Lesson 148

Noh Drama

Noh is the oldest of the three major forms of classical Japanese drama. It traces its origin to the 13th century when various rituals and religious dances of the preceding eras were integrated and developed. Noh reached its present form in the early 15th century.

The Noh may be described as a solemn operatic performance consisting of HAYASHI (music) and dancing, accompanied by the recitation of UTAI, masks being used in the chief roles SHITE and TSURE, to indicate the characters portrayed. The UTAI, or recitative chants, form an integral part of the Noh and are as old as the original SARUGAKU. The Noh treat mostly of historical subjects and are strongly tinged with Buddhist views of life owing to the influence exercised by priests in their composition.

The stage of the Noh plays is characteristic in style and a brief description of it is necessary, as many of its elements appear in the KABUKI drama. It is 27 feet in width and 18 feet in depth, and is covered

with a roof like that of a Shintoo shrine, supported by pillars at the four corners. Adjoining the stage on the left, as we face it, is a corridor connecting the stage with the greenroom, by which the actors enter or leave the stage and which is also used for part of the action of the drama. The sides of the stage are open and at the back is painted an idealized pine tree symbolic of the time when the Noh were performed outdoors on a lawn before a shrine with pine trees as a background.

Before the play begins, the orchestra seat themselves on the floor at the back of the stage facing the audience. The instruments used are hand drums, flutes, and larger drums. When the orchestra have taken up their position, the members of the chorus file in through a small door to the right of the stage and kneel in two rows on the right. The actors speak their individual parts, while the explanatory portions of the drama are chanted by the chorus.

KYOOGEN (Comic Interlude)

With the development of the Noh, there appeared a

sister performance called KYOOGEN, which was the outcome of the comic element in the old SARUGAKU. The KYOOGEN are one-act comic interludes generally performed on the same stage as the Noh plays and in the intervals between the more serious Noh plays. Their purpose is to relax the strain on the nerves of the audience produced by the solemn Noh performances. The KYOOGEN are the only plays of old Japan which have no musical accompaniment and resemble European dramas in form.

JOORURI

Jooruri are dramatic ballads, written generally in alternate seven and eight syllabled lines, and sung or chanted to the music of the samisen. Their origin is traced to a palace attendant named Ono-no-Otsuu, who lived at the end of the 16th century and composed a dramatic ballad called Jooruri-hime Monogatari (Story of Lady Jooruri). This ballad recited the love affairs of the famous warrior Yoshitsune and a fictitious heroine of supreme beauty named Jooruri. It was set to music by Sawazumi-Kengyoo, who used the samisen for the first

time for the musical accompaniment. This innovation enjoyed great popularity and henceforward this style of chanting came to be known as jooruri.

GIDAYUU

Towards the close of the 17th century, a great jooruri chanter, Takemoto Gidayuu (1651-1714), rose to fame in Osaka. He had a powerful voice of good tone and his style of chanting jooruri differed from that in vogue. His fame gradually spread throughout Japan, and, as time passed, his school gained so many disciples that at last almost all jooruri reciters adopted his style and the jooruri itself became the Gidayuu.

The great popularity of the Gidayuu school was largely owing to the excellent jooruri written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who has already been referred to as a writer for the Kabuki theater. Chikamatsu wrote more than one hundred dramas, historical and domestic.

Bunraku

The puppet drama is a synthetic art, combining the

manipulation of the puppets, the singing of the choruses, and the playing of the accompaniment.

Today puppet plays are occasionally performed in Tokyo. In Osaka there is a puppet theater called the Bunraku-za—the only theater of its kind in Japan—which is said to have been established by an amateur jooruri chanter named Uemura Bunrakuken, about one hundred years ago.

The puppets are of two kinds, small and large, the small not more than one foot high and operated from above with strings, which are assumed to be invisible, and the large ones at least two-thirds of life-size. When worked by skillful operators they have for the audience all the appearance of human beings. Each puppet requires one operator-in-chief and two assistants. The chief operator is generally very gaily apparelled, but the assistants wear black hoods and robes to make them inconspicuous. The operator-in-chief wears high clogs to give them the extra height necessary for holding the figure upright.

KABUKI

As the Noh drama developed under the fostering care of the feudal daimyoo, it became too aristocratic and solemn for the common people to find any entertainment in it. There was, thus, a great tendency for a popular stage art to appear, and it was the KABUKI drama which met the demand. It developed into its present form in the 17th century. In its earliest days, it was performed by a troupe of women and later women were banned by the Shogunate to take part. Since, it has crystallized into its present form and it has been performed exclusively by men.

In 1960, a troupe including many of Japan’s leading KABUKI actors toured the United States as part of the Japan-United States Centennial celebration.

SHIMPA (New School)

Serving as a bridge between the KABUKI and the modern drama in the Western style is a group called Shimpa, which was founded toward the end of the 19th century. Shimpa has its roots in the Kabuki tradition--originally,

for instance, it was performed only by male actors--but it is now a distinct form of its own with a natural style of acting. The action is usually set among the common people and the cast includes actresses as well as actors.

Shingeki (New Drama)

Drama in the Western style is presented by a number of theatrical troupes. These first appeared about thirty years ago and today command a considerable following, especially among younger people. Their repertoire is extremely wide, ranging from the classics of such masters as Shakespeare, Moliere, Ibsen, and Chekhov to modern plays by contemporary playwrights, both Japanese and foreign.

The kinds and percentage of public performances given at the principal theaters in Tokyo and Kansai cities in 1950 were as follows:

| 
Bunraku | 8%
Kabuki | 37%
Shimpa | 27%
Shingeki | 15%

| 
Light Musical Plays | 3%
Opera and Girls’ Opera | 10%

Noh Masks

Collecting Noh masks can become a novel and interesting hobby. These masks hung on the walls will enliven a room and provide a fertile topic of conversation. They can also be sent to friends as unique presents.

In the Noh, masks were originally used instead of makeup. Some of them have been carved by renowned artisans and are rare works of art. OKINA (old man), young man, beautiful woman, and HANNYA (demon) are some of the more familiar types of Noh masks.

つづみ
花柳界最高の格式を誇る東京の新橋芸妓の中で、囃し方を代表する住田流鼓のいせ子さん。たゆまぬ芸への精進が東をどりの舞台にけんらんと花ひらきます

三味線

Guide for Free Conversation and Exercise

1 Topics:

a Talk about the following topics in Japanese with your classmates.

(1) Japanese drama in general

(2) Noh Play

(3) KABUKI Play

(4) Japanese musical instruments

2 Exercise:

a Interpretation Exercise:

1 What kind of Japanese drama is there?

1 古典として 能、狂言、文楽、歌舞伎 などがあり、近代劇として 新劇、大衆劇として 新派、新国劇、軽演劇、少女歌劇 などがあります。

2 Where is the Noh play performed?

2 屋根のある 専用舞台で 演じられます。

3 What is a Noh play?

3 仮面を 使って 脚本、音楽、演技などに 独特の 様式を 備えた 歌舞劇です。

4 日本の 演劇の中で 最も 大衆に 愛好されているものは 何ですか。

4 It is Kabuki.

5 What is so-called new drama?

5 明治に はいってから 西洋 演劇の 影響によって 出来たもので、日本の 歌舞伎でも なければ 新派でも ないのです。西洋の ドラマを 日本語で 上演したものです。

Homework

1 Study the Narration thoroughly and memorize the vocabulary.

2 Read the Guide for Free Conversation and do the exercises given.

3 Learn to read and write the new Kanji.

4 Read the Cultural Notes.