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Nanori, issei, ageuta. Having developed an interest in Noh after watching several performances, you decide to have a look at a simple utai bon, or “chant book,” and come across these terms. As a newcomer to Noh, their meaning is completely lost on you. So you don’t get discouraged when you run into this type of terminology in utai bon and other books on Noh, we have created this categorized glossary of Noh Terminology.

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(翁飾り)

Altar placed by the mirror near the curtain in performances of shikisanban (Okina). While it differs depending on the school, the top half which acts as the shrine holds the hakushikijō or kokushikijō and bell in the menbako, decorated with an okina-eboshi, okina-ōgi and omiki. The bottom half holds the three jewels, with washed rice, rough salt and pottery and sometimes flint. To purify themselves before the performance, a ritual known as sakazuki-goto, the performers gather by the kagami-no-ma to receive omiki “the blessed sake” and washed rise and receive the blessing of the flint sparks.


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