My first experience of “Noh (能)”

In September, I have few ozashiki parties, so I decided to enjoy my free time.  For example,  reading  books, seeing “Kabuki”, “Noh  (能)”, “Kyogen (狂言)” and enjoying  such other traditional Japanese cultural events.

I’ve never been to see “Noh”, which is a classical Japanese style play with traditional music, that has been performed since the 14th century.

I think for most Japanese, “Noh” is difficult to understand, because it is especially difficult to hear what the actors are saying.
That’s one reason why I haven’t been see “Noh” yet in my life. However since “Noh” is an important part of the traditional Japanese cultural arts, I decided to see it at least one time.

When I was searching for which Noh performance to see on the Internet, I thought that I should choose a performance which also includes “Kyogen”, because some Noh performances do not include “Kyogen”.

“Kyogen” is often performed along with Noh in the intermission between Noh acts on the same Noh stage. “Kyogen” is also a classical Japanese drama, however it is more comical.
Compared to “Noh”, “Kyogen” is relatively easy to understand, so I’ve already seen it before.

There are some “Noh” theaters in Tokyo, so I also wanted to choose one which I’ve not been to before.

On September 11, I went to Yarai-nogakudo (矢来能楽堂), which is the Noh theater of the “Yarai-Kanze-ke (矢来観世家)” group. It is located in Iidabashi.

When I arrived at Yarai-nogakudo, many people had already taken their seats.
Some of them were dressed in kimono, however most of them were just dressed casually.

The first program started on schedule.

At first some Narimono players and singers who are called “Ziutai (地謡)”, appeared on stage.
After them, 3 actors appeared. They took us into a world of delicate beauty.

I made an effort to understand what they were saying, however I couldn’t understand.
Some of the audience seemed to be reading a script of the performance.

The first act went for 1.5 hours.
I regretted not having prepared better in advance.

After the first Noh act was finished, the Kyogen performance started. It was very interesting, so everyone laughed.

After the Kyogen, 4 “Shimai (仕舞)” were performed.
“Shimai” is a Noh dance, which is performed between the acts of a Noh performance.

After the Shimai, the second Noh act started.
To tell the truth, at that time, I was very tired.

About 4 hours later, it finally finished.

I think if I have an opportunity to see Noh again, I’ll read a Noh book in advance.