Shite kata

Shite-kata (シテ方, also 仕手方) are performers who can take the following roles

• Shite シテ: main role. Often masked.
• Tsure ツレ: companion to the main role. Sometimes masked. Less important male tsure roles are called tomo トモ.
• Kokata 子方: child actor. Usually they are children of shite-kata, who play the roles of children and, less often, of high ranking characters
• Jiutai 地謡: chorus. It is usually composed of 8 members
• Kōken 後見: on-stage assistant. Usually one to three actors who sit at upstage right. Backstage, the same assistants take care of costuming shite, tsure, and kokata. They are also in charge of preparing and bringing on stage properties (tsukurimono 作物).
• Hataraki 働キ: backstage assistants. They help the kōken backstage, but do not sit onstage during the performance. Backstage assistants also take care of operating the sliding door (kirido) upstage left. Kōken and hataraki can  take the additional role of curtain-lifter (maku-age), especially for the entrance of shite and tsure.

Shite schools are: Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita.