Kyōgen is a form of comic theatre traditionally performed alongside nō: in a full programme, kyōgen pieces are inserted between nō plays.
Masks are also used in kyōgen, although they are characterised by a simpler and more caricatural style, which suits the light and humorous atmosphere of this theatre.
Because these two theatrical forms developed in close connection, kyōgen – despite its comic nature – shares important elements of its language and performance tradition with nō theatre.
This is the story of the king of the Underworld Enma, who finds himself in difficulty. Since all humans are converting to Buddhism, whether it is Zen or Amida’s Pure Land Buddhism, they ascend to Heaven after death, leaving his realm of the underworld in a state of famine. He therefore decides to go to the crossroads of the Six Paths (in Buddhist cosmology, the six realms of gods, demigods, humans, animals, hungry spirits and hell) in order to capture and eat any sinner who passes by.
Asahina Saburō, a famous 13th century samurai who has just arrived in the afterlife, appears and is stopped by King Enma. The two clash, but Asahina – who possesses great strength – emerges victorious. When he asks Enma who he is, Enma explains that he is the king of the Underworld and describes the difficulties he faces in finding sinners. He threatens to torment and eat him, but Asahina remains unfazed by these threats.
Annoyed, the king of the Underworld asks the warrior to reveal his identity, wondering who could remain unperturbed by his attacks. When he learns that his opponent is the famous Asahina, he admits that, had he known this from the beginning, he wouldn't even have attempted to capture him. However, now that he stands in front of him, it would be embarrassing to return to the Underworld without taking him along. The two clash again, but Asahina prevails once more.
King Enma then asks Asahina to recount the Wada Rebellion (1213), in which he had taken part.
After the story, Asahina orders Enma to lead him to the gates of Heaven and makes him bring all the weapons he possesses.
A daimyō orders Tarō Kaja, a servant, to kill Buaku, another servant who has been negligent. Tarō Kaja is initially reluctant to kill a man, but since it is his master’s command, he decides to deceive his colleague and carry out the order. However, he is discovered.
Buaku learns of his master’s order and he resigns himself to death. Seeing him weep, Tarō Kaja can’t bring himself to lower the sword. He spares his life and orders him to flee.
Tarō Kaja later tells his master that he has carried out his command. Believing Buaku to be dead, the master sets off to Higashiyama, in Kyoto, taking his servant with me. However, Buaku is also on his way to Kyoto. Believing that his salvation is due to the mercy of Kannon, he decided to undertake a pilgrimage toward Kiyomizudera to give thanks to the deity.
The three men meet by chance and at Tarō Kaja’s suggestion, Buaku pretends to be a ghost.
Their master, believing that he’s seeing Buaku’s ghost, becomes frightened. Taking advantage of his fear, Buaku claims him he met the master’s father in the otherworld, who asked him to deliver his son’s sword and folding fan. Once the master hands over these objects, Buaku adds that he has also been ordered to lead him to the otherworld.
At this point, the plays shifts into comedy, depicting a terrified daimyō desperately searching for a way to escape.
When an unexpected guest arrives one day, the master of the house orders his servant, Tarō Kaja, to go to the sakeya (the shop that sells sake) to buy some alcohol. However, since master has not yet paid for the previous order, Tarō Kaja is convinced that the shopkeeper will refuse to sell him any more sake. His master promises him a reward if he manages to buy it, therefore he insists that he go.
When Tarō Kaja arrives at the sakeya, he asks for some sake but, just as he had expected, the shopkeeper refuses, since the previous delivery has not yet been paid for.
Tarō Kaja then comes up with an idea: he will distract the shopkeeper with a story while secretly trying to steal some sake. He begins by telling the story of the plover (chidori) he saw during the Tsushima festival. As he recounts the story, he starts singing and dancing, eventually persuading the shopkeeper to humour him and join in his little performance. He looks for the right moment to steal a barrel of sake, but fails to find an opportunity.
He then begins another story, describing an episode that took place during yabusame, the traditional practice of archery on horseback. The shopkeeper, however, begins to suspect something and forbids him from using one of the barrels as a prop in his performance. Tarō Kaja therefore takes a stick and pretends it is a horse. Imitating the movements of an archer in yabusame, he walks around the shop so that he can approach the barrels. Then, suddenly, he grabs one, hoists it onto his shoulder, and runs away as fast as he can.
This kyōgen play depicts two daimyō travelling in the countryside. As they have no servants with them, they wait along the road and force a man who happens to pass by to become their attendant and to carry their swords.
At first the man obeys, though reluctantly. However, after being repeatedly mocked by the two masters, he fights back. He unsheathes the sword that had been entrusted to him and threatens them. He then orders them to hand over their kosode and to perform a series of humiliating imitations (albeit comical for the audience), such as the imitation of a dog and that of an okiagari-koboshi, a small, weighted doll that sways but never falls.
