TAKIGI NOH
Bonfires and ancient musical theater at a historic shrine
(This article was first published in the KVG June, 1988 by Jonah Salz)
Five thousand of the faithful crowd inside the shrine precincts.
As dusk approaches, an elaborately costumed priest ceremoniously lights the firewood surrounding the stage.
The torches sputter and spark, revealing glimpses of the gleaming red wood of the shrine.
At the end of the bridgeway to the stage, a masked figure appears: the ghost of a woman caught in the purgatory of her attachment to the world. As a hollow flute soars above the clack and thump of primitive drums, the spirit glides to the center of the stage, her deep sadness revealed in the flare and shadow of the torches below. As she begins a climactic dance of passionate regret, accompanied by the low and mournful chant of the chorus, we sense the torment of a soul caught in hell fires.
Except for the cameras and the metal chairs we sit on, we might never know that thi is not some ritual of a half- millennium ago, but Kyoto's contemporary Takigi Noh held each June 1st and 2nd at the Heian Shrine. Sponsored by Kyoto City and the Kyoto Noh Theatre Association, Takigi Noh offers first-time visitors to Japan an excellent opportunity to witness accessible, inexpensive dance-drama in a fabulous outdoor setting.
Takigi, or "Firewood" Noh, is actually a convergence of three traditions. Kofukuji Temple in Nara is the site of the original Takigi Noh said to have first occurred in 1130. This was a religious rite, performed annually in February, attended by shoguns throughout the Edo Period (1603-1868). It was held at night, and was lit by torches because they offered the brightest possible lightings.
The outdoor, public tradition derives from Kanjin, or "Subscription" Noh. Most performances during the 500-year history of noh were held in the daytime at temple stages, or indoors by candle or torch light, for select audiences of Japan's nobility, the samurai, Noh actors were considered of art of the samurai class, and their salaries were paid by their lords.
Kanjin Noh were special public performances, often to raise money for rebuilding a temple. The headmasters of the five schools of noh were also permitted to hold Subscription Noh performances on their retirement, as a once-in-a-lifetime finale and as a way of raising their "severance pay." These performances were held on specially-built stages in open fields, temples and riverbanks; and since they were offered only once every ten or fifteen years, the curious townsmen flocked to see them. The ten-day Subscription Noh held at the retirement of the Hosho head-master in the mid-19th century is said to have attracted 6000 spectators each day.
In 1949, the Kyoto Noh Association decided to stage an annual spectacle at the Heian Shrine which was built to commemorate Kyoto as the nation's capital. Borrowing the torches from Nara and the outdoor setting from Subscription Noh, these inexpensive and thrilling performances began in May. Three years later the dates were fixed on June 1st and 2nd. But there was something still missing from the event, and, taking a cue from the ceremony of lighting and passing the Olympic torch, a "Firewood Lighting Ceremony" was added in 1952.
This proved to be the icing, or rather candles, on the cake: Takigi Noh took off like wildfire. Every city park, public swimming pool, country club, castle and hotel wanted to hold an annual Takigi Noh to bask in the reflected glory of the atmospheric spectacle.
Today there are over a hundred regular annual "Firewood Noh" performances taking place throughout the country. Some employ laser lighting for special background effects, such as the rolling waves of the Japan Sea, but Kyoto's original Takigi Noh eschews such pyrotechnics. Not even microphones are used, and the actor's unamplified voices must full the huge shrine precincts, and reach the hearts of up to 6000 spectators.
Audiences for Takigi Noh are not the usual ones for the indoor performances held at noh theatres. They are younger, less knowledgeable -- perhaps 40% of each year's audiences are viewing noh for the first time. Some get hooked and become fans of the "real thing."
What kind of people enjoy Takigi Noh? Some say the lighting of the fires stirs people's hearts with some primitive attraction to light and fire. Others maintain that Takigi Noh offers a kind of time trip to those who feel they may have been born in the wrong era. Still others come because it's a festival, a gathering of the entire town for a night of enlightenment. Each night's program consists of some noh plays, one kyogen farce, and some short dances.