3/12/2007

Yugen (yuugen) Noh Theater

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yuugen 幽玄 Yugen

"We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows."

--Robert Frost

How very true, Robert san!

Reading about Yugen will give the reader an idea, but not the full reality of it.
Just like reading about food will give you an idea, but your stomach will still be empty.
Reading a translation will not give you the real ... depth, truth, beauty, words fail me here ... of a Japansee haiku.

Being exposed to Japanes culture on a daily level for 30 years, still, the concept of yuugen is far from grasped.

And I studied quite a bit about Noh Drama, Kamakura had a Noh stage (noobutai 能舞台) with excellent performances.


© PHOTO blogs.dion.ne.jp/tiou/

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Yugen is a difficult concept.

In Higginson's "The Haiku Handbook," he says:
Several whole volumes in Japanese are devoted to this word, particularly in relation to the 'noo' drama.


The entry in Wikipedia:
Yūgen is an important concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics.

The exact translation of the word depends on the context. In the Chinese philosophical texts the term was taken from, yuugen meant "dim", "deep" or "mysterious".

In the criticism of Japanese waka poetry, it was used to describe the subtle profundity of things that are only vaguely suggested by the poems, and was also the name of a style of poetry (one of the ten orthodox styles delineated by Fujiwara no Teika in his treatises).

In the treatises on the Noh theatre by Zeami Motokiyo it refers to the grace and elegance of the dress and behaviour of court ladies.

... ... ...

Joan Giroux, in "The Haiku Form" :
It is expressed in art, especially in the Noh drama, by an effortless artistry which is achieved when the essence, the core of the action or thing to be expressed, is reached, and the consequent expression, as a result, reflects the deepest, most profound meaning.

The more the art of haiku or Noh is mastered, the greater the likelihood of expressing 'yugen'; likewise, the more an experiencer understands the art, the greater the possibility of experiencing 'yugen' in a work of art.

Compiled by Larry Bole



CLICK HERE !
Photos of YUUGEN scenes of Japan !

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The Origin of Noh
The sarugaku Noh troupe Yuzaki, led by Kan’ami, performed in 1374 before the young shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (足利 義満). The success of this one performance and the resultant shogunal patronage lifted the art form permanently out of the mists of its plebeian past. From then, the term sarugaku gave way to the current nomenclature, Noh.

. Imakumano Jinja 新熊野神社 Imakumano Shrine .
Kyoto

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- quote
- SNOW IN A SILVER BOWL:
A Quest for the World of Yugen

by Hiroaki Sato.

Searching to define difficult, elusive concept
by David Burleigh

The title of this book is exquisite, while the cover illustration is of something else, different yet just as exquisite. This is appropriate because the aesthetic concept that the book considers is not just beautiful, but elusive and difficult to define.

With his long experience of translating Japanese poetry, and writing about it, Hiroaki Sato makes this essay on the subject into a ruminative journey, rather than a prescriptive list. He begins by asking friends who are knowledgeable for examples of yugen, which include images from funerals, music, lines of poetry and even “nothing at all.”

Returning then to the origins of the concept, in China and Chinese characters, he confirms the elusiveness of the idea: something ineffable, remote and because of its remoteness, subtle, hazy, hard to put in words, even if it is recognizable to those who understand. Its most immediate association is with noh drama, which is not dramatic.

The costumes of noh, as Sato rightly says, are richly patterned brocade, colorful and costly, which seems to belie the faint effects hankered after here. But the drama is also poetic, and therein can be found clues to the aesthetic quality that the term “yugen” encapsulates. There is little or no action in a noh play, and whatever slight happening occurs is a late reverberation of something else that took place a long time before.

Is yugen, then, a longing, a memory, a dream?
It began to be defined around the 10th century, in poems that Sato includes, and yet, while natural imagery may suggest it, it remains “an overtone that doesn’t manifest itself in words.” For some, the bright shade of cherry blossom is its antithesis, though the great dramatist of noh, Zeami Motokiyo, used this very term, “hana” (flower), to describe it.

The qualities ascribed to yugen blur later into others like wabi and sabi (loneliness and desolation), or omokage (suggestiveness), all of which Sato evokes in his discussion. It can be found in fading, emptiness, even the color white, while it may also sometimes be filled with a lost, or even nascent, expectation. In the practice of noh all these converge.

