VOL.204 JUNE 2025
JAPAN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH WATER [Discovering Japan Through the Eyes of Japanese Influencers] Experience Nohgaku and Feel the Japanese Spirit

Hosho Nohgakudo (Bunkyo City, Tokyo), a theater dedicated to nohgaku performances, has a hinoki cypress stage with the spirit of Japan. 
Photo: Hoshokai

HOSHO Kazufusa, the 20th souke¹ of the Hosho School of nohgaku shitekata. In this month’s issue, HOSHO speaks of the origins and development of nohgaku, a traditional Japanese performing art.

Nohgaku is a traditional Japanese performing art that attained greatness about 700 years ago. It is inscribed as a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage as the world’s oldest continuously practiced performing art. Shitekata refers to the main role, which is played wearing a mask called a nohmen. There are currently five different stylistic schools concerned with the shitekata role, and I serve as the head of one of them, the Hosho School.

What is your image of nohgaku? You might find it quite different compared to modern entertainment. I think that most mainstream entertainment in modern society offers surprise and emotion to get people’s attention. However, not all cultures have these properties.

For example, do people applaud and cheer at an art museum? A museum is a special space where each visitor quietly faces a work of art and appreciates the subtleties of the mind. Nohgaku also came about as a cultural experience that encourages the viewer to “chill out,” experiencing a quiet peace of mind and body.

One of the sources of nohgaku is the existence of entertainers who came to Japan from ancient China around the 7th century. They were hired by Japanese authorities to present magic, dancing, impersonation, and other performing arts. Eventually, when the Imperial Court declined, many people changed their professions, but some were hired by shrines and temples to relate myths and stories. Later, culture from the Islamic world, China, and the Korean Peninsula flowed in along with trade around the 14th century. Those employed by shrines and temples melded these new cultures with Japanese culture, and the nohgaku we have today came into being. In other words, rather than pure Japanese culture, nohgaku is a very oriental performing art that incorporates the design, architectural, industrial, literary, and religious cultures of various countries.

Geopolitical factors are also at play in the background of Japan’s unique cultural take on “chilling out.” First, Japan is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, as well as an island nation with limited inhabitable land. Although hit by major disasters countless times, the Japanese could not easily migrate, so they needed a culture that could help keep their minds calm. In an era before there was much scientific development, people thought that disasters were the work of ogres. It is said that nohgaku performers helped with prayers for peace and quiet by playing roles symbolizing ogres.

Second, the Japanese are an agricultural people who have fostered a sense of community through rice growing. Since rice cultivation was a repetitive group task, a culture of uniting hearts and minds developed based on a simple 4/4 musical rhythm that all could share.

Against this background, it is said that Japan’s unique ways to “chill out,” including nohgaku, gagaku, and sado, the tea ceremony, were formed. When you visit Japan, I encourage you to experience these.

HOSHO Kazufusa
20th souke of the Hosho School. While carefully maintaining traditional performances, HOSHO also collaborates with other schools and is involved in the revival of past works. In addition to performing, he also plays a managerial role. HOSHO has also worked on overseas cultural exchange projects, mainly in Hong Kong and Italy. He won the 2008 Tokyo University of the Arts Acanthus Music Award, as well as the New Artist Award of the 40th Matsuo Performing Arts Awards in 2019. In 2022, HOSHO served as supervisor of the nohgaku-related scenes in the Disney Plus Drama Shogun. He has also been supervising the manga Shite no Hana – Noh Gakushi Haga Kotaro no Sakikata (“Flower of Shite – Noh Performer Haga Kotaro’s Way of Blooming,” which has been published in a weekly Shonen Sunday new series since October 2024.

• 1. The grand master of a school in a traditional Japanese performing art or martial art.

By HOSHO Kazufusa
Photo: Hoshokai