← Explore on the interactive map

Sarugaku / Noh Origins Performance Culture

Type Object Region Japan Time 1000–1400

Japan's public performance culture known as sarugaku, blending bugaku, Shinto ritual entertainment, secular comedy, and narrative pieces;…

Timeline

  1. 1000–1150Shrines around Kyoto · JapanSarugaku, performed alongside dengaku and ennen at shrine festivals and aristocratic banquets, included comedy, dance, and simple narrative; performers were mostly itinerant troupes called za.
  2. c. 1190–1200Kamakura and the Kinai · KantōIn the 1190s as Minamoto no Yoritomo's power rose, shrine offerings and warrior patronage gave sarugaku troupes more performance opportunities in Kantō and the Kinai; performances remained fairly free, but masks, flutes and drums, and a jo-ha-kyū structure had begun to take shape.
  3. c. 1200–1400Shrines and castle towns across Japan · JapanFrom the Kamakura through early Muromachi period, sarugaku gradually differentiated into the more codified nō and kyōgen; Kan'ami and Zeami theorized yūgen, establishing nō as a mature stage art enjoyed by warriors and nobles alike, completing the paradigm shift of the sarugaku tradition.

Sources