乱声 blog

Regular Noh Performance
The Association of Nohgaku Musicians in Tokyo
Wednesday, 16 September 2026 6:00PM
National Noh Theatre, Tokyo

Styles of Presentation in Today’s Program:

Maibayashi
A highlight excerpt from a Noh play, performed with chant, music, and dance, but without masks or costumes. It focuses on the essential musical and physical techniques of Noh and generally lasts 10–20 minutes. The chant group[jiutai] consists of four members.

Icchō
A collaboration between a single drum (taiko in today’s program) and solo chant, performed by highly skilled and experienced artists. This is not a simply a short version of Noh, but a unique form that highlights the expressive potential of the drum. Each school of drum has its own repertoire.

Kyōgen
Classical Japanese comedy characterized by expressive movement and colloquial dialogue. Performances typically last 15–25 minutes.

Noh
A full-scale formal Noh performance using masks, costumes, and music. The chant group (jiutai) generally consists of eight members. It usually runs 60–90 minutes, although major masterpieces may exceed two hours.

Explanatory Note:
In Japan, personal names are traditionally written in the order family name (surname) followed by given name. For example, Kanze Shinkuro is written as 観世 (Kanze, family name) and 新九郎 (Shinkuro, given name). Historically and within Japan, this order is strictly observed. Accordingly, all names in this program and commentary follow this convention.

PROGRAM AND COMMENTARY

Maibayashi “Shironushi”(Kanze School)
Shite: Kitanami Takahiro
Fue: Takamura Yutaka (Issō School)
Kotsudzumi: Sowa Ikio (Kō School)
Ōtsudzumi: Ōkura Keinosuke (Ōkura School)
Taiko: Ubaura Risa (Komparu School)
Principal chant: Nishimura Takao
This is a typical style example of waki noh repertory, belonging to the first group of noh works. It begins with entrance music deha, the god Kotoshironushi appears and performs a dance celebrating the imperial reign. Featuring kami-mai, the dance is rapid, refreshing and vigorous. The verses following the dance enumerate various types of gagaku dance, creating a celebratory mood. The piece is to be appreciated more for its established aesthetic than for its story or narrative content. Power and simplicity are foundations of the physical expression as a whole.

Maibayashi “Nonomiya”(Kita School)
Shite: Ōmura Sadamu
Fue: Fujita Takahiro (Issō School)
Kotsudzumi: Ōyama Yōko (Ōkura School)
Ōtsudzumi: Kakihara Mitsuhiro (Takayasu School)
Principal chant: Nagashima Shigeru
This masterpiece is based on the Tale of Genji and one of the highest rank works of the third group of Noh repertory which focuses on female figures. The heroine is Lady Rokujō, the widow of a crown prince. She had been the lover of the nobleman Hikaru Genji, and is now staying in Nonomiya Shrine before traveling to Ise Shrine with her daughter, who is going to become the High Priestess of Ise Shrine. Her relationship with Hikaru Genji has already come to an end. Hikaru Genji visits her there but she refuses to see him, leaving her conflicted about her decision.
Today’s performance begins with reminiscence of an impressive scene in which Aoinoue, Genji’s legal wife, insulted Lady Rokujō at the Kamo festival by excluding her carriage. In this work the carriage represents persistence of sin and worldly attachment and also serves as symbol of Buddhist salvation. Lady Rokujō then dances quiet and slow jo-no-mai, as if calming her distress. Her emotions sublimated into the jo-no-mai dance, a quiet and intense sense of time. Another important metaphor is a gate, torii. This represents the burning house, kataku, described in Lotus Sutra, which symbolizes a life filled with suffering. The final text “she has passed the gate of burning house, has…” ends abruptly. This interrupted conclusion leads us to imagine that she may not have been able to escape her attachment to Hikaru Genji.
Today’s performance leaves out ha-no-mai, a short dance after jo-no-mai.

