Traditionally most of the property structures were made just prior to the performance. Today, the larger frameworks might be stored as is. During the Edo period, professionals attached to the school specialized in preparing the properties, but today making properties is generally one of many preparatory jobs done by the Shite actors in anticipation of the stage event. It often begins with going outdoors to collect the vines, cherry branches, willows or reeds. When out of season, artificial plants can substitute. Over-size flowers are created for fantasy scenes, like the peonies growing on the bridge leading to Monjū Bosatsu’s paradise in Shakkyō (The Stone Bridge), or the chrysanthemums around the eight-hundred-year-old Chrysanthemum Boy’s hut in Kiku jidō (Chrysanthemum Boy). Young actors learn the backstage jobs, as well as the kōken attendant’s duties of carrying the properties onto the stage and removing the enveloping cloths. After the performance, the properties are disassembled into component units for storage. A few are stored complete.
Each school has its own notebooks on property construction compiled by former specialists. These painted sketches illustrate the types of properties noting the names of plays where they are used. Quite a number of property manuals from the Edo period have been preserved, such as the Nō tsukurimono zu (Nō Stage Properties Illustrations) and the Okura ryū tsukurimono hiroku (Secret Record of the Okura school properties) from the Konparu school, which notes the size, materials, and methods of making properties as well as how to vary them for different plays. A similar Kanze-school property book is the Kanze ryū tsukurimono zu (Kanze School Prop Illustrations). A Hōshō-school book with clearly delineated paintings is the Hōshō ryū nōgaku tsukurimono (Hōshō School Stage Properties).
Probably the oldest sketches of properties are those in Shimotsuma Shoshin’s (1551-1616) Butai no zu (Stage Illustrations), where he places the properties on schematic drawings of the stage. Interestingly these sixteenth or early seventeenth century properties are remarkably similar to what is used today. Reference to properties by Zeami testifies to their use, though not their forms.
Contributor: Monica Bethe