The Significance of the Waki in Nō and Other Essays

What gives a supporting role its significance in nō? How can a bowl of New Year water promise renewed life? What is lost when a master storyteller’s voice becomes printed prose? Orikuchi Shinobu follows these questions through theater, folk belief, poetry, and modern literature.

The opening essay reconstructs relations between divine appearances and their supporting performances. Theater recollections then lead from Osaka’s popular stages to the growth of Kyoto troupes. A substantial essay on first water explores dialect words, ancestral succession, and the transformation of ritual blessings into greetings and entertainment. A personal reply to Saitō Mokichi considers the contrasting inheritance of city and country poets. The final essay examines the possibilities of expression between poetry and prose.

This complete new English translation retains all five works in their supplied order, including the quoted folk song and archaic ritual language. Explanatory notes preserve uncertain readings and distinguish the author’s historical hypotheses from verified details. AI-assisted translation.