A place where summer ends and autumn begins, a dedicatory Kyogen performance.

The grand stage for Kyogen performers living in the 21st century
Vol.4 A dedicatory Kyogen performance in the place where summer ends and autumn begins.
Ozo doctrine (Noh performer Kyogen style Ozo school)

The temperature seemed to drop sharply at the beginning of October, but the heat returned on October 6th after a long time. Today's performance was a dedication of Kyogen at Nakanojima Inari Shrine.
As we turned the corner, we could hear the sound of festival music. The approach to the shrine was bustling with stalls, and the excitement was enough to make us loosen our purse strings a little. Although there was no need to worry about a typhoon, the wind was a little strong, and one long-time member of the support group commented that "this is the first time we've seen such strong winds."
I moved here seven years ago, and the following year I started a Kyogen class at the community center run by the neighborhood association.

After my child was born, I made contact with the head priest during our first shrine visit to the local guardian deity. I immediately asked if I could perform a Kyogen (traditional Japanese comic theater) in the Kagura-den (sacred dance hall), and he readily agreed. The head priest then brought members of the support association to a Kyogen performance I organized, and they also expressed a strong desire to have Kyogen performed at the shrine. I feel a strange sense of destiny in how all these things came together at the same time.
This year marks the sixth time the event has been held. The students all worked together to make the pine curtain that hangs behind the stage, the stage set modeled after a Noh theater, and the programs that were distributed to the audience. The audience seats were covered in traditional straw mats. The performance began in an indescribably faint atmosphere, as if announcing the end of summer.
This was the first time that all 13 students tried singing kouta songs together. The "Kyogen Kouta Collection," a collection of various kouta songs that appear in Kyogen plays, was a very satisfying and powerful performance, with the students' emotions and voices coming together. Each performer also shone brilliantly in the other performances, drawing laughter from the audience. Even as the trees rustled loudly in the occasional gusts of wind, the students' voices must have reached many people.

In this classroom, the students are the main characters, and I see myself as merely a supporter. It's a difficult world to live authentically, but the world of Kyogen affirms who you are. The students' vibrant performances are truly beautiful. The hour flew by, but I'm sure God was pleased with the students' enthusiasm and the audience's laughter.
The ceremony ends on a happy note with the singing of a congratulatory song, with the hope that daily life will be enriched even just a little.