See also Four Questions: Four Noh Musicians.
Noh Perfomer Profiles
Isso Yukihiro (2016, 2018, 2022 Festival)
Nohkan Flute
Yukihiro is the eldest son of the late Isso Yukimasa, a prominent nohkan performer of the post-war era. Yukihiro first performed in public at the age of nine and has since appeared in most of the Noh plays in the classical repertoire. As well as the nohkan flute, Yukihiro also plays a variety of other Japanese and Western flutes. He has a deserved reputation for improvisation having performed with the likes of Cecil Taylor, Peter Brötzmann, and John Zorn. He has composed several new pieces for the Noh theatre including Hengenka which was performed in Noh Reimagined 2022. Yukihiro holds the title “Important Intangible Cultural Asset”.
Sano Noboru (2022 Festival)
Noh (shite) main role actor
Noboru was born into a family of Noh performers which includes his legendary uncle Hajime Sano. In 1970, at the age of 10, Noboru became a pupil of Hosho Fusao XVIII, the head of the Hosho School. Subsequently he continued his studies at the Tokyo University of the Arts. After his first performance in 1977, Noboru performed major Noh pieces such as Okina, Shakkyo, Dojoji and Midare. Apart from professional performing, his passion is teaching Noh to young people. To do this he visits schools across Japan throughout the year to give workshops. In 2021, as part of Dance Dance Dance @ YOKOHAMA, the largest dance festival in Japan, Noboru collaborated with a celebrated street dancer SAM to choreograph a new work. He holds the title “Important Intangible Cultural Asset”.
Kawase Takashi (2022 Festival)
Noh (shite) main role actor
Born in Nigata prefecture, Takashi first studied Noh under Hosho Husao XX and Watanabe Junnosuke. After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts, he began his apprenticeship in Noh with the Hosho school. He has performed many classical Noh pieces and is keen on collaborative works which fuse Noh and other art genres. His workshop group actively operates in Tokyo and his hometown in Nigata. His tenets are not to forget the beginner’s humility, and the unity of body and mind.
Tanabe Kyosuke (2018, 2022 Festival)
(Ko-tsuzumi) shoulder drum (Okura School)
Born in Nigata, Kyosuke is one of the most sought after kotsuzumi players of the younger generation. His first encounter with Noh was at the Noh circle at Hosei University where he studied law. A professional Noh performance he saw changed his life and subsequently he joined the National Noh Theatre Noh training course. After this he continued studying under Okura Genjiro, a living national treasure of the Okura School. Kyosuke has played in many important Noh pieces including Midare, Okina, Dojoji, and Shakkyo.
He believes studying Noh chant daily helps his Noh music performance which is to support the dancing and chanting of the shite actors.
Ubaura Risa (2022 Festival)
(Taiko) stick drum
Risa is one of the most promising up-and-coming taiko drummers. She started playing the taiko drums at her local bon dance festivals (a Japanese/Buddhist custom to pray for the repose of the souls of ancestors with music, dance and feasting). This led her to undertake rigorous specialist training at the National Noh Theatre, where she studied with taiko masters including Mishima Gentaro and the late Komparu Kunikazu. She constantly aspires to perform the more challenging classical Noh pieces and has recently performed Midare and Shakkyo.
Umano Masaki (2016 and 2018 Festival)
Noh (shite) main role actor
Born in 1965 in Kyoto, Masaki Umano is a prominent actor of the Tessenkai group of the Kanze school. Umano first performed on stage at the age of three and performed his first noh at the age of seven. He has performed the lead shite role in numerous plays including Midare, Shakkyo, Dojoji and Mochizuki. A graduate of Tokyo University of Arts, he has performed with the Tessenkai in Germany, Ireland, United States, France, Poland and Greece. Umano has been designated an Important Intangible Cultural Asset by the Japanese government.
Mitsuhiro Kakihara (2016 and 2018 Festival)
(O-tsuzumi) hip drum
Born in 1972, Mitsuhiro studied the otsuzumi from his father, Takashi Kakihara, a prominent post-war noh performer of the Takayasu school of drumming. Mitsuhiro first performed on stage at the age of seven. Today, he performs regularly in the Tokyo area and is passionate about training the younger generation of noh performers. Mitsuhiro is a graduate of Tokyo University of Arts and has been designated an Important Intangible Cultural Asset by the Japanese government.
Yoshitani Kiyoshi (2016 and 2018 Festival)
(Taiko) stick drum
Yoshitani Kiyoshi started performing Taiko at the age of 11 when he became apprenticed to the legendary Uemon Komparu the 22nd. Since 1995, Yoshitami has performed throughout Japan and he is acknowledged as one of the finest Taiko performers of the Noh repertoire. Based in Fukuoka, South Japan, he has reached out to Okinawa to teach Noh to local musicians. His collaboration with Okinawan musicians includes famous folk singer Misako Oshiro. He has been designated an “Important Intangible Cultural Asset” by the Japanese government.
Jiichi Asami (2018 Festival)
Noh (shite) main role actor
Jiichi is a renowned Noh actor of the Kanze School. He studied under his father, Masataka Asami, and the late Tetsunojo Kanze VIII. He made his Noh theatre debut at the age of three performing Shimai (Noh dance) and “Oimatsu” (The Old Pine Tree). He is active in overseas performances, new and revived Noh works, and collaborations with other arts forms including films. Asami assists with Yoyogi Kachokai, a Noh performance group, which is directed by his father, and periodically holds performances at the Yoyogi Noh theatre, the only outdoor Noh theatre in Tokyo. Asami has been designated an “Important Intangible Cultural Asset” by the Japanese government
Yoshimasa Kanze (2016 Festival)
Noh (shite) main dancer-actor
Yoshimasa Kanze is widely known as one of the most prominent Noh performers of the Kanze school (one of the five schools of the shitekata or main role of noh) today. Yoshimasa was born in Tokyo in 1970 and is the eldest son of legendary Yoshiyuki Kanze, the third-generation master of the Yarai Kanze school of Noh that split from the school of Tetsunojo Kanze in the Meiji Period (1868-1912). Yoshimasa performed for the first time on the stage at the age of two years and seven months, when he danced an Oimatsu. His first Noh performance was in 1975 and since then he has performed the important Noh roles of Sagi, Ran, Shakkyo, Okina, Dojoji and Sotoba Komachi. He is a member of the Kamiasobi group which he founded with other Noh performers in the aim to offer experiences of Noh to new audiences. He has been designated an “Important Intangible Cultural Asset” by the Japanese government.
Official Website : http://kamiasobi.com/
Tatsushi Narita (2016 Festival)
(Ko-tsuzumi) shoulder drum
Tatsushi Narita was born in 1964 in Kobe. He learnt Ko-tsuzumi under Hiroaki Sowa (a living national treasure). Narita’s career as a professional Ko-tzusumi performer started at the age of 13. He is mainly based in Kansai area and has performed all the important Noh pieces. Since the 1980’s Narita has been passionate about promoting Ko-tsuzumi to new audiences and to achieve this he has adopted an innovative approach to performing Noh music. As one of the leading Ko-tsuzumi exponents, Narita has actively performed overseas. Notably at the Metropolitan Museum, New York, the Athens Festival in Greece, and at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. He has been designated an “Important Intangible Cultural Asset” by the Japanese government.