How is Kagura different from Noh?
Both noh and kagura are traditional performing arts of Japan, but they are different in many ways: philosophy, practitioners and government policies.
Shinto vs Buddhism
Generally speaking the themes of noh plays are centered around Buddhism while those of kagura around Shintonism. This is a general statement, because Japanese religious believes are a mixture of Buddhism and Shintonism.
Shinto is the Japanese native religion where the concept is “kami” is treated divine. Shinto is translated into “the ways of gods and goddesses.” Shinto is characterized with rituals performed at shrines, but there is no holy books like Bible. “Kami” is omnipresence, existing in trees, rocks, rivers, buildings, even in a toilet. Its focus is on being clean, healthy and harmonious with others and nature.
Buddhism is imported from China in 6th century. It is a philosophy of saving people from negative emotions to attain enlightenment as well as a promise of going to the utopia after death by being a good person.
The two religions had different focuses, so they complemented each other and were intertwined. Both shrines and temples were built in same sites and Japanese are not particular about the differences of the two religions. They get married in the Shinto style and die in the Buddhist style.
However, there are times when either of them was more influential.
Since Buddhism was imported to Japan in 6th century, Buddhism had played a more important role in Japanese politics until the end of Samurai rule. In 15th century, samurai lords started to play noh whose stories are based on Buddhism. Samurai lords found Buddhism suitable to they way of life. Samurai lords valued discipline, self-discipline and acceptance of death, because they were warriors who face life and death. The teaching of Buddhism values loyalty, honors, and sacrifice.
Priests vs Samurai
Priests had been the main practitioners of kagura until late 19th century when Samurai rule ended and the modern Japanese government began. Kagura rituals consists of two parts: rituals and plays. Rituals are somewhat boring repetition of simple moves: walking clockwise and unclowise, bowing and raising hands upward, etc. However, plays are stories performed for the audience where actors play characters and tell stories. Both rituals and plays were performed Shinto priests and regular people were not allowed to do them because they were sacred. In late 19th century, the new modern Meiji government banned the priests from dancing kagura. Commoners who liked dancing became new practioners of kagura.
Practitioners of noh has more variety than kagura. At the beginning regular people danced noh, but the art of dancing was more sophisticated by a noh star whose name is Zeami. In 14th century, he played and wrote stories and developed theories of noh. He was employed by Great General of Ashikaga Shogunate. Since noh’s philosophy is Buddhism, noh became an art for samurai. Famous samurai lords such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu practiced noh. In 16th century when Tokugawa Shogunate ruled Japan, all the local lords learned noh as an academic subject while they stayed in Edo. Samurai lords patronized professional actors and they built noh stages at temples. Noh education united Japanese local lords, teaching standard Japanese language. During Edo period there were no major wars across Japan and peace continued. Samurai became more refined and developed the taste of zen philosophy. While playing noh by themselves, samurai lords were also patrons of professional actors. In the late 19th century Edo Shogunate, the last samurai government, ended, so did the tradition of samurai dancing noh. Professional noh actors moved to Tokyo after losing their patrons.
Restriction vs Support
After the collapse of the feudal samurai government, kagura was banned twice by the governments. The modern Meiji government found kagura would get in way to modernization of Japan. The main event of kagura rituals is receiving oracles from gods, where a man in a state of trance acts as a messenger of gods to predict if the harvest is good or bad. Such Shamanic rituals might be viewed “backward” and “primitive” from the European perspective. This was not what the new modern Japanese government wanted to construct for their new identity. Japan should be viewed as a modern rational nation.
Another reason why kagura was banned is related to the policy of national Shinto. Shinto had developed into a mixture of Buddhism and a variety of regional believes for 1000 years without any written official documents, it was difficult to control its rituals. The new government sought to reorganize shrines and rituals by placing the Imperial Family as the head of Shinto as a way to govern the whole nation under the rule of the new centralized government in Tokyo.
The other restriction on kagura happened at the end of World War II in 1945. General MacArther of GHQ occupied Japan when it surrendered. General MacArther issued “Shinto Directives” because he thought Shinto was the driving force of the Japanese militant mindset. Shinto Directives included kagura performances. During the war kagura performances were used as a propaganda to incite the will to fight.
Contrary to this unfortunate treatment of kagura, noh received more positive treatment by the government. Noh actors had received salaries from samurai lords for 300 years during Edo period, but they all lost their jobs in the late 19th century. The actors were demoted to the status of commoners. Some of them started farming and business, but others started theater business called “kan-jin-noh.” It is a noh show to collect donation from audience to raise money for renovating temples and shrines. Noh companies charged audience admission fees. Soon the audience of noh expanded to commoners. Former samurai lords and aristocrats held noh events inviting Imperial family members. A new noh stage was built in one of the residences of the Imperial family. Mother of Meiji Emperor lived in the residence and she was a fan of noh. In 1881, an organization was formed by Iwakura Tomomi, a renounced politician from an aristocratic family, to protect the tradition of noh, and another noh theater was built in Tokyo. At the theater students practiced dance and singing.
Iwakura Tomomi played an important role to support the tradition of noh. He was the leader of Iwakura Mission. He lead 107 young leaders of Japan to visit United States and European countries. They exposed themselves to advanced technologies until they return to Japan in 1973. They saw an opera performance in a theater where king and queen among the audience. Kume Kunitake, a historian who was in Iwakura Mission, wrote that noh was similar to opera as the most refined form of plays.
Summary of Difference between Kagura and Noh
Both kagura and noh are traditional performing arts that have long history. In general, kagura is based on Shinto and practiced by Shinto priests. It was not actively supported by the governments. Noh, on the other hand, is based on Buddhism and practiced by samurai. It was more actively supported by the government. However, both kagura and noh are intertwined and it is difficult to clearly separate the two traditions.