Maibayashi “Akogi”(Kanze School)　
Shite: Shimizu Kanji
Fue: Terai Horoaki (Morita School)
Kotsudzumi: Koga Hiromi (Ōkura School)
Ōtsudzumi: Uchida Teruyuki (Kadono School)
Taiko: Mishima Gentarō (Komparu School)
Principal chant: Nishimura Takao
The Japanese idiomatic expression akogina is associated with this work and means to behave wickedly or greedily repeatedly. According to this work the name of Akogi Beach is derived from the name of a fisherman. Akogi Beach is located in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture. The beach was dedicated to supplying marine products to the Ise Shrine and fishing there was strictly prohibited.
Today`s performance begins with appearance of the desolated figure of the ghost of a poacher, carrying yotsude-ami(four-armed dip net).This prop is a minimalist representation of fishing gear, and is used to create a significant dramatic action in this work.
In the first half accompanied by taiko the shite represents the persistent act of poaching. He proceeds into the sea under cover of darkness avoiding being seen and throws yotsude-ami. In a short musical piece tachimawari he performs the action of driving fish into net. At the end of his fishing, impatient and tormented by the flames of hell, he throws net behind him. In the latter half, he represents the suffering of hell through severe gesture. The fish he has caught, in turn, inflict pain and torment upon him. Begging the traveler for salvation, he disappears into the sea. The hopeless ending leaves a profound impression. Each voice and tone of hayashi music deepen the tragedy. You might understand that hayashi is not mere music but performance.

Icchō “Kasugaryūzin” (chant: Kita School Taiko: Kanze School)
Chant: Shiotsu Akio (Kita School)
Taiko: Hayashi Yūichiro (Kanze School)
The high priest Myōe wishes to visit Chaina and India, the sacred places of Buddhism. However, an agent of the deity of Kasuga Shrine attempts to prevent him from going abroad, telling him that Kasuga(Nara) itself is now the most important land of Buddhism. This icchō represents the final scene of Noh paly. It enumerates the disciple kings of the Buddha gathering to hear the Buddha’s sermon. A female dragon deity then dances, and Great Eight Dragon Kings appear to attend the Buddha’s congregation, as described in Lotus Sutra.
Enjoy this spirited performance of chant and taiko.

Kyōgen “Neongyoku” (Izumi School)
Shite: Miyake Ukon
Ado: Miyake Sukenori
One day the lord happens to hear Tarōkaja, his first servant, chanting in a beautiful voice. The following day the lord asks Tarōkaja to chant for him. Tarōkaja refuses, however, because he dislikes being asked to do the same thing again. The lord continues to implore him to chant, Tarōkaja devises a plan to avoid doing so: he claims that because he drank sake the previous night, he was able to chant, and that he will be able to chant again only if he drinks and is allowed to rest his head on his wife’s lap. The lord gives him plenty of sake and lends him his lap. Tarōkaja first chants oharagi successfully. The lord then asks him to chant something much longer. Tarōkaja next chants the tama-no-dan of Ama.
However, whenever the lord tries to raise Tarōkaja's head, his voice becomes hoarse. As this is repeated, Tarōkaja makes mistakes in the sequence: when his head is raised, he chants loudly; when he places his head back on the lap, his voice becomes hoarse.
As this continues, Tarōkaja eventually stands up and acts out the scene in which the female diver enters the Dragon Palace beneath the sea and seizes the precious jewel. The lord becomes angry and asks where such a voice could possibly have come from. Tarōkaja escapes, making excuses for his errors. The lord chases after him, scolding Tarōkaja.
Tama-no-dan is an important part of the repertory for shite-kata actors and involves vigorous and realistic action. As a matter of fact, kyōgen actors learn training chant and dance as well as shite-kata actors. You will realize that kyōgen actors have physical skill as well as shite-kata actors in this work. Ōkura School of kyōgen adopts kouta of hōkasō instead of tama-no-dan of ama as second chant.

Noh “Tsunemasa” (Kita School)
Alternative staging: Karasude
Shite: Awaya Akio
Waki: Hōshō Tsunezō (Shimogakari Hōshō School)
Fue: Matsuda Hiroyuki (Morita School)
Kotsudzumi: Kanze Shinkurō (Kanze School)
Otsudzumi: Yasuhuku Mitsuo (Takayasu School)
Principal chant: Izumo Yasumasa

A fine short piece based on the tale of Heike that features a young noble warrior who died in the Battle of Ichinotani, and his affection for an eminent biwa instrument. This performance adopts an alternative staging known as karasude.