The qualities that poetry develops there combine with stories about the poets, or else tales of the characters, particularly unhappy women, in “The Tale of Genji,” to provide subjects for the masked drama of noh. Sato details much of this later in the book, and adds some illustrations, the last of them the ¥2,000 bill issued to commemorate the Group of Eight conference in Okinawa, and now elusive, too.

Occasional references in the book to South American poets reminded me of the Spanish concept of duende, which is darker, tragic, and essentially conceived as black. But it shares with yugen a sense of touching some essential spirit, conveyed in the performance of an art (dance, music, poetry) that cannot be explained in black and white.

This is an engaging little volume, the fruit of long consideration.
source : Japan Times, September 2013


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Ambiguity and yugen (depth and mystery) are wonderful tools.
Most good haiku have more than one level of meaning.
robert wilson

Yugen
should not be mixed up with riddles and overly mystical, metaphysical, philosophical or other mental statements. Creating depth should not lead to creating confusion on purpose.

Read more on this problem HERE !
Riddles and Haiku


Yugen and shasei, sketching from nature, are not contradictions, but can go very well together. A moment of really experienced yuugen can still be rendered by giving a simple description of the scene.

The frog just jumped in the old pond, he did not jump "through me".

Shasei .. 写生 sketching from nature


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Mumyosho 無名抄(むみょうしょう)
(1211-1212)
Kamo no Choomei 鴨長明(かものちょうめい)
Kamo no Chomei (1155?―1216)

yuugen
The qualities deemed essential to the style [of yugen] are overtones that do not appear in the words alone and an atmosphere that is not visible in the configuration of the poem It is like the situation of a beautiful woman who, although she has cause for resentment, does not give vent to her feelings in words, but is only faintly discerneded at night, perhaps to be in a profoundly distressed condition. The effect of such a discovery is far more painful and pathetic than if she had exhausted her vocabulary with jealous accusations or made a point of wringing out her tear-drenched sleeves to one's face

It is only when many meanings are compressed into a single word, when the depths of feeling are exhausted yet not expressed, when an unseen world hovers in the atmosphere of the poem, when the mean and common are used to express the elegant, when a poetic conception of rare beauty is developed to the fullest extent in a style
of surface simplicity, only then, when the conception is exalted to the highest degree and "the words are too few," will the poem, by expressing one's feelings in this way, have the power of moving Heaven and Earth within the brief confines of a mere thirty-one syllables, and be capable of softening the hearts of gods and demons.

Japanese author, poet (waka), and essayist.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !


. Kamo no Choomei 鴨長明 Kamo no Chomei .
( 1153 or 1155–1216) Kamo no Chōmei


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Embroidery by Chieko Araki: Yugen



© Arwtork by Chieko Araki
荒木千恵子刺繍絵ギャラリー


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Shojo Midare
(Shoojoo Midare) 猩々乱(しょうじょうみだれ)



The Tipster Sprite (Shojo) is a play built upon very auspicious words. It takes place in a village on the Yangtze in China. An sprite (shite) who lives in the sea comes before a man named Gao-feng (waki), a wine seller with much filial piety. The sprite gets drunk and enjoys himself by dancing, after which, the man learns that he has received a blessing: no matter how much wine he dips out of the vat, it never runs dry.
When the play is performed with a special dance called Midare ("Disorder"), the play is called Shojo Midare (The Disorderly Tipster Sprite), or just Midare.
Copyright 2004, by the Japan Arts Council.
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/noh/en/noh_plays/5ban.html


. Shoojoo 猩猩 /猩々 Shojo, a legendary drunkard

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Noh Stage in Fukuyama



Photo Gabi Greve, 2007

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The Noh-play called
"Basho" Banana Plant 能「芭蕉」




Legends about plants communicating with humans were quite common. Other plants were the Willow Tree, Plum Blossoms, Fuji Wisteria and Yanagi.

The story takes place in China,
A monk teaches the spirit of the Banana plant, that women may also attain Buddhahood.

Written by Konparu Zenchiku 金春禅竹 (1405 - 1470).

- Reference -


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.......... H A I K U

kigo for late summer


Takigi Noo 薪能 Noh-Performance at night
yonoo 夜能 (よのう) "night Noh"
hakama noo 袴能 (はかまのう) Noh performed in a hakama

takagi noo -
brocade robes reflected
in shimmering water


Gabi Greve, 1994

Click HERE for some PHOTOS !


