This section no doubt has a special fascination because of the diversity of the genres, their intricacy, their relationship to unique aspects of Japanese culture, and the widespread fame of at least three of them: nô, kabuki, and bunraku.
The section begins with an essay on folk music, continues with essays on Shinto and Buddhist music, and then presents an essay on gagaku, court music, an extremely important genre. The next article, on nô theater and kyôgen, a related art,...