Sponsored Collaborative Research
A Re-examination of Phantom Noh from the Perspective of the Production of Ai-kyōgen Scripts and the Aikyōgen Narratives
Leader: NISHIMURA Satoshi Professor, College of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University
Member: ODA Sachiko, IWASAKI Masahiko, AMIMOTO Naoko, IKAI Takamitsu
Research Objectives: With the exception of materials in private hands, most texts relating to ai-kyōgen are to be found in the Noh Theatre Research Institute and Kōzan Bunko collection at Hosei University. The publication of transcriptions and facsimiles of ai-kyōgen materials has tended to favor the Ōkura School. We must also consider the Izumi school and Sagi schools to understand their differences and historical development, but it is not easy to prepare this for the analysis of noh plays. Another problem is the idea that the actor in the interval simply summarizes or restates what the shite actor has already said. However, it is only natural for the person involved in the action of the play (the shite) and the third person outsider (the ai) to express different points of view. By analyzing how these differences are reflected in noh play construction, we can arrive at a new understanding and appreciation of phantom plays. With this in mind, we will compile unedited texts of the Izumi and Sagi schools and introduce them to noh researchers and general devotees of noh. Our aim is to contribute to better analyses of specific plays. We hope that the study of plays will be revitalized by greater scholarly access to unedited texts and by better understanding of the differences in the ai-kyōgen of the three schools.
Research Methodology: We will select ai-kyōgen texts needing transcription, particularly those of the Izumi and Sagi schools. Three meetings will be held for progress reports and discussion of problems noted during transcription and points of interest for the study of plays. Transcriptions and noh studies will be published in subsequent years.