№25　cover story　(2012/04/15)

The most important thing about Noh

OSHIMA Teruhisa

I would say it is Noh-men (the masks).
Noh-gaku performers carry their masks with them wherever they go, in a very tough bag called 'Men-Kaban'. That is because we have an inmost thought for the mask, not just as a tool. The Japanese word noh-men is sometimes used as a comparison to 'a face without any feelings', but this metaphor is a glaring error.
We have at our house a noh-men named "Manpi", which my late grandfather thought highly of saying this is the most precious treasure in my family. It is used when we perform as a role of a young woman. This mask appears glamorous as well as adorable. The amplitude of its expression amazes me every time I see it. Besides my heart pulses with the impression of its endless possibility.
Wearing a noh-men makes our sight very narrow. Just as it is very hard to stand straight when you close your eyes, being narrow-sighted with a noh-men has a big influence on your sense of balance. You must gather a lot of practices and experiences in order to move naturally wearing a noh-men. Suriashi and kamae, which appear to be unique, may be developed in a situation of performing with a noh-men.
When I was a junior-high student, I wore a noh-men for the first time of my life. Even now I realize that complete darkness, and I almost shouted. When I perform with a noh-men on, I feel I am in another space though I am at the center of the stage, because of the darkness. As I keep on performing, my body becomes tired, but in reverse my soul becomes calm and I am looking at myself calmly, then I feel satisfaction beyond description.
Noh masks make a shite play various roles, also internally they have an incredible effect on the performer. That is why I think them the most important item about Noh.

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№24　cover story　(2011/09/15)

The "Pagoda" Asian Tour

OSHIMA Masanobu

I would like to express my gratitude to every one of you for supporting the tour.
The performance of the new Noh piece "Pagoda" in English was held at the National Noh-gaku Do in Sendagaya, Tokyo, on June 28, which was the beginning of the tour this time going from Tokyo to Kyoto, to Beijing and Hong Kong in China. In the dressing room, where we have only Japanese people because it is the central theater of Noh-gaku performing, more than ten American performers stroll around with Japanese traditional dress 'Montsuki' on.
Prior to the stage of "Pagoda" in Tokyo, I had played the shite role in Noh "Takasago," and I watched it from the backstage. At the "Pagoda" European tour two years ago, the Noh piece was performed only on the stage of the theaters for operas or dramas. This time, for the first time, they performed it at the typical Japanese Noh stage, where 'Hashigakari' is at the left side for the performers to enter and exit, and the shape of the stage is a three-'gen' square (a 'gen' is about 1.8 meters long). I found this style of the stage much more effective in order to feel that the players and the audience are all the participants in performing Noh.
As the chief supervisor, I was so apprehensive for the evaluation of our English Noh performance at the National Noh-gaku Do, to be honest. Don't they consider the pagoda setting strange to the traditional stage? Well, they made it! All went well, and I was relieved to see that the audience approved of the performance.
A big project like this is very hard to realize. The enthusiasm of Ms Jannette Cheong and Mr Richard Emmert has led us all the way; The support and aid by the Culture Agency of Japan and all the vigorous sponsors has helped us. I am grateful to all of you for the successful tour of the "Pagoda" Asian tour.

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№23　cover story　(2011/04/15)

Filled with Respect

OSHIMA Kinue

"How 'modern' Noh is! I was astonished, when I first watched it."
I had an opportunity to talk with Mr IKEDA Takekuni, who is a pioneer of building the Japanese skyscrapers. He has devoted his energies to the reconstruction of Postwar Japan from the very beginning. To his house with a thatched roof standing at a cape in Nagasaki, I was allowed to go, being introduced to him by Mr Fujimoto, a chief priest of a Shinto shrine.
"I met with Noh when I was thinking of constructing a high-rise building with as little waste as possible. I was really astonished to find out that the Japanese tradition has done with it since several hundred years ago!" From a void it begins, into a void it ends. This is an ordinary way of the art, which Mr IKEDA calls 'modern.'
Huis ten Bosch (Hausu tenbosu), which he designed, has a circulation system concerning electricity and water. He aimed to build a future city within which things are produced and consumed. But, "A good example is found in a town of the Edo era," he said. How important it is to recognize a real way of the Japanese life, living with Nature and cherishing a sense of respect for Nature. "The human being is lived by Nature. We must not forget the mind of being respectful for Nature." The answer to a more and more 'modern' construction lies in the tradition of Japan.
We might have been seeking for desire. Now is the time coming when the Japanese people have to start all over studying the mind of their tradition including Noh-gaku, to make their future better.

