page_title: Medieval Japanese literature
section_title: Noh, kyōgen and kōwakamai
hierarchical_section_title: Medieval Japanese literature / Literature of the late medieval period / Noh, kyōgen and kōwakamai
caption_attribution_description: 500px provided description: The area where 'Noh' performance is the most popular in Japan. [#Noh ,#? ,#sadoisland ,#japantrip ,#??]
context_page_description: Japan's medieval period was a transitional period for the nation's literature. Kyoto ceased being the sole literary centre as important writers and readerships appeared throughout the country, and a wider variety of genres and literary forms developed accordingly, such as the gunki monogatari and otogi-zōshi prose narratives, and renga linked verse, as well as various theatrical forms such as noh. Medieval Japanese literature can be broadly divided into two periods: the early and late Middle Ages, the former lasting roughly 150 years from the late 12th to the mid-14th century, and the latter until the end of the 16th century.
  The early Middle Ages saw a continuation of the literary trends of the classical period, with court fiction continuing to be written, and composition of waka poetry reaching new heights in the age of the Shin-kokin Wakashū, an anthology compiled by Fujiwara no Teika and others on the order of Emperor Go-Toba. One new genre of that emerged in this period was the gunki monogatari, or war tale, of which the representative example of The Tale of the Heike, a dramatic retelling of the events of the wars between the Minamoto and Taira clans.
context_section_description: Drama is a major facet of Japanese literature in the medieval period. From the Heian period on, entertainments such as sangaku, dengaku and sarugaku had been popular among the common people, while temples hosted music and dance rituals, namely fūryū and ennen. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Kan'ami and his son Zeami, artists in the Yamato sarugaku, tradition created noh (also called nōgaku), which drew on and superseded these forerunner genres. These men were able to accomplish this task not just because of their own skill and effort, but also the tremendous favour shown to the burgeoning art form by the Ashikaga shoguns. Kan'ami and Zeami—especially the latter—were great actors and playwrights, and pumped out noh libretti (called yōkyoku) one after the next.
  Zeami also composed more than 20 works of noh theory, including Fūshi Kaden, Kakyō and Kyūi. Ichiko calls these excellent works of aesthetic and dramatic theory, which drew directly on Zeami's experience and personal genius. Zeami's son-in-law Konparu Zenchiku inherited these writings, but his own works such as Rokurin Ichiro no Ki (六輪一露之記) show the influence of not only Zeami but of waka poetic theory and Zen. Later noh theorists like Kanze Kojirō Nobumitsu continued to develop on the ideas of Zeami and Zenchiku, and under the auspices of the warrior class, the nobility, and various temples and shrines the noh theatre continued to grow and expand its audience into the Edo period.
  Closely related to noh, and performed alongside it, was kyōgen (also called noh-kyōgen). Kyōgen was likely a development of sarugaku, but placed more emphasis on dialogue, and was humorous and often improvised. At some time around the Nanbokuchō period this genre split off from mainstream noh, and it became customary for a kyōgen performance to be put on between two noh plays. The language of kyōgen became solidified to a certain extent by around the end of the Muromachi period (mid-16th century). According to Ichiko, while noh consists of song, dance, and instrumentals, is more "classical" and "symbolic", and is based on the ideal of yūgen, kyōgen relies more on spoken dialogue and movement, is more "contemporary" and "realistic", and emphasizes satire and humour. Its language is more vernacular and its plots more comedic.
  Kōwakamai developed somewhat later than noh. According to tradition, the form was established by Momoi Naoaki (桃井直詮), a Nanbokuchō warrior's son whose infanthood name was Kōwakamaru (幸若丸). Kōwakamai were performed by low-class entertainers in the grounds of temples and shrines, as musical adaptations of the medieval war tales, with their dances being straightforward and simple. 51 libretti are extant, including heiji-mono (平治物, works based on the Heiji Monogatari), heike-mono (平家物, works based on The Tale of the Heike), hōgan-mono (判官物, works about the tragic hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune), and soga-mono (曽我物, works based on the Soga Monogatari). Such performances were apparently well-loved by members of the warrior class during the chaotic period of the late 15th and 16th centuries, but went into decline in the Edo period.
caption: Noh developed into a full-fledged art form during this period.
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