THE ART OF NOH

Days No.2, Page 34

The art of allusion is the root of Noh. Only through strict reduction of all elements, deep emotional nuances can come to light. “It is a stage where every subsidiary art is bent precisely upon holding the faintest shade of a difference; where even the poet may be silent” wrote Ezra Pound. Amazingly Noh’s powerful effect is created by very few story devices: The “Jo-ha-kyū” (beginning, break, rapid) structure, an open stage, sporadic music, and costumes that are artworks in themselves. 

Ogata Gekko ‘Nogaku’, 1981

Costume, Edo period (1615–1868), The MET

Akira Kurosawa ‘Throne of Blood’, 1957

Ikko Tanaka, Poster for Noh event, 1958

Issey Miyake & Ikko Tanaka, 2016