Following is a commentary by Mr. Matsuda Hiroyuki.
Karasude is an alternative staging of “Tsunemasa” in the Kita School of shite-kata and the Morita and the Fujita School of fue-kata. It is performed only with this particular combination of schools. Literally, karasude means “crow’s hand”.
It is said that there is a technique of gaku-biwa with the same name, I wonder how it is related to the technique of nohkan.
Following is an outline of noh ”Tsunemasa “.
Taira no Tsunemasa was a young warrior of Heike clan, which flourished in Heian period. He was a devotee of music and a highly cultured man with a particular talent for poetry. He was a master player of biwa.
His skill was so highly regarded that an imperial prince-abbot lent him the famous biwa Seizan. However, he died at an early age in the Battle of Ichinotani.
His childhood friend, the priest Gyōkei, performs a memorial musical service for the late Taira no Tsunemasa, offering the famous biwa instrument Seizan with which Tsunemasa was familiar.
During this scene of memorial musical service, the alternative staging karasude is inserted.
In the chant “Especially to hear the sound of famous biwa seizan”, Tsunemasa appears at ichi no matsu, the most near position to the stage along the passageway(hashi-gakari), and behaves as if listening to the sound of the biwa being played during the memorial service.
The fue then plays the tune karasude in an exceptionally high banshiki pitch, in place of the sound of the biwa. Of course, the fue cannot to produce the sound of string instrument; it is a symbolic expression characteristic of nohgaku. Tsunemasa then walks about in search of the sound of the biwa and strains to listen to it. The fue sounds in fragments, alternating with several intervals of the shite’s movements . The performance concludes with the final fragment in ordinary oshiki pitch, after which Tsunemasa chants “How beautiful is the sound of biwa.”
This concludes the alternative staging.

Musical Pieces Used in Noh today
Nanoribue: Entrance music for the waki, performed as a fue solo.
Karasude: A fue solo used as an alternative staging. See the main commentary above.
Kakeri: A short, emotionally charged piece with alternating fast and slow tempos, representing battle.

General notes by the translator:

1.Alternative staging is determined not only by the school of shite-kata (the principal actor and chant group) but also by the schools representing the other roles. Today’s Noh performance is a good example of a combination of shite-kata and fue-kata. The organizational system of Nohgaku performers is somewhat complex but practical. The main categories of roles are shite-kata, waki-kata, hayashi-kata and kyōgen-kata. The suffix -kata indicates a group of performers specializing in the same role. Each group consists of several schools, or traditional lineages.
For example, shite-kata includes five schools, waki-kata three schools and kyōgen-kata two schools. Hayashi-kata also has several schools. Furthermore, hayashi-kata is divided into fue-kata, kotsudzumi-kata, ōtsudzumi-kata and taiko-kata.
In our association the following schools of hayashi-kata are represented: Isso, Fujita and Morita for fue; Kō, Kōsei, Ōkura and Kanze for kotsudzumi; Takayasu, Kadono and Ōkura for ōtsudzumi; Kanze and Komparu for taiko. Altogether, there are 24 schools throughout Japan.
As a convention, on a Noh program, the name of school of shite-kata is written to the upper right of, or above, the title, representing all schools of the roles participating in the same performance. Similarly when kyōgen is performed with hayashi-kata musicians, the name of the kyōgen-kata school is placed above the title.
2.Biwa is lute-shaped Japanese and Chinese string instrument. The Western lute, the Arabic ‘ūd and Japanese and Chinese biwa(pipa in China) share a common ancestry rooted in the Middle East.
The instrument was introduced to Japan in Nara era from China and became an instrument of imperial court as part of gagaku. It remained as a noble and prestigious instrument until the Heian period.
In the medieval period, genres performed by blind monks developed, including heike-biwa, in other words, heikyoku. In the early modern period, two rural styles, Chikuzen-biwa and Satsuma-biwa became very popular and remained so until the postwar period. Today, however, very few Japanese people can distinguish gaku-biwa from modern forms of biwa.

Written and translated by Tsukitaku Satoshi