Okura Style

A school of Kyogen. According to the family tradition, the founder of the school was Gen'e Hoin (1269-1350), a learned monk from Mount Hiei during the Nanboku-cho period, but the artistic tradition seems to have been established around the time of the ninth head of the family, Uji Yataro Masanobu, in the late Muromachi period. For generations, the family has belonged to the Konparu troupe of Yamato Sarugaku, and in the Edo period, in addition to the head family Yaemon, branch families such as the Hachiemon family and the Yadayu family were formed, each of which served the shogunate, but all of them were abolished during the decline of Noh after the Meiji Restoration. However, the school's influence was maintained in Tokyo by the head family, the Yamamoto Tojiro family, and in Kansai by the Shigeyama Sengoro and Chuzaburo families, families that had been established in Kyoto and served the Imperial Court. Currently, Yataro, the second son of Zenchiku Yagoro, who split off from the Shigeyama Chuzaburo family, and the son of the late 24th head of the family, Okura Yaemon, who succeeded the aborted head family line, and Yaemon's nephew Zenchiku Juro, live in Tokyo with the 4th head Yamamoto Tojiro family, and the Shigeyama Sengoro family (4th head Sensaku, 13th head Sengoro, 2nd head Sennojo), 4th head Shigeyama Chuzaburo, and the Zenchiku family (Genzaburo, Koshiro, 2nd head Chuichiro) are active in the Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe areas. Although they are from the same school, the Yamamoto family's style is stiff and stylized, while the Shigeyama family's is flexible and realistic, demonstrating the broad range of artistic qualities in Kyogen.

[Kobayashi, Responsible]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

狂言の流儀。宗家の伝えでは南北朝時代の比叡山(ひえいざん)の学僧玄恵法印(げんえほういん)（1269―1350）を流祖とするが、芸統は室町後期の宗家9世宇治弥太郎政信(まさのぶ)のころに成立したらしい。宗家は代々大和猿楽(やまとさるがく)の金春(こんぱる)座に属し、江戸時代に入ると、宗家弥右衛門(やえもん)家のほかに八右衛門(はちえもん)家、弥太夫(やだゆう)家などの分家もでき、それぞれ幕府御用を勤めたが、明治維新後の能楽衰微期にいずれも廃絶した。しかし、東京は宗家系の山本東次郎(とうじろう)家、関西は京都で形成された禁裏（宮中）御用の家柄である茂山(しげやま)千五郎・忠三郎(ちゅうざぶろう)両家によって流勢が保たれた。現在は、茂山忠三郎家から分かれた善竹弥五郎(ぜんちくやごろう)の次男で中絶していた宗家を継いだ故24世大蔵弥右衛門の子弥太郎と、弥右衛門の甥(おい)の善竹十郎が、4世山本東次郎家とともに東京に住み、茂山千五郎家（4世千作、13世千五郎、2世千之丞(せんのじょう)）、4世茂山忠三郎、善竹家（玄三郎、幸四郎、2世忠一郎）らが京阪神で活躍している。芸風は、同流でありながら、山本家は生硬で様式的、茂山家系は柔軟で写実的と、狂言の芸質の幅広さを示す。

［小林　責］

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