Performers

Nō performers belong to professional groups called ryūgi (stylistic school). Each of the roles––shite, waki, kyōgen, as well as musicians ōtsuzumi, kotsuzumi, taiko and nōkan players––has several stylistic schools, as summarized in the “Nō Stylistic Schools” chart below. A professional household that has transmitted the nō arts for generations heads each stylistic school.  In addition, the ryūgi include trained members who are not blood relations with the head (iemoto) and are enriched by associates such as amateur students who became semi or full professionals.

With the advent of the Meiji restoration in 1868, the feudal system that patronized noh throughout the Edo period was dismantled, and with that the role of nō as ceremonial entertainment. Numerous families of professionals were forced to interrupt their activities. There were cases of provincial actors becoming iemoto, or of wealthy amateurs being recognized because of their dedication and patronage, and of their sons becoming professionals. Many of the noh families active today were in fact created by the heirs of those actors. Although several aspects of noh underwent a process of modernization, its social structure has remained largely unchanged from the times during which it thrived as the entertainment of the warrior class.

Types of performer

Ryūgi are pyramid-shaped systems at the top of which stands a grand-master, the iemoto (lit. ‘origin of the house’). The iemoto lineage, from which each ryūgi takes its name, is the highest-ranking within the stylistic school. Among the exclusive powers of the iemoto is the right to authorize performances, to revise and publish scripts, or to grant teaching licenses. Leading positions such as that of the iemoto are hereditary and are only open to male heirs.

Under the iemoto are the leaders of other families of professionals who may have ancient lineages, transmitting their own tradition of chant style, choreography, or masks, albeit within the larger tradition of the ryūgi. It is said that if the art of noh is passed down for at least three generations, a family can be called a ‘family of professionals, therefore it is possible for new groups to emerge. It is not unusual for these families to form relationships with each other, training or producing events together. Although the iemoto retains the authority over the ryūgi at large, the smaller sub-systems of families and associates results in a complex and varied assemblage of distinct traditions following the same general style but with individual flavors. Actors and musicians specialize in one role type or one instrument and are trained within their ryūgi.

Today, there are five stylistic schools of shite, three schools of waki, two schools of kyōgen. As for the hayashi musicians, there are three schools of fue (also nōkan, the transverse flute), four schools of kotsuzumi (small hand drum), four schools of ōtsuzumi (large hand drum), and two schools of taiko (stick drum). Performers specialize only in one of these arts, hence their professional affiliation is with only one of the stylistic schools.

There is a common misunderstanding deriving from the use of the word ‘school’ as a translation of the Japanese ryūgi. The Japanese word ‘ryū’, which literally means ‘flow’, indicates the continuous flow of a tradition shared by a group of practitioners, like a school of thought. This should not be confused with an educational institution. such as a drama academy or a conservatory, that has a team of instructors teaching a unified curriculum in classrooms.

Performer types and roles in a nō performance

Nō professionals are called nōgakushi, a compound word whose ending, ‘shi’, signifies ‘specialist’, or ‘teacher’. Although the distinction between professionals and amateurs varies according to the stylistic school, and is not without ambiguities, usually members of the Nō Professional Association (Nōgaku Kyōkai) whose main source of income is performing and/or teaching noh are considered professionals.

Today, individuals who are not born into a family of professionals often start practicing Noh at university clubs, or within an amateur group, and may become professionals or semi-professionals later. In addition, unlike Kabuki, in Nō there are female professionals, although their activities are de facto limited, and men are preferred if not imperative for the hereditary transmission of professional titles such as that of the iemoto.

There is a small number of non-Japanese practicing noh at different levels, but even those who have trained enough to receive a license to teach do not regularly act on stage as professionals. Rebecca Ogamo Teele (Kongō School) is the first and, up to date, only non-Japanese member of the Noh Performance Association. While she does not perform as a professional, she acts as a backstage assistant during the Kongō school regular performance series.

Noh stylistic schools (ryūgi)

Interactions between ryūgi

One distinctive feature of noh is that its performers do not partake in long, common rehearsal periods: they train separately and meet on stage only for one rehearsal (mōshi-awase) before the day of the performance, which is, in turn, a one-time event, never repeated with the same group of people in the same place. The only exception is touring abroad.

The ability to stage a performance after a single rehearsal is possible because the noh repertory (its texts, music, choreography, and staging conventions) forms a fixed canon, and its performers, regardless of their specialization, must understand all aspects of its performance in order to be considered professionals.

Though the performers belong to distinct groups, together they form an integrated network of professionals. The existence of different specialized schools allows for different combinations. Kanze-ryū shite could perform with Fukuō waki or Hōshō waki, with kō-ryū or okura-ryū ko-tsuzumi, etc. However, because of the substantial discrepancies in texts and performance conventions, it is highly unusual that two shite from different ryūgi perform together in the same play. Ryūgi are not represented uniformly throughout Japan, so some combinations of actors and musicians are determined by geographic regions.

Contributor: Yamanaka Reiko and Diego Pellecchia