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№22　cover story　(2010/09/15)

OSHIMA HISAMI, the 7th Anniversary of his Passing

OSHIMA Teruhisa

I am going to perform "Dojoji" in "the OSHIMA HISAMI Memorial Noh Performance." My grandfather, Hisami, was so healthy that I had never imagined that I would offer my "Dojoji" to his 7th anniversary.
"Keep practicing many and many times, then what seems meaningless becomes meaningful." This is the most impressive word I acquired from my grandfather. Sixteen years ago, just before I went up to Tokyo in order to get earnest training, he began uttering some talks on Noh-gaku. At that time I was not aware enough. But, gradually I came to understand what he meant.
"Dojoji" is a special piece for Noh performers. It is sometimes thought to be a graduation exam of the apprentice period. It has several highlights, one of which is 'Ran-byoshi,' a single combat with Ko-tsuzumi which last more than thirty minutes; its dance is an only movement of the tiptoes led by the strong and keen calls. This is just what my grandfather said: from naught to entity. The energy accumulated during the Ran-byoshi blows out at a burst in 'Kyu-no-mai.' It is followed by the desperate 'Kane-iri.' "Dojoji" is an extraordinary piece in every sense.
The pleasure to perform such a great work, the gratitude to all the people who have supported me until today. And the inmost thought to my grandfather, who led me to this art. With these, I would like to perform "Dojoji" on October 31.

