SUSAN M. ASAI is a music professor at Northeastern University in Boston. She received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

• Preface Introduction Historical Background Artistic Growth Fueled by the Emerging Warrior Culture and Popular Buddhism: Cultural Antecedents Shamanic Beginnings: Dramatic Antecedents Shugend=o Religion and Folk Dance Drama: Religious Antecedents N=omai Theater Keepers of a Tradition: Performers and Cultural Setting A View from Within: Performance Practices Sacred Chronicles, Tales of Valor, and Humorous Yarns: Repertoire N=omai Music Drums, Cymbals, and Flute Poetry and Narrative in Song Epilogue: Musical N=omai in the 20th Century--Balancing Tradition and Change Appendix: Transcriptions Glossary of Japanese Terms Bibliography Index

SUSAN M. ASAI is a music professor at Northeastern University in Boston. She received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

• Preface Introduction Historical Background Artistic Growth Fueled by the Emerging Warrior Culture and Popular Buddhism: Cultural Antecedents Shamanic Beginnings: Dramatic Antecedents Shugend=o Religion and Folk Dance Drama: Religious Antecedents N=omai Theater Keepers of a Tradition: Performers and Cultural Setting A View from Within: Performance Practices Sacred Chronicles, Tales of Valor, and Humorous Yarns: Repertoire N=omai Music Drums, Cymbals, and Flute Poetry and Narrative in Song Epilogue: Musical N=omai in the 20th Century--Balancing Tradition and Change Appendix: Transcriptions Glossary of Japanese Terms Bibliography Index

SUSAN M. ASAI is a music professor at Northeastern University in Boston. She received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

• Preface Introduction Historical Background Artistic Growth Fueled by the Emerging Warrior Culture and Popular Buddhism: Cultural Antecedents Shamanic Beginnings: Dramatic Antecedents Shugend=o Religion and Folk Dance Drama: Religious Antecedents N=omai Theater Keepers of a Tradition: Performers and Cultural Setting A View from Within: Performance Practices Sacred Chronicles, Tales of Valor, and Humorous Yarns: Repertoire N=omai Music Drums, Cymbals, and Flute Poetry and Narrative in Song Epilogue: Musical N=omai in the 20th Century--Balancing Tradition and Change Appendix: Transcriptions Glossary of Japanese Terms Bibliography Index