Goosebump-Worthy Moment 1: Noh Drama Performance by Sakurama Kintaro

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Fig. “Aoi no Ue (Lady Aoi)” by Skurama Kintaro


https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm29450346?from=250

I had a chance to watch Noh drama “Aoi no Ue” (Lady Aoi) performed by Sakurama Kintaro, a Noh drama performer. It can be viewed at:



Characters:

Lady Rokujo (Prince Hikaru Genji’s girl friend)

Lady Aoi (formal wife of Hikaru Genji. She never appears in the play)

Miko (female shaman)

Buddhist monk

 

While story lines of Noh drama are often simple, the performer’s dances, face expressions and associated body languages are captivating.

"Aoi no Ue (Lady Aoi)" is one of the representative Noh dramas which takes its theme from “Tale of Genji”, a novel written in 1008 CE by Lady Murasaki, a female Japanese novelist. This allegedly is the oldest novel in the world history.

The main character Lady Rokujo appears in two different masks:

a.    Her original form which is represented by the following:

 Fig.  Female Noh mask.

Public domain

 Exhibit in the Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan. This artwork is old enough so that it is in the public domain.

Date    3 September 2013, 00:51:53

Source            Own work

Author           Daderot

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zo%27onna_Noh_Mask,_Edo_period,_18th_century,_wood_with_polychromy_-_Tokyo_National_Museum_-_DSC06166.JPG

 Exhibit in the Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan. This artwork is old enough so that it is in the public domain.

Date    3 September 2013, 00:51:53

Source            Own work

Author           Daderot

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zo%27onna_Noh_Mask,_Edo_period,_18th_century,_wood_with_polychromy_-_Tokyo_National_Museum_-_DSC06166.JPG

 a.    Lady Rokujo when she becomes a witch:

Fig: Hannya (witch).

Jealous girl friend turns into a witch.

Pubic domain

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Han%27nya_type_noh_mask%2C_with_inscription_Omi_utsu%2C_Edo_period%2C_1600s-1700s_AD%2C_wood%2C_polychromy_-_Tokyo_National_Museum_-_Ueno_Park%2C_Tokyo%2C_Japan_-_DSC08983.jpg

Story:

The following is from Wikipedia with simplifications by the author of this blog:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aoi_no_Ue_(play)

In the backstory, the popular Prince Hikaru Genji, who is married to Lady Aoi at a young age, has taken a mistress, Lady Rokujo. Following an episode in which she is humiliated in public by Lady Aoi, Rokujo is enraged to discover that Aoi is pregnant. Genji begins ignoring Rokujo, and in her jealousy her living spirit leaves her body and possesses Aoi, resulting in Aoi's falling sick – the starting-point of the play.

The action of the play focuses on a miko (female shaman) and a priest summoning and exorcising the spirit of Rokujo from her attack on the body of Aoi.

Fig. The Buddhist monk and the

 Noh instrumentalists

https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm29450346

 Aoi does not appear on stage - rather, an empty kimono serves to represent her. Rokujo initially appears in a sympathetic vein, lamenting the transience of life and beauty. (Fig. Female Noh mask.)

Then, seized with anger, she renews her attack on Aoi, whose deteriorating condition leads to the summoning of the priest and his incantations finally lay Rokujo’s angry spirit to rest.

Scripts of most Noh dramas are written by Zeami (1363 CE– 1443 CE) who completed Noh as a sophisticated theatrical art. Noh was liked and supported by samurai throughout the feudal period such that the face expressions and body languages among others carry those of samurai.

 





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