The Legacy of Our Forebears

OSHIMA Yasuko

"If I'm lucky, I would like to carry out my father's wishes and pass nōgaku down to posterity."
This is something Hisatar? Oshima wrote in an old notebook in which, in fine brushstrokes, he neatly recorded facts about the ancestors of the Oshima family and kept a record of Noh performances and practices. Reading between the closely written lines, one can sense Hisatarō's passion for Noh and his love for his family. This notebook, which my father-in-law Hisami showed me soon after I married into the Oshima family, is a family treasure.
Born in 1871, Hisatarō Oshima was introduced to nōgaku at a young age by his father Shichitarō. While employed as a teacher, Hisatarō went to Tokyo during his long vacations for Noh training with the head of the Kita school and worked to popularize nōgaku. But at the earnest request of Roppeita Kita, 14th head of the Kita school, in 1911 Hisatarō reluctantly resigned his post as the first principal of Jutoku Elementary School and dedicated his life to Noh.
Believing that just as a samurai has a castle, a Noh performer needs a Noh stage, in 1914 Hisatarō rented land near Fukuyama Station, north of his residence on the site of the current nōgakudō. There he built a Noh stage and set to work to popularize Noh. Because he had eight children - four boys and four girls - life was evidently quite difficult after he quit his steady job as a teacher. But he procured the costumes and other items necessary to put on performances, and crisscrossed the country in an effort to promote Noh. His records indicate that he traveled to Kagoshima, Tokushima, Osaka and Sendai.
In 1917 Hisatarō wrote the Noh play Tomo no Ura, which had as its subject the local area of the same name, and appeared as shite. In 1920 he invited Roppeita Kita to appear in a performance of Dōjōji on the Oshima Noh stage. In his notebook he wrote, "Audience: 500-600. An unprecedented success. Expenses: 2,177 yen."
In 1925 a performance of Mochizuki was presented to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Sōemon Haneda. Other performances that year were Ama with Masayasu Umezu as shite and Kagekiyo with Roppeita Kita as shite and Senroku Ito as tsure. Mochizuki featured Hisatarō as shite and Hisami as kokata.
In his notebook Hisatarō recorded the sad fact of the death of his eldest daughter Kimie, who had moved to Seoul after marrying and who died on June 17, 1926, at the age of 22 while giving birth to her first child. The journal closes with an entry noting that Emperor Taishō died at 1:25 a.m. on December 25 and that the Shōwa era had begun.
In 1927 Hisatarō appeared as the shite in Shōzon, and in 1928 a special performance was held to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the death of Shichitarō. In May 1929 Hisatarō was the shite in a performance of Hyakuman that was staged in Kure.
But on September 21 of that year Hisatarō died at the age of 59 without fulfilling his life's ambition. At that time his eldest son Atsutami (Masanobu Oshima's real father) was a college student, his third son Hisami was in junior high school and his youngest child Sachie was 7 years old, so Hisatarō's wife was at a loss. It is said that she sold the fields near their house to get money for living and school expenses.
After graduating from college Atsutami became a teacher, while Hisami was apprenticed to Roppeita Kita upon graduating from Seishikan Junior High School. Thus three generations of the Oshima family - Shichitarō, Hisatarō and Hisami - studied under Roppeita. Soon after the war Hisami began extending frequent invitations to Roppeita to appear in performances, and the family photo album has rare photos of him enjoying fishing in the sea at Tomo no Ura and Onomichi.
In 1949 Hisami built a Noh stage at the current location, and in 1958 he began to hold regular performances (nōgaku classes) four or five times a year. In 1971 he erected a three-story reinforced concrete building housing a Noh theater, and many grand plays as well as hikyoku, secret pieces forbidden to those not formally certified, were performed.
During a televised interview Hisami once said, "The Noh stage that had been at my home ever since I was born burned down in the air raid on Fukuyama, and I felt I needed my own 'castle,' so I built this thing [nōgakudō]. But I wonder what the younger generation will do." At the time I didn't understand the significance of what he had said. Hisami and my father, Shigeo Yoshida, had been friends since they were both students at Seishikan Junior High School, and my parents and four sisters and I took lessons at the nōgakudō. So at the time I thought it was common for Noh performers to have their own theaters and to hold regularly scheduled performances there.
When I consider how hard it is to continue to stage high-quality performances in a small town like Fukuyama, inviting performers from the Kansai area and Tokyo, I realize what a great man Hisami was, and I wonder what sort of answer we can offer in reply to what he said back then.
But having "this thing" (the Noh stage) enabled us to raise our four children, Kinue, Teruhisa, Fumie and Norie, because they were raised in a home in which there was a Noh stage upstairs, because they appeared as kokata in performances that were continually being planned and because they had to practice shimai and Noh every day.
In September 1986, when Kinue, Teruhisa and Fumie were in the sixth, fifth and third grades, respectively, and Norie was in kindergarten, the four of them appeared as kokata in a regularly scheduled performance during which Tōsen was staged. I'm sure it was tough for the children to rehearse during the hot days of August, but I must tip my hat to Hisami for his patience and stamina in disciplining them to do so. Like his father Hisatarō, I suppose Hisami had the same passionate desire to "pass nōgaku down to posterity." On the day of the performance of Tosen, while helping Hisami put on his costume as shite, Tomitaro Wajima said, "I envy Hisami." Hisami, who was about to appear on stage with his four grandchildren, must have looked very happy indeed.
This year marks the seventh anniversary of Hisami's death. This fall Teruhisa will make his first appearance in Dōjōji in a memorial performance commemorating his grandfather. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Akiyo Tomoeda, Mr. Akio Shiotsu and others of the Kita school, the performers who will appear on stage with Teruhisa and the many others who have supported him since he went to Tokyo and ask for your continued guidance and encouragement.　　(translated by Nancy Ross)

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№21　cover story　(2010/04/15)

Receiving the Hiroshima Education Award

OSHIMA Masanobu

Since 1957, when at the age of fifteen I became an apprentice of KITA Minoru, the 15th head of Kita-ryu, I have been exercising this art for more than fifty years. Fortunately, I was able to receive the Hiroshima Education Award of Heisei 21. Mr YOKOYAMA Haruaki, who lives in Hiroshima City and is a master of Ko-tsuzumi, was also awarded this time. This proves, I am sure, that Hiroshima Prefecture has come to evaluate the value of Noh-gaku in the field of education.
Noh-gaku, having flourished as a ritual music for samurai during the Edo Era, but having rather declined just after the Meiji Restoration, revived under the support of the political and financial leaders. After the Second World War, however, the mainstream was the Western Culture and our Japanese traditional culture seldom appeared at school. Only recently the stream has been changing, as the Ministry of Education insists that the Japanese culture should be taught. That is why I received the award.
I had good opportunities to perform Noh in two Scandinavian countries in May, three European countries in December of last year. The people in Europe nicely appreciated our performances. I wish more and more teachers on the podium in Japan could appreciate Noh-gaku and guide the pupils to it. It is a matter of great urgent which has to be done by us. I sincerely ask all of you for your help. Thank you very much.

