Yamamoto Noh Theater

Interested in

learning Noh?

Yamamoto Noh Theater offers lessons in utai (chant), shimai (dance), and hayashi (instrumental music), taught by experienced instructors.

For details on lesson schedules, fees, and other inquiries, please contact us by phone or email.

Utai & Shimai - Noh chant and dance (Kanze School)

Akihiro Yamamoto

Profile:

Born in Osaka in 1960. A Kanze-school Noh actor and holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property.

Based at the Yamamoto Noh Theater, he has devoted himself to the promotion and preservation of Noh as a “captivating performing art alive in the present day.” He actively engages in Noh education for the next generation, having introduced the art’s appeal to over 80,000 children across Japan. He also promotes international exchange through Noh, especially between Japan and Eastern and Central Europe, with a focus on Bulgaria. He has been invited to perform for ten consecutive years at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival (Romania), the largest of its kind in Europe.

In the autumn of 2017, during the friendship castle partnership between Osaka Castle and the Château des Ducs de Bretagne (Nantes, France), he presented a Noh performance to foster international goodwill. In November 2022, he performed a commemorative Noh program for the 40th anniversary of the sister city partnership between Osaka and Milan, which led to the establishment of an official Noh course at the University of Milan.

He has received numerous awards, including the Osaka Culture Prize, the Foreign Minister’s Commendation, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Commendation, the Japan Foundation’s “Global Citizen Award,” the Hakuhō Award, and the Tiffany Foundation Award for the Preservation of Japanese Traditional Culture.

Director of the Nohgaku Performers’ Association (Nohgaku Kyokai), Representative Director of the Yamamoto Noh Theater Foundation, and Chairman of the NPO Beppu Kanko Kai.

Yoshiaki Yamamoto

Profile:

A Kanze-school shite-kata Noh actor, born in 1993.
He studied under Yaemon Yamashina, his late grandfather Masayoshi Yamamoto, and his father Akihiro Yamamoto.
Born in 1993 as the eldest son of Akihiro Yamamoto (Representative Director of the Yamamoto Noh Theater Foundation).

From early childhood, he trained under his grandfather and father, making his stage debut at age three as a child actor (kokata) in the Noh “Kurama Tengu,” and went on to perform in many plays in child roles.

In 2006, he gave his first shite performance in “Tsunemasa.” In 2009, he wore a Noh mask for the first time in “Kokaji,” and has since performed pieces such as “Senzai,” “Shakkyō,” and “Midare.”

He has participated in many overseas performances, including in the United States, France, Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Romania, and Finland, and continues to be active both in Japan and abroad as one of the leading young Noh actors of the next generation.

The lessons cover the fundamentals of Noh: utai (chanting) and shimai (dance). You may choose to practice either utai or shimai alone, or study both together.