The Japan Foundation has organized a performance of Noh drama of the Kongo School at the Moscow Theater Center “Vishneviy Sad” in Russia, in conjunction with the opening of the ceramics exhibition Raku: The Cosmos in a Tea Bowl at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. A lecture and demonstration given by the Urasenke School of tea ceremony will also be held, and participants will have the opportunity to learn about the philosophy, thought, traditional craftsmanship, and arts that have been handed down for centuries in Japan in a comprehensive way.

Noh has a history stretching back 650 years. Of its five schools, four are based in Tokyo, and the only one that is located in Kyoto is the Kongo School. For this event the classic Noh play Hagoromo (The Feather Robe) will be staged at the Moscow Theater Center “Vishneviy Sad,” directed by Hisanori Kongo, the 26th-generation Grand Master of the Kongo School, and starring his son, 27th-generation Master Tatsunori Kongo. Anticipation is already mounting for this performance played by actors with a mean age of 31 years, who are extraordinarily young in the world of Noh. At the opening event, which will take place prior to the play at the Pushkin Museum, there will be a Noh chant and kotsuzumi (shoulder drum) performance by Hisanori Kongo. After the play at “Vishneviy Sad” young Russians, who study Japanese language and culture or engaged in the theatrical arts, will interact with young Noh performers to deepen their understanding of traditional Japanese performing arts.

An earlier Noh performance at the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, which was held as an opening event for the Raku: The Cosmos in a Tea Bowl exhibition won great accolades. For this event, some of the greatest young talent from Kyoto, representing the future of the Noh genre, will appear on one stage in Moscow. Please contact us regarding the details of this event or to obtain press materials.