in height and larger, were created, elaborately costumed in textiles closely approximating those worn on the Noh stage. Noningyō, however, were rarely, if ever, created with masks, a signature element of the Noh drama itself. Karakuri (mechanical) gosho frequently have masks attached depicting the faces of Okina or some other highly recognizable figure, but nō-ningyō relied on the intimate knowledge of the viewer to reveal their identities: tableau images re-enacting scenes from famous plays were created, figures grouped in telling ways, with their accessories and textiles giving a name to the unspoken drama presented.
As a dramatic form, Noh had its origins early in Japanese history, in ritual dances held at Shintō shrines designed to entertain the gods and to invite blessings. Buddhist priests from certain esoteric sects also used performance to educate and convey their religious ideals to the public. Lay itinerant performers traveled the countryside as well, using shrine and temple precincts in which to showcase their talents that included brief skits, dance, and acrobatics. Called sarugaku (monkey music), these performances gradually became more sophisticated, frequently taking on some of the more sacred elements of their religious counterparts. The chronology of this early development is unclear, but by the end of the Heian period, certain Noh dances that we recognize today, such as Okina, were already established pieces with a highly cultured patronage and a rapidly developing material culture.
It was during the Muromachi period (1392-1573), however, under the influence of the great Noh playwrights Kan'ami (d. 1384) and Zeami (1364-1433) that Noh was elevated to an art form of unparalleled sophistication. Beautifully written poetry, highly minimalist and stylized dance, accompanied by a rich but codified instrumentation, transformed loosely structured skits into highly emotive theatrical productions. Works such as Atsumori, Matsukaze, and Takasago drew from a rich heritage of courtly and martial traditions to create characters and worlds mysteriously remote and inscrutable, yet intimately familiar to the noble and military classes. These two authors and their disciples established a tradition of performance rigor and lyrical beauty that became the standard by which all future playwrights would be measured. They also re-affirmed a cultural patronage among the Ashikaga shōguns and the nobility ensconced in their Kyoto palaces that was to set Noh apart from all other performing art forms. During the Edo period, Noh itself remained in many respects the private playground of the huge (noble) and buke (military) classes. Government edicts issued throughout the period sought to maintain this distinction between elite and plebian arts. The common man had their Kabuki, jōruri puppet dramas, street fairs, and corner raconteurs. The ruling classes had Noh. Gosho-ningyō featuring Noh subject matter therefore had a particular appeal for members of the ruling class and were particularly well patronized by this group.
Noh plays are generally divided into five distinct categories: god plays, warrior plays, women plays, realistic (or mad) plays, and demon plays. The celebrated masks worn in many roles were important in identifying the nature of the character. Costuming also played an essential role in the Noh tradition, helping to establish mood and provide insight into the character's psyche. Additional accessories such as headgear and held objects further specified the roles and character identities of nō-ningyō.
The group of three figures shown here depicts a nō-ningyō trio from an unidentified Noh drama. They are each clothed in identical green silk brocade kariginu-style coats with a repeated pattern of butterflies surrounding a hanabishi diamond flower with scattered peony blossoms, a purple inner lining, and purple and white sleeve tie cords. Their coats are worn over nagabakama (long trousers) executed in a kani-arare white checkerboard pattern with a mokkō (melon) crest design. Each figure sports a lacquered eboshi-style court cap. The standing figure holds a fan in his right hand. This positioning suggests that he is the principal of the three dolls.
This particular set was once in the Nishizawa Tekiho collection and has been published frequently since 1955. Since that time, no definitive identification for the set has been put forth as to which Noh drama might be presented here. Records in the possession of the Nishizawa family indicate that the set dates from Tenmei 1, corresponding to the year 1781, but nothing appears to exist to create a secure identity for the figures themselves. Clues drawn from their attire can only help to narrow the range of possibilities, but do not present us with a clear-cut identity. The kariginu robes, for example, were appropriate for a number of different roles, ranging from gods to demons. But when paired with the eboshi cap, they would likely be limited to courtiers or ministers, placing them in the fourth category of realistic plays. This, combined with the egalitarian nature of their attire, might tempt one to suggest the courtier Narahira and his traveling companions from the play Kakitsubata, for example, but without documentation it is only speculation.
Nō-ningyō trio
Edo period, 18th century
Dated First Year of Tenmei (1781)
Standing height 15 inches
Seated height 12 inches
Carabet Collection
Nō-ningyō: Yōkihi
The Chinese poem The Tale of Everlasting Sorrow by Po Chu-i (772-846) established Yang Kuei-fei (Jp. Yōkihi) as one of the great tragic beauties of history. Po Chu-i's original tale chronicles the rise of a beautiful young woman named Yang from modest origins to her role as the principal concubine to the Chinese Tang emperor, Xuanzong (Jp. Gensō, r. 713-56). Her tragic death at the hands of the emperors soldiers and his grief over her death soon became a source for classic references in China as well as Japan. Po Chu-i was one of the most popular Chinese authors in Japan during the Heian period. The oldest extant Japanese version of the tale is included in the Konjaku monogatari-shu (Tales of Times Now Past) compiled in 1120. Yokihi and the tragedy of her situation are also mentioned in the opening paragraph of the Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji) by Murasaki Shikubu written ca. 1008-15, and her beauty is extolled in Sei Shōnagons Makura no soshi (The Pillow Book) ca. 996.
In the tale, Gensō, unable to be consoled, sends a Taoist adept to search the other realms to find the emperors lost love. He finds Yokihi on Horai, the Island of the Immortals. In a heart-rending exchange, Yokihi laments a life and love now lost to her forever. To furnish proof of her unfailing love for Genso, she offers the adept a jeweled hairpin. When pressed for something more conclusive as evidence of their meeting, she shares these words which the two lovers had repeated to each other in the garden one moonlit evening: "In heaven may we be twin birds that share a wing; On Earth may we be twin trees with branches intertwined." The pain of her loss and the eloquence of her expression captured perfectly the Japanese sense of yūgen, variously rendered as "depth and mystery," or somewhere between "graceful elegance" and "subtle mystery," a quality that came to define much of Japanese Noh drama.
In the fifteenth century Yokihi was given a more purely "Japanese" form when it was transformed into a Noh drama by Komparu Zenchiku (1405-68). Although he borrowed liberally from Po's original, Zenchiku dispensed entirely with Yokihi's early life and death, focusing exclusively on the interchange between the Taoist adept and Yokihi, already lost and suffering alone on the Island of the Immortals. Yokihi articulates the pain of remembering exquisite moments of the life she can never reclaim. In a slow, mesmerizing dance, she sings:
All, all is a play of fantasy and dreams
When I think upon the far, far past gone long ago,
I cannot tell when these countless lives began.
Yet of all the twenty-five existences,
Which escapes the unalterable principle
That he who is born must die?
How much more wretched the boundaries
Of uncertain fate!
