Research on the Kyogen of Yamguchi Sagi School
The 7th Public Lecture, organized annually by the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage will be held in December 2012, with the Kyogen of the Yamaguchi Sagi School as its theme. The Sagi School had been one of the Schools of Kyogen in central Japan until it was abolished under the confusion in the Meiji Restoration. In Yamaguchi prefecture, however, the tradition was maintained until present thanks to SYUNNICHI Syosaku, a Kyogen performer who taught his performing skills to the nonprofessionals. Now the preservation society for Yamaguchi Sagi School has formed and was designated as the intangible cultural properties of Yamaguchi prefecture. Department of Performing Arts, the predecessor of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage, conducted on-site recording of this Kyogen in 1958, which became the oldest record of the Kyogen of Yamaguchi Sagi School.
The Department conducted the on-site research on September 18th, and interviewed with Mr. KOBAYASHI Eiji, the eldest member of the preserving society, about the situation of the transmission of the Sagi School. Its result will be introduced in the coming Public Lecture.