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kigo for mid-winter

gonichi no noo 後日の能 (ごにちののう)
last performance of Noh

..... goen no noo 後宴の能(ごえんののう) "Noh after the Feast"
Noh Performance for the Wakamiya Festival. Goen'noh

at the shrine Wakamiya Jinja in Nara

The main festival of the Kasuga Wakamiya shrine lasts from December 15 to 17.
On the night after the festival, a ritual Noh is performed by the Konbaru family of Noh 金春流 (Konparu).
Before the performance, a ritual feast is held, and after that, a time of abstinence comes.




The Ethos of Noh: Actors and Their Art
Reference : books.google.co.jp


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kigo for late winter

Kurokawa Noo 黒川能 (くろかわのう) Kurokawa Noh
. ..... Oogi sai, Ōgisai 王祗祭(おうぎさい)
Ogisai Festival .


February 1st and 2nd
Yamagata, Tsuruoka City, Kushibiki District
Pray for a bountiful new year while watching this Noh performance at the Kasuga Shrine.

. Kurokawa Noh at Yamagata .
Tsuruoka City, Kushibiki District

Kasuga Shrine Kinensai - Kurokawa Noh Performance
March 23rd
This is a performance by the Kurokawa Noh group, which has been designated as a National Intangible Cultural Asset.



黒川能 水焔(すいえん)の能
Kurokawa Noh Outdoor Performance: Suien no Noh
July 29th
The tradition of Kurokawa Noh theatre has been passed down for over 500 years by Yamagata farmers and is designated as a National Intangible Cultural Asset. Don’t miss this chance to see an outdoor performance of this traditional theatre group.

Kurokawa Noh Performance at the Kasuga Shrine Niinamesai
November 23rd
This harvest festival features a performance by the Kurokawa Noh, a traditional theatre group that has been designated a National Intangible Cultural Asset.




This Noh drama has been performed for 500 years as a dedication to Kasuga Shrine, the tutelary shrine of Kurokawa. The main difference between this Noh drama and other forms of Noh is that it was not a sophisticated drama performed for people of the samurai class.
In fact, Kurokawa Noh was traditionally a drama form beloved and enacted by farmers. There are further differences to other Noh, such as the separation of seats. At present, Kurokawa Noh is performed by about 160 actors, and has 230 masks, 400 typical Noh costumes, as well as 540 repertoires and Kyogen numbers.
... nippon-kichi.jp

- Reference -


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observance kigo for the New Year

Noo hajime 能初 (のうはじめ) First Noh Theater performance
. hatsunoo 初能(はつのう) First Noh
butai hajime 舞台始(ぶたいはじめ)first stage
onoo hajima 御能始(おのうはじめ)first honorable noh performance
hatsu oogi 初扇 (はつおうぎ) first use of the folding fan

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Nishiura dengaku 西浦田楽 (にしうれでんがく)
Dengaku dance at Nishiura village




At Misakubo-cho, Tenryu-ku 天竜区水窪
On the 18th and 19th of the first lunar month.

With a prayer for a good harvest, peaceful life and happy family.
Also to ward off disaster from floods and fire.

There are 47 different dances, most use masks (kamen no mai 仮面の舞).

An important folk cultural asset
国指定無形民俗文化財

. Dengaku (田楽) . Dance and Food


this performance, like the Kurokawa Noh, has a lot of the yuugen quality of a Noh performance.


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. . . . . Some plant and animal kigo with shoojoo


kigo for mid-spring

shoojoobakama, shoojoo bakama 猩々袴
(しょうじょうばかま) lit. "Tipster Sprite hakama"
a beautiful violet blossom.
Heloniopsis orientalis
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for all summer

shoojoobae, shoojoo bae 猩々蠅 (しょうじょうばえ)
Shojo-Fly
shoojoo 猩々(しょうじょう)
..... sashi さし
sakabae 酒蠅(さかばえ)ricewine fly
fam. DROSOPHILA
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


shoojoosoo 猩々草 (しょうじょうそう)
"shojo plant"
Euphorbia heterophylla
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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kigo for all autumn

shoojoo tonbo 猩々蜻蛉(しょうじょうとんぼ)
Shojo Dragonfly
Crocothemis servilia mariannae
dragonfly, tonbo (tomboo, tonboo) 蜻蛉


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kigo for mid-winter

shoojooboku 猩々木(しょうじょうぼく)
"Tipster Sprite tree"
. poinsechia ポインセチア Poinsettia  


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Japanese haiku sensei do not use yuugen so much, but rather of

yoin, yo-in, yo in 余韻 "reverberation"
lingering sound, lingering meaning

The cut takes it away, but the YOIN remains in a haiku.

quote
A haiku which is stuffed too much has little left in there to impress you.
Omission is the soul of haiku. It contains the whole universe in 17 syllables.
An implied message born from omission is vitally indispensable to haiku. An implied message or, yo-in 余韻, is what you infer from what is expressed in words.

