Kissing the Mask: Beauty, Understatement and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater, with Some Thoughts on Muses (Especially Helga Testorf), Transgender Women, ... Geishas, Valkyries and Venus Figurines

Glossary

For definitions and descriptions of relevant Noh mask types, see chapter 3.¹

Atsuita Robe made of a certain thick cloth; generally used for male Noh roles.

Aware The beauty and harmony beyond direct expression which shines uniquely from various entities in their own occasion. In pre-Heian times it was simply joyous; then it became tinged with pathos; now it has connotations of wretchedness. The capacity for appreciating it is sometimes associated especially with the feminine.

Bijin-ga Portraits of beautiful women. Used to refer to ukiyo-e woodcuts and paintings. Hokusai and Kaigetsu are two masters of the form who are mentioned in this book.

Biwa A kind of lute. Lake Biwa has a biwa shape.

Bushido The “way of the warrior,” exemplifying self-discipline, readiness for death, loyalty, chivalry and aesthetic spirituality.

Daimyo Feudal lord.

Dan Section. Used not only for each of the five subdivisions of a Noh play, but also for the chapters of other works, for instance The Tales of Ise.

Dharma An object of perception.

En Charming, or visually beautiful. For example, the decorative virtue of a picture-scroll.

Eri The scarlet collar of a maiko.

Floating world Not at all a uniquely Japanese conception. For instance, an ancient Egyptian love song advises: “Enjoy pleasant hours, and weary not thereof… Behold, no one departed will return again.”

Fue A kind of Noh flute.

Fukinuke yatai Roofless interiors in the Genji Picture-Scroll illustrations and later pictures as well, such as the seventeenth-century woodblocks accompanying the books of Saikaku.

Geiko [Kyoto term.] A full-fledged geisha; hence she has advanced beyond the maiko stage. First used at the end of the seventeenth century by dancing girls who wished to distinguish themselves from prostitutes and therefore called themselves “gei-ko” (literally, “arts-child”).

Hako-iri-musume Girl in a box, meaning a girl brought up with tender care. Although it has been said that Noh masks are meant to be used, not kept in boxes, this term was applied to a certain ko-omote carved by Deme Yasuhisa (a copy of a masterpiece by Tatsuemon).

Haori A protective jacket worn over a kimono.

Hayashi The musicians on a Noh stage.

Hikime kagibana technique Used in Genji Picture-Scrolls and elsewhere to portray faces with stylized understatement. Women’s faces are generally expressed as urizane-gata (winter melon shaped). Such stylized Genji figures are (at least to my mind) recapitulated in almost any of Hokusai’s calligraphic from-the-back sketches of a court beauty: a black hair-oval whose inky tail curves down toward us almost to the floor, an opened fan, subdivided into rectangles and peering over the left shoulder; the nearly semicircular arc of kimono sleeves and shoulders — an ovoid figure, in short, built out of arcs, of kimono-train.

Hikizuri A maiko’s kimono.

Hon’i The decorum appropriate to the expression of a given subject. For instance in a Heian court poem about the approach of the cherry blossom season, hon’i required the expression of a stylized impatience for the flowers to arrive.

Honzetsu The source or “seed” of a Noh play (or of a poem).

Iki Chic, dressy, sexy in the usual understated Japanese way. A band of red in a kimono-sleeve, or, if you like, the red sole of a black high-heeled shoe, are both iki.

Kabuki A more flamboyant form of theater than Noh, using the rapid, agile odori dance rather than mai. The original meaning meant something like “beyond the pale,” or “avant-garde.” Some stories, such as “Dojoji,” are performed in both Noh and Kabuki modes.

Kaga Kanazawa-style kimono pattern, less “fancy” and more “realistic,” geishas say, than that of Kyoto.

Kara-ori Small-sleeved brocaded Noh costumes.

Kotsuzumi Small hourglass Noh drum.

Kyogen Comic drama which is often played between intervals of Noh, and also presented in its own right. Sometimes in Noh a non-comic kyogen part is provided for an actor to explain to the audience the circumstances of the play. Kyogen masks can be more whimsical and fantastical than their Noh counterparts.

Maeshite Shite of the first part, or act, of a Noh play.

Mai The slow and stately form of dance most germane to Noh. Also practiced in some types of Kabuki.

Maiko An apprentice geisha. (Lit.: “Dancing girl,” or “dance-child.”) This readily distinguishable individual is found only in Kyoto.

Mehari Red makeup applied around an onnagata’s eyes.

Miekakure The art of enhancing beauty through tantalization, concealment or delay. Example: a bit of garden seen behind a wall.

Miyabi Courtliness; often associated with Chinese culture or the capital. An example might be the erotic allure of a Heian noblewoman’s sleeve.

Muga Self-effacing repetition of a task or performance until a perfect and egoless accomplishment is achieved.

Nochijite Shite of the second part. [Also: “Mojijite.”]

Nokan A kind of Noh flute.

Nuihaku A kind of small-sleeved satin Noh kimono with embroidery and surihaku, used mainly for female roles.

Nyotai Feminine mode of Noh dance.

Obi Kimono sash. Often very ornate and expensive when used to perform beauty.

Obi-age Silken obi support. More ornate and colorful for maiko than for geiko.

