we members of the present generation will go beyond merely receiving
and transmitting it and make the effort to continue to improve it,
to try to creatively develop it into the best possible form for the
future, then we can only add to its worth.

The drama of Noh is depicted in song and dance, but calling Noh
a kind of drama or a combination of singing and dancing does not
begin to describe the nature of either its conception or its form. The
elements involved in the performance of a Noh play are:

The last four elements in particular are rarely seen in other forms of
theater to be as intricately woven together into a harmonious whole
as in the Noh drama, making it a total stage art that approaches
perfection. The resulting combination of elements is governed by
a body of sound concepts and sophisticated theories that establishes
a unique and highly refined aesthetic philosophy.

The arts are often categorized according to symbolic form: arts
of space--plastica arts of stillness and composition such as painting,
sculpture, and architecture; arts of time--the lively arts of motion
and temporality such as music, literature, and drama. This cate-
gorization may be adequate for a rough understanding, but a great
difficulty arises with further subdivisions within this simple physical

-xvi-