Synopsis

A master has decided to invite people over for tea. He orders his servant, Tarokaja, to go to the spring in the field known as “Nonaka no Shimizu” and to draw some pure water needed for the tea ceremony, handing his treasured wooden bucket to him. Tarokaja, afraid of making it a habit for the master to ask him to go fetch the water, returns home without the wooden bucket, making up a story about a demon that appeared at the spring. The master, insisting that the bucket was his most treasured item, decides that he will go to the spring to retrieve it. Wondering what to do, Tarokaja hurries to the spring and awaits his master. Upon the master’s arrival, Tarokaja puts on a demon mask, striking a menacing pose to frighten the master. Horrified, the master runs away and comes home. As the master recounts the incident to Tarokaja, he comes to realize that the demon and Tarokaja are one and the same. The master goes to the spring to look for his bucket again. Tarokaja attempts to stop the master, but the master pushes Tarokaja away and sets out. Tarokaja has no choice but to go to the spring once again.

Kyogen is a form of comic theater that emerged during Japan’s Muromachi period (around 1336 to 1573) and developed alongside Noh. It traces its origins to “Sarugaku,” a form of Japanese entertainment dating back to the late Heian period (mid-12th century). Later, the term “Nohgaku” was created to encompass these twin arts of Noh and Kyogen. While Noh is a tragic musical play, Kyogen is a comedy based on spoken dialog and wordplay. Performed as an interlude between acts of the more solemn Noh play, Kyogen creates comic relief, inducing laughter from the audience like a circus clown.

Stories of blunders in everyday life or making fun of the little quarrels among couples are the favorite motifs of Kyogen, a laughter theme unchanging even in modern days. Kyogen is a universal form of art that has made people laugh for centuries and will for centuries to come.

Synopsis

As Indian legend has it, when the Buddha passed away in India, a fleet-footed demon called Sokushikki snatched the Buddha’s teeth (called geshari) from his remains and ran off with them. This demon, however, was immediately chased by an even faster divinity called Idaten, who quickly caught him and recovered the relic.

Sennyuji is a Buddhist temple in Higashiyama, Kyoto. A reliquary hall stands there enshrining the Buddha’s teeth, which were recovered by Idaten in India. The temple is a sanctuary for Buddhists searching for spiritual guidance. One day, a travelling monk stops at the temple to worship the relic. Then a man appears and joins the monk in prayer. Suddenly, there is a thunderclap, and the man, having snatched the relic, runs off with it. The man turns out to be the demon Sokushikki.

In answer to a temple servant’s prayer, the guardian deity Idaten appears and finds Sokushikki as he is escaping through the heavens. Finally, the deity hunts down the demon and sends him down to the earth. When Idaten retrieves the relic, Sokushikki vanishes.

Noh traces its origins as far back as the 14th century, and it has continued to this day, uninterrupted. Noh was originally a form of entertainment for the common people, as a rite performed to pray for bountiful harvests and good fortune. It later began to draw its plots from works of classical literature, giving the audience a greater appreciation for the literary depth of the world. Its themes include gods’ blessings, prayers for the dead, manifestation of beauty, and states of emotional unrest in the face of a crisis. These themes are universal, and hence Noh has continued to be appreciated. In this particular Noh play Shari, the story unfolds at a rapid pace, making the Buddhist tale accessible and enjoyable to all.

The methods of expression in Noh have been refined over hundreds of years, and are distilled down to a bare minimum, evoking the audience’s imagination and inviting them to actively infer the significance of each move for themselves. Masks, costumes, music, and movements embody the essential features of Japanese culture. Join us, and we will guide you through the world of Noh to invite you to experience the essence of Japanese culture.