Obi-jime Braid of an obi. Closed with a pocchiri. More ornate and colorful for maiko than for geiko.

Ochaya A geisha teahouse. Traditionally, dancers and musicians perform in the hikae-no-ma, the waiting room or stage, while guests sit in the adjacent zashiki, or eating room. In Kanazawa, the Ochaya Shima in the Higashi Kurawa district displays such features and is currently open to visitors.

Okashi Cheerful, amusing, delightful. For instance, kyogen humor; or the witty spitefulness of Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book.

Okawa See Otsuzumi.

Onnagata A female impersonator in Kabuki. Also called oyama, but the latter is much less respectful.

Oshiroi White makeup worn by geishas and Kabuki actors. Once worn more generally among denizens of the Floating World.

Otsuzumi Large hourglass Noh drum. Also called an okawa.

Ozashiki Geisha entertainment.

Pocchiri Clasp for the obi of a woman’s kimono. More ornate for maiko than for geiko, who sometimes do not wear them at all.

Sabi Pleasant decrepitude not necessarily associated with melancholy. An example might be a fallen leaf or an old peasant hut.

San-san-kudo Ceremony binding a new maiko to her geiko “elder sister.” Generally characteristic of wedding ceremonies.

Sarugaku The precursor to Noh. Literally, “monkey music.” A concatenation of juggleries, dances, etcetera. This word was frequently used by Zeami and his successors to refer to Noh.

Shinto One of the two Japanese religions, coeval with Buddhism. It is difficult to describe briefly and accurately. Shinto has to do with agriculture and the links between Japanese and the land with its indigenous spirits. These links may be strengthened through purification ceremonies or weakened through such defilements as blood, sickness and death. See endnote to “the sin of human beings,” pp. 437–38. Mr. Mikata insisted to me that in the time that Noh dramas were written and set, “Shinto and Buddhism were very interrelated, with no conflict. It was in the Meiji era that Shinto and Buddhism were clearly separated.”

Shironure The white makeup on a geisha’s face.

Shite Principal role in a Noh play.

Shunga Erotic pictures, especially in ukiyo-e.

Shura Damnation.

Surihaku A kind of Noh kimono (or usually under-kimono) characterized by short sleeves and foiled stenciling. Often employed for female roles.

Tabi Split-toed white socks worn by Noh actors, geisha dancers and many women in formal kimono.

Taiko A type of Noh drum, more rarely used than the others.

Takigi-Noh Torchlight Noh performance, usually on a summer night on the grounds of a shrine. Said to have been practiced as early as 875 A.D., before Noh itself existed in its present form. One version (now often performed at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo) is yozakura-Noh, nighttime Noh beneath the cherry blossoms.

Toshima A woman who emanates “mature charm.”

Tsuki One of the three sub-styles of certain young female Noh masks (ko-omote, waka-onna, zo onna, etc.), tsuki means Moon. The other two variants are yuki (snow) and hana (flower). Tsuki masks tend to have their noses tilted a trifle to the left. Yukis’ noses tilt to the right. One actor describes a certain fushikizo thus: “It has a nose tilted to the left, which is the basic ‘Tsuki no Koomote,’ describing the characteristics of a waka-onna. On the back, the left eye is carved double, while the right is triple, which is unique and attractive… My late father Sakon loved it and used it every occasion he could. The details are concrete rather than abstract. The way the lower lip is positioned farther forward than the upper lip, and the gentle look of her almond eyes make her look like a modern beautiful woman.”

Tsure The companion or subordinate role to the shite.

Tsuzumi Hourglass-shaped shoulder drum employed both by geisha and by Noh musicians.

Ukiyo-e Literally, “floating world picture.” Paintings and especially block prints of the pleasure quarters, theaters, kimono fashions, ephemeral beauties of nature, and suchlike subjects calculated to appeal to the escapist tendencies of the Edo period.

Ushin Conviction of feeling or of spirit. A more directly emotional style of classical poetry.

Wabi The beauty of loneliness, desolation, isolation, infinity. One design example given by Boyé Lafayette De Mente is a gold-flecked lacquered box that gives the impression of stars in the night sky.

Waki The witness, whose perception frames and introduces the shite’s story as the narrator does the story of Wuthering Heights.

Yamato-e A stylized form of door- and screen-painting from the late Heian and Kamakura eras. It first came into being around 999. Women thus portrayed appear in expressionless profile or semi-profile, with small mouths, plump cheeks and simplified brush-stroke eyes.

Yonbyoshi Collective term for the flute and three kinds of drums in the “Noh orchestra.” [Also transliterated: “Yonnbyoushi.”]

Yugen Ineffable beauty, often relating to the gaze. This term is often employed in descriptions of Noh. At first it was a Buddhist word meaning “obscure.” In the Heian period it became a poetic virtue.

Yujo Prostitute. The eponymous heroine of the Noh play “Yuya” was one of these. [Sometimes this word is transliterated “yuujo.”]

Yuki See tsuki.

Zashiki-Noh “Drawing room Noh.” Performances held in intimate settings — temples and the like. Cf. ozashiki. The brief discussion of “Michimori” in this book is based on a zashiki-Noh performance at Jumenji Temple.