachi period 1336-1573. While under the patronage of the shōgunate and high-ranking noblemen, noh also came under the influence of some of the Muromachi period’s popular arts including Zen Buddhism and ink painting. Noh’s founder, Zeami, is one of the most important historical figures in Japanese theatre. A collection of his treatises on noh, “Fūshi Kaden,” was published some 200 years before Shakespeare’s theatrical debut. Even today, his treatises affect the lives of Japanese in unexpected ways. The mai (dance) of noh, along with the musical elements of song and instrumental music are components of this comprehensive art form. Mai can be called the foundation of the form. The dance of noh is not simply the expression of the body moving through space, it has a much deeper meaning. When one is said to perform noh, one is said “to dance noh.” In a broad sense of the word, mai expresses much more than just the music and the movement, it somehow encapsulates the comprehensive nature of noh.