Hōshō (Noh school)

Hōshō(宝生) is the name of a school of Noh (能), classical musical drama of Japan. Today there are five schools which are specialized in shite (シテ, the role of protagonists in Noh), namely Kanze(観世), Hōshō(宝生), Kita(喜多), Kongō(金剛) and Komparu(金春). Each school except Kita was founded in Nara about 600 years ago, but now Kanze, Hōshō and Kita (derived from Kongō during Edo period) are basing their main activity on Tokyo.

Next to Kanze, Hōshō is the second largest school now. It owns the main Noh theater in Bunkyō, near Tokyo Dome, so most Noh players belonging this school lives in Tokyo including Sōke (宗家, the hereditary head of the family). Though Kanazawa(金沢, the capital of Kaga province) has also been famous for Noh of Hōshō, because feudal lords of Kaga were ardent patrons of Hōshō Noh play. As well as Tokyo and Kanazawa this school has been popular in Sado, Kurume, Nagoya and Kyoto.

The style of Hōshō has been often expressed as “introspective”, compared to sophisticated Kanze. The choreography of Hōshō is simpler and more abstract, which you may find it difficult to interpret. Hōshō school also has a complex musical scales of songs. The songs, they are called Utai(謡) in Japanese, has a lot of notes and melodies frequently rise and fall. Due to its own system of Utai, they have called the school “Utai Hōshō”.

In Tokyo and Kanazawa, the school gives regularly scheduled performances several times a month. In Tokyo you can watch two series of monthly performance by professional actors, “Goun(五雲, five clouds)” and “Tsukinami(月並, monthly performed)”. The name of Goun is derived from the symbol of this school, which is also drawn on fans used in training of Hōshō.

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