Repertory categorization

In the Edo period, the shogunate, in conjunction with performers, systematized nō and formed an official canon. They established five categories (gobandate 五番立) of plays and ordered them with the idea that a day’s program would progress from a first-category play featuring deities through a fifth-category play centered on such characters as vanquishing demons. Between these two groups of plays with supernatural themes, they placed plays with protagonists who were human (or ghosts of humans) – warriors (second-category plays) and women (third-category plays) – as well as plays taking place in the present time. Some plays, however, proved difficult to categorize, and others were given two or more alternative categorizations. As a result, plays in the fourth and fifth categories may contain protagonists with similar general attributes but who are expressed through different styles. The five-category system was derived from earlier classifications reaching back to Zeami’s time. It remains in use today and provides a general key to the content, diction, and performance style of a play. 

In spite of the apparent clarity of the system, two plays with the same protagonist or with similar content might be categorized differently due to their modes of presentation. For instance, a second-category warrior play, like Atsumori or Tadanori, presents the warrior as a ghost suffering in warrior’s hell. The ghost appears and narrates a battle scene taking various roles – his adversary as well as himself – as he acts out the scene. In a fifth-category play, like Funa Benkei, based on the same warrior narratives about wars that took place in the twelfth century, the battle scene is portrayed in real time with swords clashing and two or more people meeting in combat. Aside from presenting diverse aspects or points of reference in the lives of protagonists, the several schools of nō performers may interpret and perform the same play differently and thus place a particular play in the category that best accords with the spirit of their interpretation.

Mugen and Genzai

In 1926, the nō scholar Sanari Kentaro introduced the idea of mugen nō 夢幻能 , often translated as “dream vision nō”.  These plays generally involve a revelation that the shite belongs to a different time dimension. The shite may be a deity whose appearance is a miraculous vision; the shite may be the spirit of a plant; the shite may be a ghost who seeks enlightenment, reminiscing about life experiences or intent on retribution.  The appearance of these non-human characters is often understood as a manifestation from the waki’s dream. Transformation, revelation, and memory play important roles in the conceptualization of these plays.  

In 1957, the scholar Yokomichi Mario elaborated the concept of mugen nō by introducing the idea of plays that take place in real time, or genzai nō 現在能. In these plays, the shite is a living character and action follows a chronological order. Yokomichi noted that some nō plays defy this two-group classification and that other plays contain elements of both possibilities, an example being Kinuta, which takes place in present time in the first act but features the appearance of a ghost in the second.

Combining these two systems of categorization, one finds that first-category plays present deities appearing in miraculous vision (mugen nō). Second-category plays where a ghost narrates a past event are generally mugen nō, as are third-category plays which mostly feature ghosts of women. Plays from the fourth and fifth categories include the majority of genzai nō, but also contain mugen nō.

Contributor: Monica Bethe