A man who lives outside of the capital learns that Hanago, a prostitute he met the previous year while staying in an inn in Mino Province, has arrived in the capital and has sent him a letter asking him to meet.
The man devises a plan to visit her without his wife finding out. He tells his wife that he has been troubled by nightmares lately and therefore wishes to spend the night in seclusion and meditation. To prevent his wife from discovering his absence if she were to enter the room, he asks his servant Tarō Kaja to remain in the room in his place and has him wear a zazenbusuma, a padded meditation blanket, so that she won’t notice the substitution. The man then secretly travels to the capital to meet Hanago.
As he had anticipated, his wife eventually enters the room, but she quickly discovers the truth. Furious, she orders Tarō Kaja to switch places with her: she will hide beneath the blanket and wait for her husband to return.
When the husband comes back home, he begins recounting his night to the person he believes to be his servant. However, when he lifts the blanket and sees his wife instead, he is shocked and flees, while his wife chases after him in a rage.
In this kyōgen play the action begins in a chaotic manner. The story begins with a man running away from his wife, who his chasing him, until a mediator intervenes to mitigate the situation.
The wife explains to the mediator that her husband rarely returns home and that he has only come back today after a long absence. When she asked him to go to the mountain to gather firewood, his constantly found excuses to avoid doing so, which made her angry.
The husband, on the other hand, claims that he is often organizing work and therefore cannot always return home. When he does, he wishes to rest and thus he refuses his wife's requests regarding household chores.
The mediator attempts to calm both of them. He instructs the wife to return home and tells the husband to go to the mountains to gather firewood. The man sets off with a sickle, reflecting on his troubled relationship with his wife. He concludes that if things continue in this way, she will one day end up killing him. Thinking that if he must die anyway, it would be better to do so by his own hand, so he decides to commit suicide.
Before doing so, he announces his intention to the entire village, inviting people to come and witness the act. Yet no one appears. He tries several times to kill himself, but fails each time, either because he loses courage or because he gives up at the first sign of pain.
He is about to return home when his wife arrives, deeply worried after hearing that he intends to kill himself with a sickle. The husband immediately raises the sickle and holds it to his belly. The wife apologizes for her behaviour and desperately tries to stop him. Encouraged by her reaction, he finally gathers the courage to act. Before he could do so, the wife declares that if he dies, she will throw herself into the river as well.
According to one version of the play, the couple reconciles after the wife's demonstration of love and sorrow. According to another version, however, the husband replies that if she truly wishes to die, she may do so, and hands her the sickle. Enraged, the wife grabs the weapon and begins to chase him once again.
This drama tells the story of a wealthy lord who is passionate about gambling. One day, he suffers a heavy loss and, to cover the debt he owes to his gambling opponent, he sells his servant, Tarō Kaja. The master says nothing to his servant and sends him away, making him believe he is on an errand (he must deliver a letter).
When he arrives at the house of the man to whom his master lost, named Tarō, the man explains to Tarō Kaja the truth of the matter. The servant, discovering that he has been deceived by his master, is offended and purposely disobeys all of his new master's orders.
Tarō consults with Tarō Kaja's old master, who advises them to send him back to work temporarily, while Tarō can observe him in secret.
As soon as he returns home, the servant vents his anger at his master, but as soon as the master bows in apology, Tarō Kaja immediately forgives him. The master asks him to braid a rope and offers to help from behind, and the servant immediately does as he is told.
While working, Tarō Kaja tells his master about the private affairs of the Tarō household and offers humiliating gossip: his wife, who is said to be beautiful, is actually not very beautiful, his son is always snot-nosed and dirty...
While Tarō Kaja is speaking, his master and Lord Tarō have switched places behind him, and the latter hears everything the servant says.
When Tarō Kaja claims that he beat the master's child because he was forced to look after him, Tarō becomes furious and shouts in rage. Tarō Kaja is frightened and realizes who is really behind him. Frightened, he runs away, and the drama ends with a funny scene in which Tarō chases a frightened Tarō Kaja.
The story of Sado-gitsune shows a funny conversation between two farers, one from Sado, the other from Echigo. On the way to the Capital to pay taxes, the farmer from Sado tries to convince his travel partner that in his land there are foxes. The other doesn't believe him, so they decide to make a bet: the winner will receive a sword as the reward.
An official is summoned to play the part of the judge in this debate. The farmer from Sado bribes him to support his claim, and the official accepts. He also tells him some details about the characteristics of a fox, useful to look credible in the eyes of the rival. Thus, the farmer from Sado wins the bet.
