Sarugaku
Of particular significance is the development of sarugaku troupes in Yamato around Nara and Kyoto during the Kamakura and early Muromachi periods. In particular, the sarugaku Noh troupe Yuzaki, led by Kan'ami, performed in 1374 before the young "shōgun" Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The success of this one performance and the resultant shogunal patronage lifted the artform permanently out of the mists of its plebeian past. From then, the term sarugaku gave way to the current nomenclature, noh. The Japanese term "Sarugaku" is also used in other contexts to refer to a job or profession that seems to debase the employee  or to treat him or her as a source of entertainment rather than as a professional. According to William Scott Wilson, Saragaku translates to "monkey music", is an ancient form of drama, and is the predecessor to Noh. Takuan Sōhō states as fact that "the emperor's recitation is given like Sarugaku".