Inahata Teiko 稲畑汀子
President of the Japan Traditional Haiku Association

. Defining Haiku .


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Haiku and Noh:
Journeys to the Spirit World

Mayuzumi, Madoka

. Noh and Matsuo Basho .
For his hokku about a Noh mask, see comment below.


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ZEAMI, Zeami Motokiyo (世阿弥 元清)
c. 1363 – c. 1443. Aesthetician, actor and playwright.
正平18年/貞治2年(1363年) - 嘉吉3年8月8日(1443年9月1日))
The 8th day of the 8th lunar month.

Zeami Ki 世阿弥忌  Zeami Memorial Day
kigo for mid- autumn


As the pine-wind tears
at the plantain leaves,
broken, too, the dream he dreams
and he awakens
for the dream is broken
and the day has dawned.


From Izutsu 井筒 (能)
Noh play by Zeami Motokiyo


Read more about Zeami in the wikipedia link, see comments.


世阿弥忌の腸鳴りの一度ならず
zeami ki no harawata nari no ichido narazu

Zeami memorial day -
my bowls move loudly
more than once

Tr. Gabi Greve

. Fujita Sooshi 藤田湘子 Fujita Soshi .

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能楽大事典

- quote -
Noh (能 Nō), or Nogaku (能楽 Nōgaku)
—derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent"—is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century.
Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art still regularly performed today.
Traditionally, a Noh program includes five Noh plays with comedic kyōgen plays in between, even though an abbreviated program of two Noh plays and one kyōgen piece has become common in Noh presentations today. An okina (翁) play may be presented in the very beginning especially during New Years, holidays, and other special occasions.
. . .
The Tokugawa era - Edo Jidai
During the Tokugawa era Noh continued to be aristocratic art form supported by the shogun, the feudal lords (daimyo), as well as wealthy and sophisticated commoners. While kabuki and joruri popular to the middle class focused on new and experimental entertainment, Noh strived to preserve its established high standards and historic authenticity and remained mostly unchanged throughout the era. To capture the essence of performances given by great masters, every detail in movements and positions was reproduced by others, generally resulting in an increasingly slow, ceremonial tempo over time.
Modern Noh after Meiji era
Jo-Ha-Kyū
Performers and roles
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Noh costumes : atsuita-karaori


Edo Bakufu and the Noh Theater
江戸幕府の保護政策

江戸時代は能が現在の姿へと形作られた時代です。
シテ方に「喜多(きた)流」が誕生するなどの組織面だけでなく、芸の内容も徐々に今の形に近づいていきました。能と狂言が他の中世芸能と異なり、近世も生 き続けたのは、儀式に用いる「式楽」として江戸幕府の保護を受けたことによります。上方には独自の活動をする役者もいましたが、多くの能役者は幕府の正式 な儀式や将軍・諸大名たちの私的催しに出演し、幕府・藩から給与を受けるとともに生活や芸事に対する厳格な監視を受けていました。
また、観るだけでなく上流階級がみずから演じる娯楽であったのも能の大きな特色で、能役者は貴人たちの師範も務めていました。能は、このように権力者と密 接な関係があったため、常に将軍の好みや政治状況の影響を強く受けていましたが、江戸時代を通じ幕府の儀式を彩る華であったといえるでしょう。
- source : 文化デジタルライブラリー - Japan Arts Council


. bakufu 幕府 The Edo Government and Administration .

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. Observances, festivals, rituals - SAIJIKI .

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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Zeami: Performance Notes
Translated by Tom Hare

Zeami (1363-1443), Japan's most celebrated actor and playwright, composed more than thirty of the finest plays of no drama. He also wrote a variety of texts on theater and performance that have, until now, been only partially available in English.

Zeami: Performance Notes presents the full range of Zeami's critical thought on this subject, which focused on the aesthetic values of no and its antecedents, the techniques of playwriting, the place of allusion, the training of actors, the importance of patronage, and the relationship between performance and broader intellectual and critical concerns. Spanning over four decades, the texts reflect the essence of Zeami's instruction under his famous father, the actor Kannami, and the value of his long and challenging career in medieval Japanese theater.

