On January the 8th 2017, I watched Kyoto Kanzekai Regular Meeting (January) of Nohgaku in Kyoto Kanzekaikan. The repertoires were Noh Okina（翁）, Noh Oimatsu（老松）, Kyogen Sanbon no Hashira（三本柱）, Shimai Tohoku（東北）, Noh Yuya（熊野）, Shimais Tamura（田村）, Hagoromo（羽衣）, Nomori（野守）, and Noh Midare（乱）.
Okina is a special noh for celebrations of new years. It used to be called as Shikisanban（式三番）. It is a pray for the peace of worlds and countries, concomitantly with lords and our own selves. Oimatsu is a sacerd Wakinohmono（脇能物）. It is a story of an old pine tree of Michizane Sugawara（菅原道真）. Sugawara is a very wise guy who served Emperor Daigo（醍醐天皇）, but by defamation of others, he was sent off for Kyushu island, the very west end of Japan. Then Sugawara composed a tanka, “Kochi huka ba nioi okose yo ume no hana aruji nashi tote haru na wasure so（東風吹かば匂ひおこせよ梅の花あるじなしとて春な忘れそ）” (When the east wind blows, please send off the odor of yourself, plum blossom. Even though there is no master, please do not forget a spring.). There is a legacy that the branch of the plum tree flied from Kyoto to Kyushu, yearning his master. The noh is for the story that besides plum tree, the old pine tree also flied from Kyoto to Kyuhsu, just as the plum tree. The noh celebrates the peace of our country now in calm and rest. Sanbon no Hashira is a kyogen, which describes a wit of three servants who carry down three logs, each of them carries two logs in their hands. The nature of comedy is weakened in this repertoire, celebrating a new year.
Tohoku is a shimai for dance, kadzuramono（鬘物）. It is for a famous poet of Heian period, Idzumi Shikibu, who was finally added to the line of poets as Bodhisattva. Yuya is a noh for dance, kadzuramono（鬘物）. It is a story for a female servant of egoistic Munemori Taira（平宗盛）, which is also characterized in famous Heike Monogatari（平家物語）. The faint and beautiful life of human is compared to that of flowers, and Avalokiteśvara（観音菩薩） appears in the story. It is also used for the introductory course of noh dancing. There is a famous poetic line “Minami wo haruka ni nagamure ba…（南を遥かに眺むれば）” (Looking far beyond southward…). Tamura is a shimai for bushi, shuramono（修羅物）. It is for a famous warrior in early Heian period, Tamuramaro Sakanoue（坂上田村麿）. It is also a shimai for the spiritual power of Avalokiteśvara. Hagoromo is a shimai for dance, kadzuramono（鬘物）. It is a story for celestial maiden, who overcome the sexual attraction. Nomori is a shimai for supernatural being, kirinohmono（切能物）. It is for a daemon of nomori mirror, which preaches there is no suspicion among daemon gods/goddesses. Midare, originally named Shojo（猩々）, is a noh for supernatural being, kirinohmono（切能物）. It is a story for drunker ape in sea, who is an artistic fairy and serves celebrating alcohol to human beings.
The repertoires were arranged as suitable for celebrating the beginning of this year.
