This site was created by Paul Atkins.
About this Site
Q: What is this?
A: This is an index to translations of Japanese noh plays into English. By clicking on the Japanese title of any noh play, you will learn instantly if the play has been translated into English and, if so, where to find the translation.
Q: What is noh?
A: Noh is a genre of classical Japanese drama perfected in the 14th and 15th centuries. Its texts are intensely lyrical and often based on classics such as the Tale of Genji and the Tale of Heike, waka and Chinese poetry, and folk legends.
Noh is well known for its austere and solemn mode of performance, which includes a specially built, nearly bare stage, exquisitely woven costumes, slow and stately dances, the deeply resonant voices of the chorus, and an orchestra composed of two or three drums and the shrill, haunting flute. Texts that can be read in 15-20 minutes (at least in translation) can take as long as two hours to perform.
For more information about the art, try Prof. Thomas Hare's superb website for his course "Classic Japanese Drama" at Stanford University.
Q: Why would I need an index like this?
A: I can think of four uses you might have for this index.
First, if you have the chance to see a noh play in Japan or even in another country, by all means you should read a translation and bring it with you to the theater (unless you can read classical Japanese). This index will help you find an English translation if you have the title of the play in Japanese.
Second, teachers of literature and drama can use this index to find translations of plays for classroom use.
Third, scholars will be able to find translations of plays to use in their research.
Fourth, translators of noh plays will be able to focus their efforts on plays that have not yet been translated into English, or for which an adequate English version does not yet exist.
Q: Isn't there some other way of locating translations?
A: Not to my knowledge. There is a index in Nogaku zensho (a six-volume collection of materials on noh), but it's unwieldy, not easy to access, and out of date. Also, even if you were to locate anthologies of translations in library databases, it's unlikely that entries would indicate which plays are translated in each volume. This collects the information in one, readily-accessible site.
Q: How about an index of translations of kyogen (traditional comedies)? How about indexing translations into languages other than English?
A: I decided to limit my focus to noh in English because noh is the subject of my current research and because I don't have ready access to materials in other languages, nor sufficient proficiency. But if you would like to create such a site, I'd be glad link to it.
Q: Where do I find the original Japanese versions?
A: The answer to that question is here.
Q: How about including short summaries of the plots?
A: That's something I'll add when I have the time.
Onward! to the English Noh Index