Miracles and Mischief: Noh and Kyogen Theater in Japan showcases more than 100 exquisite and fascinating costumes that represent the variety of forms used in noh and Kyogen repertories. Costumes are classified according to tailoring, weave structure, design patterns, and use. Three main groups differentiated by tailoring and use are: osode—outer garments with broad sleeves with large wrist openings; kosode—kimono-style robes with narrower sleeves and small wrist openings; and hakama—pleated or bifurcated skirts. The light-sensitivity of the art objects requires that they will be presented in two installations, with the second presentation going on view December 19 (the galleries will be closed to the public December 16, 17, and 18 for the rotation). Each installation  presents a full overview of the development of noh and Kyogen. 

Miracles and Mischief highlights outstanding examples of kosode, including the 16th-century Kariginu with Herons and Reeds of silk satin with embroidery and gold leaf, belonging to Neo Kasuga Shrine, and  designated an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government. Suo with Pine, Bamboo Curtains, Plum Blossoms, Poem Cards, Roundels, and Seashore Landscape Picture Cards is a marvelous Kyogen Kosode costume on loan from the Hayashibara Museum of Art. 

Kosode-style noh robes are categorized according to decorative technique. Those made from lusterous textiles, like satin, are worn as undergarments or combined to form outfits. These include the surihaku decorated with stenciled patterns of metallic leaf, such as the Surihaku with Picture Cards and Grapevines from the Tokyo National Museum and the noshime, a plain-weave silk of solid color bands like the  Noshime with Horizontal Bands belonging to the Itsukushima Shrine.

Kosode-style robes with woven pictorial weft patterning (karaori, atsuita, and atsuita-karaori) are distinguished from one another by ground-weave structure, design, and use. LACMA’s recently acquired Karaori with Snow-Laden Camellias and Golden Clouds, an exquisite 18th-century robe made of red silk twill weave with silk and gold leaf paper supplementary weft patterning, will be on display for the first time since its acquisition. 

Important 17th- to 18th-century folding screen paintings, handscrolls, and albums depict memorable scenes from noh performances and catch the essence of the plays and costumes. 17th-century genre paintings showing artisans at work will be accompanied by weaving materials and tools used in the making of the sumptuous textiles.

Miracles and Mischief includes over 30 masks dating from the 14th through the 19th centuries. The masks represent those worn for male and female roles, including the Jo [Old Man] Mask (Nanbokucho period, 1369), an Important Cultural Property on loan from Nagataki Hakusan Shrine, and the Omi-onna Mask (Momoyama period, mid-to-late 16th century) from the Tokyo National Museum. Mask-making tools will also be on display. All 30 masks will remain on view during the entire exhibition.

Miracles and Mischief concludes with a treatise on the religio-aesthetic character of noh by the important 15th-century actor, playwright, and dramaturge Konparu Zenchiku; flutes, drums and songbooks; and a selection of costume ensembles that will give viewers a sense of what certain characters from specific plays wore, along with props. 

Image credits

(At top of page)
Shiofuki (Salt Blower) Mask 
Edo Period, 18th century 
Pigments on Japanese
cypress wood with fiber 
7 1/2 x 6 1/16 in. 
(19.0 x 15.3 cm) 
Eisei Bunko, Tokyo

(In this column)
Karaori with Snow-laden
Camellias and Genji Clouds  
Edo period, 18th century 
Silk twill weave with silk 
and gold-leaf paper supplementary weft
patterning 
59 1/16 x 55 1/8 in. 
(150.0 x 140.0 cm) 
Los Angeles County 
Museum of Art, 
Costume Council Fund 
© 2002 Museum Associates/LACMA

Noshime with 
Horizontal Bands
Edo period, 18th century 
Green, yellow, and white 
silk plain weave 
54 15/16 x 53 7/8 in. 
(139.5 x 136.8 cm) 
Itsukushima Shrine,
Hiroshima Prefecture

Omi-onna Mask
Momoyama period, 
16th century 
Pigments on Japanese
cypress wood 
8 1/4 x 5 1/4 in. 
(20.9 x 13.3 cm) 
Tokyo National Museum

Shokunin tsukushie 
(Views of Artisans 
at Work)
Edo period, 17th century 
Pair of six-fold screens: 
ink and colors 
43 7/8 x 123 1/8 in. 
(111.5 x 312.6 cm) each
Suntory Museum of Art,
Tokyo

Miracles and Mischief: Noh and Kyogen Theater in Japan was curated by Sharon Sadako Takeda, Senior Curator and Department Head, Costume and Textiles, at LACMA, in collaboration with Monica Bethe, Professor, Otani University, Kyoto. 

A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition, with essays written by Sharon Takeda, Monica Bethe, and six other leading Japanese and American scholars in the fields of literature, sculpture, and art history.

Miracles and Mischief: 
Noh and Kyogen 
Theater in Japan
Catalog available from our retail as well as Online Store

Miracles and Mischief: Noh and Kyogen Theater in Japan was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. It is supported in part by awards from the museum’s Costume Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Blakemore Foundation.

Transportation assistance is provided by All Nippon Airways.

In-kind support is provided by K-MOZART, 105.1, the official classical radio station of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and by the Radisson Wilshire Plaza Hotel.



Museum Hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday noon–8 pm; Friday noon–9 pm; Saturday and Sunday 11 am–8 pm; closed Wednesdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Call (323) 857-6000, or visit our Web site at www.lacma.org .

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