Bonfire-lit Noh performance for peace held, and livestreamed, at site adjacent to A-bomb Dome
Nov. 16, 2021
by Akemi Satoda, Staff Writer
On November 15, the performance “Hypocenter Requiem Bonfire Noh” was put on at a site adjacent to the Atomic Bomb Dome, located in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. The Noh performance was held to console the souls of A-bomb victims and to express wishes for peace. Against a fantastical backdrop created by bonfires, Teruhisa Oshima, 45, the fifth-generation head of the Oshima family of the Kita-ryu school of Noh, and Kinue Oshima, 47, a female Noh performer, danced on a Noh stage specially built for the occasion.
As a countermeasure against the coronavirus, the performance was streamed live on the video-sharing site YouTube with no audience in attendance. Teruhisa performed the second half of “Takasago” (a place name, in Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture) in which the Sumiyoshi Myojin deity celebrates world peace, accompanied by hayashikata instrumentalists and utai chant vocalists. In “Hagoromo” (in English, Celestial Feather Robe), Kinue performed a graceful dance from a scene in which the celestial maiden’s robe is returned to her and she dances to express her gratitude.
The event was put together by Masaaki Tanabe, 83, a filmmaker whose home at the time of the atomic bombing was located on the east side of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the predecessor to the A-bomb Dome. At the nearby Rest House, a building that survived the bombing, visitors were able to view the video feed of the Noh performance. The video will be available on the YouTube site through December 31.
(Originally published on November 16, 2021)
On November 15, the performance “Hypocenter Requiem Bonfire Noh” was put on at a site adjacent to the Atomic Bomb Dome, located in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. The Noh performance was held to console the souls of A-bomb victims and to express wishes for peace. Against a fantastical backdrop created by bonfires, Teruhisa Oshima, 45, the fifth-generation head of the Oshima family of the Kita-ryu school of Noh, and Kinue Oshima, 47, a female Noh performer, danced on a Noh stage specially built for the occasion.
As a countermeasure against the coronavirus, the performance was streamed live on the video-sharing site YouTube with no audience in attendance. Teruhisa performed the second half of “Takasago” (a place name, in Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture) in which the Sumiyoshi Myojin deity celebrates world peace, accompanied by hayashikata instrumentalists and utai chant vocalists. In “Hagoromo” (in English, Celestial Feather Robe), Kinue performed a graceful dance from a scene in which the celestial maiden’s robe is returned to her and she dances to express her gratitude.
The event was put together by Masaaki Tanabe, 83, a filmmaker whose home at the time of the atomic bombing was located on the east side of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the predecessor to the A-bomb Dome. At the nearby Rest House, a building that survived the bombing, visitors were able to view the video feed of the Noh performance. The video will be available on the YouTube site through December 31.
(Originally published on November 16, 2021)