However, on the way back, the farmer from Echigo has a doubt and asks the farmer from Sado to tell him the sound that foxes make. Since the farmer doesn't know the answer, the deceit is revealed. The kyōgen play ends in a comic way, with the scene of the farmer from Echigo chasing the liar.
A daimyō notices that tea gatherings are becoming widespread in his town and wants to organize one himself.
He calls his servant, Tarō Kaja, for advice on the best water to use for serving tea. The servant suggests using water from the natural spring in the field, called Shimizu.
Convinced by the proposal, the master orders Tarō Kaja to fetch water from the spring and gives him a wooden basin, the most treasured he owns, asking him to be careful not to damage it.
Tarō Kaja doesn't want to go, but is forced by his master and can't back out, so he comes up with a plan. He leaves the basin in one spot and then begins to talk to himself. The master, overhearing, asks him what he's doing.
Tarō Kaja tells him that when he went to fetch water, the mountain began to rumble; then, a demon appeared and threatened to eat him. The master is confused, but doesn't ask too many questions and wonders where the basin he had given him is. To justify abandoning the basin so dear to his master, Tarō Kaja explains that since the demon was about to attack him, he threw the only object he had at it, which was the basin, to defend himself, and the demon had probably eaten it.
The daimyō becomes furious and tells his servant that the basin was worth more than his life, so he must go get it back. Tarō Kaja initially refuses, but when his master decides to go get it himself, to save himself the servant has to pretend to be the demon. Featuring the demon, Tarō Kaja threatens his master, who mistreats his servants.
In the guise of the demon, he orders the daimyo to provide his servant with a series of services (sake, a mosquito net to sleep under in the summer, giving him the salary he hasn't yet paid, etc.). If he doesn't, he will find him and eat him. He then tells him that he cannot watch a demon leave, but when he notices the daimyō watching him, he beats him with a bamboo stick.
When the lord leaves and Tarō Kaja appears before him as if he had come to pick him up because he was running late, the daimyō notices that the demon's voice and Tarō Kaja's are very similar.
He decides to test his servant and lets him know that he will return to the spring to retrieve the basin. Tarō Kaja again pretends to be the demon, but this time his lord has figured out the trick and removes the mask his servant had worn to impersonate the demon.
The show ends comically with Tarō Kaja running away from his master, who chases him.
Suehirogari tells the story of a man who decides to invite his family to a banquet and orders his servant, Tarō Kaja, to go and buy a suehiro, a ceremonial fan. His master explains that a suehiro is made of high-quality paper, with a glossy border and a playful drawing.
Tarō Kaja, not knowing what a suehiro is, walks through the city streets shouting that he is looking for one. Hearing this, an umbrella merchant shows him an old umbrella he happens to have with him and persuades him to buy it, claiming it is a suehiro. The poor servant tries to examine the object: the paper is beautiful, there is a border, but no drawing.
There is a wordplay here: in Japanese, "drawing" is pronounced "e" (絵), but "handle" is also pronounced the same way (柄). Thus, the merchant tricks Tarō Kaja into believing that what his master was talking about was a handle, not a drawing. The servant, believing he hadn't understood his master's instructions, buys the old umbrella.
When he hands it to his master, the man becomes furious, so Tarō Kaja, in order to calm his anger, sings a humorous song and begins to dance. Faced with this scene, his master can't remain angry with his servant.
Tsurigitsune tells the story of a fox whose entire family was captured and killed by a local hunter. He decides to impersonate the hunter's uncle, a monk named Hakusōzu, and visits the man to convince him to stop capturing foxes and thus save his life, reminding him that according to Buddhist doctrine, taking the life of a living being is a grave sin.
To further frighten him, he also tells the story of Tamamo no Mae, a courtesan of Emperor Konoe (reign 1142–1155). Legend has it that Tamamo no Mae was actually a fox spirit disguised as a courtesan who had infiltrated the emperor's court in order to kill him.
By recounting the many deceptions and the cunning of which foxes are capable, the hunter is persuaded and, at his “uncle's” direction, throws the trap away.
Shortly afterwards, when the fox has already left, the hunter begins to doubt the monk's identity and realizes that it was not really his uncle, but a fox who had deceived him. The hunter then leaves the trap along the fox's expected return route and hides behind a bush to wait.
The story ends with the fox, aware of the danger, struggling against his own desires until he falls into the trap; however, he manages to free himself and escape.
Utsubozaru tells the story of a daimyō who, after meeting a monkey trainer, demands the animal's skin for his quiver. The trainer initially refuses, but when the daimyō threatens his life, he has no choice but to comply.
However, when he raises his stick to kill the monkey, the animal interprets it as a signal for a performance and begins performing the moves it has been taught. At this sight, the trainer bursts into tears and refuses to carry out such an act. The daimyō also decided not to kill the animal, and the grateful man instructed the monkey to dance for him.