Tom Hare, who has conducted extensive studies of no academically and on stage, begins with a comprehensive introduction that discusses Zeami's critical importance in Japanese culture. He then incorporates essays on the performance of no in medieval Japan and the remarkable story of the transmission and reproduction of Zeami's manuscripts over the past six centuries. His eloquent translation is fully annotated and includes Zeami's diverse and exquisite anthology of dramatic songs, Five Sorts of Singing, presented both in English and in the original Japanese.

http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-13958-8/zeami

Gabi Greve, wikipedia said...

Zeami Motokiyo (世阿弥 元清;
c. 1363 – c. 1443), also called
Kanze Motokiyo (観世 元清),
was a Japanese aesthetician, actor, and playwright. His father, Kanami, introduced him to Noh theater performance at a young age, and found that he was a skilled actor. As the family theater troupe grew in popularity, Zeami had the opportunity to perform in front of the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The Shogun was impressed with by the young actor and began a relationship with him. Zeami was introduced to Yoshimitsu's court and was provided with an education in Classical Literature and Philosophy while continuing to act. In 1374, Zeami received patronage and made acting his career. After the death of his father in 1385, he led the family troupe, a role in which he found greater success.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeami_Motokiyo

Gabi Greve - Basho archives said...

蓮の香を目にかよはすや面の鼻
hasu no ka o me ni kayowasu ya men no hana

the fragrance of lotus
reaches the eyes -
(through the ) nose of a Noh mask

Matsuo Basho
Tr. Gabi Greve
.
Written in Genroku 7 元禄7年夏
Basho visited the home of the Noh actor Honma Shume 本間主馬.
The Noh mask has holes in the nose part for the actor to see just a little bit in front below him. So the fragrance indeed comes through the nose for him to see.
A simple man like Basho can only feel the fragrance with his nose.

.

Nose and Haiku
(with image of a Noh mask)
.

Gabi Greve said...

Activities of UDAKA Michishige and his sons, Tatsushige and Norishige undertaken and supported by the Udaka Michishige-no-kai.
Noh performances, lectures, hands-on seminars and training programs to popularize Noh and encourage an understanding and appreciation of all its aspects, developing the skills of young Noh performers, are among these activities.

International Noh Institute
http://www.noh-udaka.com/en/index.html

Gabi Greve - Basho archives said...

Matsuo Basho

花の陰謡に似たる旅寝哉
hana no kage utai ni nitaru tabine kana

On a journey,
Resting beneath the cherry blossoms,
I feel myself to be in a Noh play.

Tr. Takase

utai here refers to a famous Noh song 謡曲 (yookyoku) about "Futari Shizuka" 二人静.

MORE
about Futari Shizuka
.


Gabi Greve - Basho archives said...

Matsuo Basho and
熊坂長範 Kumasaka Chohan

熊坂がゆかりやいつの玉祭
Kumasaka ga yukari ya itsu no tama matsuri

remembering Kumasaka
right here - the festival
for the souls

MORE

news said...

International Noh Institute

Founded in 1984, the International Noh Institute offers training in chant (utai), dance and mimetic movement (shimai), and mask carving with Udaka Michishige, Master-actor of the Kongō School of Noh and master Noh mask carver. Since then, Michishige has taught students from all walks of life: actors, dancers, designers, mask makers, musicians, psychologists and scholars, from all over the world through INI programs.

http://internationalnohinstitute.wordpress.com/

on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/international.noh.institute
.

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Japanese Aesthetics エスセティクス - Nihon no bigaku 日本の美学

The most common terms for aesthetics and design will be introduced here.
.

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

Tea Ceremony Aesthetics

. Japanese Tea Ceremony 茶の湯 Cha no Yu, 茶道 Chado .
- Introduction -

. Japanese Aesthetics エスセティクス - Nihon no bigaku 日本の美学 .
- Introduction -
.

Gabi Greve - Kappa said...

Kappa mask for the Noh Theater.
kappa no men 河童面

.
- KAPPA - 河童 / 合羽 / かっぱ / カッパ - Art Motives -
.

Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

. Yamagata Folk Art - 山形県  .

Tsuruoka mingei 鶴岡民芸 folk art from Tsuruoka
Tsurugaoka 鶴が岡 - Shōnai 庄内平野 Shonai plain

Gabi Greve said...

