DRAMA

Noh Play

 The earliest survival form of Japanese Drama, Noh plays, emerged during
the fourteenth century. In some respect, Noh Theatre is like the drama of
ancient Greece.
 The plays are performed on an almost bare stage by a small but
elaborately costumed cast of actors wearing masks;
 The actors are accompanied by a chorus; and
 The plays are written either in verse or in highly poetic prose
Yet dramas themselves are decidedly Japanese, reflecting many Shinto and
Buddhist beliefs, along with a number of the dominant Japanese artistic
preference.
Noh Play Photos
Joruri or puppet play

 Bunraku (文楽), also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of

traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of
17th century. Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:
the Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai (puppeteers), the Tayū (chanters),
and shamisen musicians. Occasionally other instruments such
as taiko drums will be used.
 The combination of chanting and shamisen playing is called jōruri and the
Japanese word for puppet (or dolls, generally) is ningyō. It is used in many
plays.