Introducing the world of Noh : Roles and Schools


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Roles and Schools

Ataka（津村禮次郎、and more）　© TOSHIRO MORITA

Noh is a theatrical performance built upon the complete division of labor. Tachikata (Noh players) who are in charge of vocal and performance are divided into three roles, shite-kata, waki-kata, and kyogen-kata. The music players are composed of four roles, fue-kata (flute player), kotsuzumi-kata (small hand drum player), ōtsuzumi-kata (large hand drum player), and taiko-kata (drum player). Furthermore, each role includes several schools. Until the end of Edo era, waki-kata, hayashi-kata, and kyogen-kata were called "san-yaku (the three most important posts)," and thereby each shite-kata school held its own waki-kata, hayashi-kata, and kyogen-kata. However, the practice was discontinued at the time of Meiji Restoration in the middle of 19th century. Today, we have twenty-four schools for seven roles. Each school of shite, waki, and Kyogen has own lyrics, vocalism, and the way of dancing, and each school of music roles has slightly different styles of playing instruments and the performance patterns for small and large drums. Basically, shite-kata do not form mixed teams with other schools. However, other roles are free to arrange teams with other schools today since the practice of "za-tsuki (designated waki-kata and hayashi-kata for a particular shite-kata)" no longer exists.

Five Schools of Shite-kata

Shite-kata is in charge of the protagonist of Noh drama, as well as tsure and kokata. They also play jiutai (chorus group). It is also an important task of shite-kata to stay at the ato-za on the stage to play a role to fix the disheveled costume and hand properties for supporting the smooth progress of the stage. Since the tasks of shite-kata are broad, the group includes a considerably larger number of members compared to waki-kata, kyogen-kata, and hayashi-kata (instruments players).

Shite-kata includes the Kanze school, Hosho school, Komparu school, Kongoh school, and Kita school, which are called the five schools of Noh. The Kanze, Hosho, Komparu, Kongoh have their origins in Yamato Sarugaku Yoza, and each school has its own original repertoire.

The Kanze School（観世流）: The founder of the Kanze school is Kannami. The name, Kanze derives from a childhood name of Kannami. The second master of the Kanze school (Kanze Dayū) was Zeami, a son of Kannami. After Zeami, his nephew Onnami took the position because his son, Motomasa, died early in life.
Only the Kanze school was protected by the Muromachi Shogunate. It occupied the head of Noh schools among the four schools designated by the Edo government. It happened because the Kanze school had been connected with the Tokugawa Shogun family even before the family ruled over the entire Japan (when the family lived in Hamamatsu Castle). Also, the Noh chant of the Kanze school was popular from around the end of the Muromachi era onwards. It became one of the reasons of their prosperity. This school retains the largest influence among the five schools even today. Their performance is graceful and fine.
The Hosho School（宝生流）: The founder of this school was Hosho Dayū, who was the eldest brother of Kannami. Hosho Dayū joined Tobi-za, one of the four performance groups of Yamato Sarugaku. Tobi-za came to be called Hosho-za, named after the main performer of the group, Hosho Dayū. In the Edo era, the fifth shogun, Tsunayoshi Tokugawa, especially patronized the Hosho school. In this time, the Kaga Domain also favored the Hosho school. These are the reasons why this school has greater influence in Hokuriku and Tokyo areas today. Also, the eleventh shogun of Tokugawa Shogunate, Ienari, loved the Hosho school. At the end of the Edo era, this school gained a great power. Their performance is stately.
The Komparu School（金春流）: The distant ancestor of this school was Hata no Kawakatsu. This school has the oldest lineage and status among three Shimogakari schools (Komparu, Kongoh, and Kita.) (the Kanze and Hosho schools are called Uegakari schools.) The home of this school is in Nara, thereby having a deep relationship with Kohfukuji Temple and Kasuga Wakamiya. The name of the actual founder of the school, Komparu Gonnokami, appears in book "Sarugaku Dangi (Talks about Sarugaku)." After him, Noh theorists and writers, including Zeami's son-in-law Komparu Zenchiku and Zenchiku's grandson Zenpō, appeared in this school. In particular, Komparu Zenchiku is well-known for his works, such as "Bashō" and "Teika," whose subtle and profound sense are different from Zeami's plays. The Komparu school was supported by Hideyoshi Toyotomi and his nephew Hidetsugu and it flourished; however, it lost ground and was overwhelmed by the Kanze and Kita schools in the Edo era. Today, the central places of their acts are in Tokyo and Nara. Their performance is grand and powerful reflecting the ancient style and is characterized by its free and vigorous reciting, which does not concern itself excessively with keeping the beat.
The Kongoh School（金剛流）: It is said that this school was formed by participating in Itado-za, a sarugaku performance group, which belonged to the Hōryū Temple from old times. This school experienced an unfavorable period from the Muromachi to Edo eras, and after the seventh master Kongoh Ujimasa passed away in 1576 (the 4th year of the Tensho period), their traditional lineage of Yamato sarugaku performance became extinct. At the end of the Edo era and the Meiji era, this school gave birth to unusual talents, such as Kongoh Tadaichi (the Noh performer who created the performance with one thousand strings for the drama, Tsuchigumo). However, with the death of the twenty-third master Kongoh Ukyo in 1936 (the 11th year of the Showa period), the lineage of Itado Kongoh was extinct. Today, their followers, the Nomura Kongoh family, have taken the position of the grand master and perform mostly in Kyoto and Tokyo. Their performance is glorious and graceful as it is called "Mai Kongoh (the Kongoh school as great Noh dance performer).
The Kita School（喜多流）: This is the school established in the early Edo era. The founder was Shichidayū Chōnō (or Osayoshi). Chōnō performed shite in Kongoh za, and independent during the Ganna period (1615-1624) to establish the Kita school. Although this school was patronized by the Ieyasu Tokugawa, first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, and his son, Hidetada, it was not as powerful as the Kanze and Hosho schools during the Edo era. In these days, the Kita school established persistent popularity in local area in Japan. Their performance is highly spiritualistic influenced by Bushido, thereby accompanied with the simple, honest, and open-hearted atmosphere.