Noh as Traditional Japanese Leadership Training
Patrick Schwemmer, Department of Japanese Literature, Sophia University
.
pdf to download at ACADEMIA
.

Gabi Greve said...

Heaven Has a Face; So Does Hell: The Art of the Noh Mask
Stephen E. Marvin
a review by Patrick Schwemmer.

That so little is known overseas about the most refined masks in the world, that their great beauty has received almost no recognition, prompted me to write this book’ (p. x) – so Stephen Marvin introduces the first book on Noh masks in English and a major contribution to the fields of Noh studies and art history. Volume I is a monograph relating the history, manufacture, usage, typology, authorship, connoisseurship, storage and display conventions of Noh masks, in enough detail and with enough accuracy to give a sense of the contours of the subject.
...
https://www.orientations.com.hk/articles/patrick-schwemmer-book-review-heaven-has-a-face-so-does-hell-the-art-of-the-noh-mask-by-stephen-e-marvin/
.

Gabi Greve said...


What More Do We Need to Know about the Nō?
J. Thomas Rimer

Asian Theatre Journal
Vol. 9, No. 2 (Autumn, 1992),
University of Hawai'i Press
.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1124348?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
.

Gabi Greve said...


Visioning Eternity: Aesthetics, Politics and History in the Early Modern Noh Theater

by Thomas D. Looser
In one of the more remarkable public events of the Tokugawa world, the shogun responded to a deepening crisis in the 1840s by sponsoring a huge, "once-in-a-generation" noh performance-- the largest performance ever held.

This is the first Western language book on Edo period noh and its use by the shogun, an essential addition to the scholarship on Japanese theater and the cultural history of early modern Japan.
.
at amazon com
.

Gabi Greve said...

Some books about Noh Theater

Steven Brown, Theatricalities of Power: The Cultural Politics of Noh (Stanford University Press, 2002)

Eric Rath, The Ethos of Noh: Actors and Their Art (Harvard University Asia Center Press, 2004)

Shelley Fenno Quinn, Developing Zeami: The Noh Actor’s Attunement in Practice (Univ. of Hawaii Press, 2005)

Paul Atkins, Revealed Identity: The Noh Plays of Komparu Zenchiku (Univ. of Michigan, 2006)

Tom Hare, trans., Zeami: Performance Notes (Columbia University Press, 2008)

Noel Pinnington, Traces in the Way: Michi and the Writings of Komparu Zenchiku (Cornell East Asia Series, 2010)

Being Choo Lim, Another Stage: Kanze Nobumitsu and the Late Muromachi Noh Theater (Cornell East Asia Series, 2012)

Mae J. Smethurst, Dramatic Action in Greek Tragedy and Noh: Reading with and beyond Aristotle (Lexington Books, 2013)

Royall Tyler, To Hallow Genji: A Tribute to Noh (Amazon print on demand, 2016)
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Shinto in Noh Drama (and Ancient Japan)
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https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/pmjs/sNlLqYBLdrM
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Gabi Greve said...

Introducing the world of Noh"
english page

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http://www.the-noh.com/en/world/index.html
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Gabi Greve - Darumapedia said...

noomen 能面 Noh Theater masks
The demon masks kishin 鬼神: Tobide 飛出 portraying demons or savages, and 癋見 / 閉歯見 Beshimi portraying goblins such as Tengu.
beshimi means mouth clamped firmly shut.
- quote -
This is assumed to have appeared in the early stage of the history, describing supernatural substances such as demons or Tengu (long-nosed goblins). It is distinguishable by its forceful and wild appearance, and roughly classified into two types;
Tobide portraying demons or savages, and Beshimi portraying goblins such as Tengu.
- - - Featured in detail on the page on the-noh.com:
Fudō (不動)
Kurohige (黒髭)
Myōga-akujō (茗荷悪尉)
Shikami (顰)
Shishiguchi (獅子口)
Shōjō (猩々)
Tsuri-manako (釣眼)
Yakan (野干)
Ō-beshimi (大癋見)// Ko-beshimi (小癋見)// Kuro-beshimi (黒癋見)// Kiba-beshimi (牙癋見)// Hige-beshimi (鬚癋見)
Ō-tobide (大飛出) // Ko-tobide (小飛出)
- source : the-noh.com/...
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https://omamorifromjapan.blogspot.jp/2011/09/masks-men-info.html
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