nōshōzoku 能装束

Keywords
Art History
Crafts

*Noh 能 costumes. Also called nō-ishō 能衣装. Cloth articles worn in Noh plays, including the *kosode 小袖, eboshi 烏帽子 (cap), crown and wig, gradually developed and refined by generations of Noh performers from everyday clothes to highly-stylized outfits based on old aristocratic and military outfits. Imported Chinese textiles were used in the late Muromachi period, but with the growing financial power of daimyō 大名 and the development of Nishijin 西陣 weaving, luxurious indigenous fabrics covered with embroidery and *hakuoshi 箔押 (pressed gold and silver leaf) were employed. There are about 90 basic patterns of nōshozoku, with numerous variants. Costume types were often named after their material, for instance karaori 唐織 (Chinese-style brocade) and nuihaku 縫箔 (embroidery on gold- or silver-foil cloth). Costume styles and fabric types were matched with dramatic roles, thus for example the strong outlines of heavy-weave costumes like karaori were used for female ghost roles and atsu-ita 厚板 for male ghost roles. For thinner cloths, the weave was deliberately made tight in order to produce a stiff, angular silhouette for robes, suikan 水干 and *kariginu 狩衣. Costumes for female roles include karaori, *surihaku 摺箔, nuihaku 縫箔, and maiginu 舞衣; costumes for male roles include kariginu, chōken 長絹, mizugoromo 水衣, happi 法被, sobatsugi 側次, atsu-ita, noshime 熨斗目, suō 素襖 and hangiri 半切, and typically use roji kinran 絽地金襴 (silk gauze gold brocade), kenmonsha 顕文紗 (patterned silk gauze) and *nishiki 錦 cloth. In the mid-Edo period, when the repertory of plays was established, the current style of nōshōzoku also cohered. Old nōshozoku are well preserved in actor's families such as the Kanze 観世 families and in such daimyō family's as the Tokugawa 徳川, Ii 井伊, and Hosokawa 細川.