Waki-kata

"Waki" was established as a specialist, independent from shite-kata in the Muromachi era. Since then the art of waki has been inherited from generation to generation as a performance art of each family. After a period of "za-tsuki," each school of waki-kata is now independent.

The schools of waki-kata include the Takayasu school, the Fukuō school, and the Shimogakari Hosho school.

Hayashi-kata (Instrumental musicians)

Hayashi-kata are in charge of the instrumental parts of the Noh music. Hayashi-kata is composed of four musical instruments: fue (Nohkan: flute), kotsuzumi (small hand drum), ōzutsumi (also called ōkawa: large hand drum), and taiko (drum). These four instruments are called shibyōshi. Each instrument is played by a specialist, and sophisticated skills and the style of performance have been inherited by one generation after another. Existing schools of hayashi-kata include; the Isso, Morita, and Fujita schools for Japanese flute; the Kanze, Okura, Kō, Kōsei schools for small hand drum; the Kadono, Takayasu, Okura, Ishii, and Kanze schools for large hand drum; and the Kanze and Komparu schools for drum. In Noh dramas, one player from each instrument sits at hayashi-za at the rear part of the stage and plays the music.

Kyogen-kata

Just like Noh, kyogen was also a performance art born from sarugaku. Kyogen is classified into three different types: hon-kyogen which is performed as an independent program; ai-kyogen which is performed as a part of Noh drama; and betsu-kyogen which is called sanban-sō and exclusively indicates the kyogen part in the Noh drama, "Okina."

Usually, if we refer to kyogen as a performance art, it means "hon-kyogen." Hon-kyogen is a farce to depict a scene in our daily lives. Tarō-kaja, who disobeys the order of his master. Conversation between a man and his father-in-law. A nagging wife. A foolish thief. These were the people observed frequently in the daily lives in ancient Japan. In kyogen, the events in such commoners' daily lives are humorously performed. We can observe sharp social satire in kyogen programs. Also, kyogen incorporated the elements of performance art and vocal art, such as dengaku, which was popular among commoners of that day, as well as kusemai.

When a kyogen actor performs in a Noh drama, his role and performance are called ai-kyogen or just ai. There are various roles for ai-kyogen. The major role is the "i-gatari" which is the role to enter the stage and connect the first and second halves of drama after shite interludes. The "i-gatari" appears as a local resident who tells about the background of local places of scenic and historical interest or to reveal the story related to the character performed by shite. In addition, the kyogen actor plays the role of "ashirai-ai," who exchanges dialogue with the shite or waki, of "kuchiake-ai," which is the ice-breaking role at the beginning of a Noh drama, and of "hayauchi-ai," whose actor appears with fast music of hand drums and announces the event in nochiba.

The schools of kyogen-kata include the Okura school and Izumi school.

Forms and elements | Stage