Nou - Japanese Traditional Arts

24/11/2010

I had the chance to see the Nou traditional arts performance in Shibuya Tokyo. This was organized by a set of Nou lovers who practice Nou as a hobby. Professionals don`t perform at this level and they were not wearing the costumes. But this performance managed to give us a basic knowledge about Nou and what it looks like.

This is the timetable of the day s show.

The stage and a set of the audience

Recital

The reciters sit in the traditional seating position "seiza" and recites a story. Mostly all recites the story and when it comes to dialogs each reciter recites his part.They don`t sit still in the same pose all 20 minutes. They have several movements while reciting. Their position of the hands, position of the fan change according to the storyline.

Next was a drama like recital, more like opera. Four reciters recites the story while one actor uses his body to express the emotions. The most important tool was the fan. The opening , closing of the fans and also the steps(choreography) played an interesting part in the dramatic recital. Following is some captures of the performances. Please notice the second capture, where a woman is performing Nou. Guess you noticed women reciters in the captures above.In the real Nou world it is forbidden to perform Nou on stage, for women. As this is not formal Nou, this woman is allowed to play on stage.

Special thanks go to Mr.Ito and his father who invited us to the show. And again special thanks go to Hiroshi Moriguchi for the unforgettable SR400 bike ride to Shibuya.

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