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№20　cover story　(2009/09/15)

On a day in August

OSHIMA Kinue

At a university of music, I served as a lecturer for the course of renewing the teacher's license on a day in this August. The course was for the music teachers in elementary schools, junior and senior high schools, orienting them to the traditional music of Japan. The government guidelines for teaching nowadays oblige the teachers to introduce the Japanese music (and also Japanese music instruments). But that would be a difficult task for them because they have spent most of their time learning the Western music.
Surely the Japanese music also has a wide variety, but I thought I would let them experience the noh-gaku to get the feeling of "ma (space)" and "iki (breath)" which all kinds of the Japanese music have in common.
Anyway, practice makes perfect! I made them practice a passage from "Senshuraku" repeatedly, by utai, kotsuzumi, and otsuzumi respectively. We neither have any detailed sheets of music, a metronome to check the tempo, nor a cue to adjust the musical interval. We only raise our voices from our stomach by coordinating with each other's breath. The teachers, who were too reserved to utter a sound at first, came to sing 'utai' and shout 'kakegoe' strongly enough, as they must have gained confidence in their "ma" by practicing repeatedly. After the course, the teachers wrote in their reports that they would like to introduce this noh-gaku method into their daily school lessons. For me, the course of this August was a wonderful experience.
At the beginning of this August I visited the U.S., where I participated in the 15th memorial performance of "Noh Training Project" presided over by Mr R. Emmert. Although some of the participants were not able to speak the Japanese language, every one of them performed splendidly after having trained so hard. I could not but respect them. After this performance we practiced the brand-new English Noh "PAGODA", which would be on stage in December this year. I hope to challenge this work, along with the American pupils facing earnestly the Japanese traditional art "Noh-gaku".

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№19　cover story　(2009/04/15)

Modern Life and Noh-gaku

OSHIMA Teruhisa

As though I were a medieval, some may consider if I introduce myself as a Noh-gaku performer. I am a modern person! But for those people, Noh is an art of far apart from the present day. It is sure that the art was established as many as seven hundred years ago, but it is a living art, one of the most long-lived stage arts. In order to preserve this art, I think, in every period of time my senior performers have created its appropriate mode. My superiors must have made their best endeavors to combine their art with their times. The topics dealt with Noh-gaku are universal, which people hold in general as long as they are alive: the feelings to the loving one, the envy and hatred because of love, the valor at a battle, the loser's aesthetic, the hellish agony, and the mercy by Buddha.
The more excellent the Noh pieces are, the clearer, more deeply and beautifully the topics reach the nature of the human being.
As we have made a great advance in science and technology, somehow we misunderstand that the nature of us is getting better. We have become able to do more movements on the stage,to be sure, yet as the result there have arisen something that cannot be expressed. We may have missed or forgotten some points of view or sentiment that our pioneers had acquired.
My aim as a modern Noh-gaku performer is to offer you some opportunities where you realize the universal comparing with the modern within my Noh performings.

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№18　cover story　(2008/09/15)

"Sotoba-Komachi"

OSHIMA Masanobu

Our regular Noh-performances, which my father Hisami started in the 33rd year of Showa, will have attained the fifty-year-long continuation in this autumn. At this epoch-making stage, I perform "Sotoba-komachi" for the first time on the 30th of this November. This piece has a keen remembrance to me.
I watched the stage of this piece by Mr. GOTO Tokuzo about two years after I became an apprentice at the head family of Kita-ryu. As I was not allowed to get together onto the stage yet, I watched his performance from the side room. All of the staff were extremely nervous, much more than usual. Rokuheita the 14th, who was old enough, supported it as 'Kouken', a keeper. The performance was so wonderful; substantial and independent. That was my first experience to feel that Noh is such a wonderful art. At that time, however, the piece seemed far more distant one to me.
Her vitality which never decays until her old age, her regret and pity, her whole life as a talented woman; I will try to express Ono-no-komachi with various aspects at my performance.
The experts of every field are going to assist me. I wish all of you a warm support as I do my very best.