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Rakuchu
rakugaizu illustrated screen.
Important cultural property,
from the Collection of the National Museum of Japanese
History |
open |
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How many people do you think
there are who currently make a living by performing Noh
and kyogen professionally? Lately, I often begin my university
lectures about the Noh theater (used here to mean collectively
both Noh and kyogen) by putting this question to the students.
The answers vary—30, 50, 150, 200—but it is extremely rare
for me to receive an estimate in excess of 200. Most students
venture two-digit guesses. When I tell them that the correct
figure is about 1,500, including musicians, they are always
surprised. When I continue by pointing out further facts—for
example that at present there are only about 200 professional
kabuki performers and around 90 bunraku performers, and
that the 1,500 professional Noh performers give approximately
60 performances each month in the Tokyo region and about
30 in Kansai—they are absolutely astounded.
The designation by UNESCO in May 2001 of Noh as a "masterpiece
of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity" has been
widely discussed. However, the phenomenon one often sees
with regard to traditional art forms of this type—that
they are famous but the general public is largely ignorant
of what they are really like—can certainly be seen in
the case of Noh, even though it been designated an "intangible
heritage" and its value is widely recognized. Noh is certainly
not exceptional in this respect. But I would go still
further and say that the Noh theater is surely one of
the most extreme examples of the phenomenon one can find.
The answers to my question about the number of professional
Noh performers presently active, for example, show clearly
just how little understanding the general public has of
the Noh theater. My students' two-digit estimates show
that they have an image of Noh as an art form that is
pursued in some obscure corner of society, and that it
is barely surviving and liable to disappear altogether
one of these days.
In contrast to this image, however, the Noh theater is
thriving today, with some 1,500 professional performers
presently active. That there are this many performers
means that a commensurate number of performances of Noh
and kyogen is being put on (I mentioned the actual figures
above). In addition, it means that there are a large number
of people in Japan today who are willing to pay to see
Noh plays performed. Even if for the moment we leave aside
kyogen, which has enjoyed remarkable popularity in recent
years, just what is it about the Noh theater that is so
attractive to audiences? What is the nature of this attraction?
Also, since we know that Noh and kyogen are performing
arts with a long tradition, when did they originate and
by what process did they arrive at their present forms?
What sort of actors performed Noh in the past, and how
many of them were there? Where and how were they appreciated
by audiences? Questions such as these arise naturally
when we learn that there are 1,500 professional Noh performers
active today.
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