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Paper short abstract

I present a thematic analysis of Yuasa’s 1961 electroacoustic adaptation of the noh play Aoi no Ue based on Tale of Genji. As a noh-trained composer, his alterations of the play and use of electronics dramatizes the play’s poetry and subtext while transmitting noh’s aesthetics to modern ears.

Paper long abstract

Aoi no Ue is a classic Japanese noh theatre play attributed to Zeami that dramatizes a famous episode from The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu. Between 1957-1961, composers Jōji Yuasa, Toshiro Mayuzumi, and Michiko Toyama adapted this play into electroacoustic music. As the only one trained at a noh school (Hōshō), Yuasa’s adaptation is important for its transmission of noh’s traditional aesthetics and performance practice. This article presents a thematic analysis of Yuasa’s 1961 adaptation of Aoi no Ue, created at Sogetsu Art Center with sound engineer/inventor Zyunosuke Okuyama and the renowned noh actors/descendants of Zeami, the Kanze brothers Hisao, Hideo, and Shizuo. I create a transcript using recordings of Yuasa’s adaptation and traditional performances of Aoi no Ue by the Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, and Kita schools, the National Noh Theatre of Tokyo’s performance guide of this play, and translations of The Tale of Genji. I argue that Yuasa’s alterations from the play’s text and selective use of audio processing techniques (e.g. looping, pitch shifting, reverb) dramatizes the play’s poetry, tragedy, and subtext from two chapters of Genji, and with sensitivity to noh’s traditional aesthetics (e.g. ma, yūgen, jo-ha-kyū). I use examples including Yuasa’s integration of diegetic sounds (e.g. owl calls) described in Genji, his composition of additional electronic instrumental sections that follow the internal workings of noh music, and the focus of his electroacoustic processing on noh songs (utai) and drum calls (kakegoe) in contrast to his omission of drums (ōtsuzumi, kotsuzumi, and taiko), flute (nohkan), and dialogue (e.g. mondô). I categorize Yuasa’s adaptation as a “Noh-Expansion” alongside Yokomichi Mario’s The Hawk Princess (1967) as opposed to a “Noh-Inspired work” by virtue of preserving noh’s internal elements and traditional aesthetics whilst changing some external elements. Created amidst Yuasa and Hideo Kanze’s avant-garde cinema projects in the 1960s, Yuasa advanced Hideo Kanze’s vision for revitalizing classical noh by expanding its traditional practice, aesthetics, and sound world with a cinematic dimension of electroacoustic processing techniques and sounds for modern audiences.

Keywords: joji yuasa, noh-expansion, tale of genji, intercultural music, electroacoustic music

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Paper short abstract

Noh is a classical Japanese art where chanting conveys narrative. Though its notation system dates back centuries, it has been understudied due to Western influence. This paper reconsiders Noh notation as integral, tied to embodied practice, linguistic structure, and cultural tradition.

Paper long abstract

Noh is a classical Japanese performing art in which narrative is conveyed through melodically inflected chanting performed by actors and a chorus. The notational system for this chanting developed from the fourteenth century, when Zeami systematized Noh theory, and by the Edo period had largely assumed the form still used today. Despite this long history, notation for narrative genres has rarely been treated as a subject of scholarly inquiry and has remained marginal in both research and education.

This neglect is often explained by the assumption that Noh notation provides little concrete information about pitch and functions merely as a mnemonic aid. More fundamentally, it reflects the impact of cultural policies since the Meiji period, which promoted Western music and Western-based models of arts and music education. Over time, these policies contributed to the devaluation of traditional Japanese vocal practices and their associated notational systems.

This paper reconsiders Noh notation as an integral element of narrative performance rather than a secondary aid. Noh chant is transmitted through embodied pedagogical practices in which performers trace goma (sesame-shaped neumes) with hand gestures while chanting. These notational signs are internalized and embodied by performers, demonstrating their close connection to musical and narrative cognition.

The paper further situates Noh chant within the linguistic structure of Japanese, in which consonant–vowel syllables encourage the clear articulation of each unit in narrative delivery. This mode of articulation, shared with ritual recitations such as Shinto norito, corresponds closely to the syllable-based structure of Noh notation. By integrating perspectives from performance studies, linguistic analysis, and modern cultural history, this presentation contributes to broader discussions of narrative, notation, and embodiment in Japanese studies.

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Paper short abstract

On 18 June 2023, a nō drama, Midare Wagō, was staged at the National Theatre in Warsaw. It was a so-called hiraki mono spectacle, in which one of the Hōshō school nō artists achieved her full potential. The author examines rites of passage in nō theatre from an anthropological perspective.

Paper long abstract

On June 18, 2023, the rarely performed nō theatre drama Midare Wagō was staged at the National Theatre in Warsaw. The paper’s author and Takeda Isa, a nō actress of the Hōshō school, were responsible for staging the play, which was performed for the first time outside Japan. Wagō (Harmony) is one of several unusual versions (kogaki) of the Midare play by an unknown author. Within the Hōshō school, it is an essential rite of passage (hiraki mono), through which a nō performer achieves full artistic potential and begins a fully "adult" chapter of professional activity within the guild. A hiraki play is technically and psychologically highly demanding, requiring much practice and the cultivation of the proper attitude towards the stage and other members of the organisation. The term hiraki mono is paired with the term narai, which denotes plays and performances that require special permission. Narai for the shite kata actors representing all five schools includes Shakkyō (Stone Bridge), Dōjōji, Midare (or Shōjō Midare), Okina, and Obasute, the latter usually realised during the last period of artistic development. For the waki kata performers, these are Chōryō (General Zhang Liang), Dōjōji, and Sumidagawa – by Kanze Motomasa (1394?-1432). For kyōgen actors, the hiraki-status dramas include Tsuri gitsune (The Fox Hunter) and Hanago (Flower), among others. For the hayashi kata musicians, it would usually be Zeami’s play Kiyotsune and, again, Dōjōji by Kanze Nobumitsu (1435 or 1450 – 1516), especially its ranbyoshi section, with very irregular patterns and changing tempo. Performers spend their lifetimes practising narai in accordance with their stage careers and ages. It is the initial performance of a narai piece, which will be treated as a hiraki; the performer's status is elevated if he or she is able to complete it. For this presentation, the author interviewed nō artists - shite and waki actors as well as musicians - asking them about the nature of hiraki stage rituals. The author wishes to examine the rites of passage in nō theatre from an anthropological perspective. These considerations will be supplemented with an analysis of contemporary nō’s gender policy.