Certain traditional genres (such as gagaku, ziuta sôkyoku, and nagauta) were transmitted on the basis of heredity. In this system, called sesyû, a performing art was passed down from father or mother to child on the basis of birth alone. In a closely related system called utidesi ‘inside disciple
’, a student lived in the house of his or her teacher and learned gradually over a period of years while sharing the teacher’s daily life.
In modern times these intensive...