Presented By: Center for Japanese Studies
CJS Noon Lecture Series | Translating Knowledge, Negotiating Tradition: The Making of the English-language Noh Chiune
Mariko Anno, Toyota Visiting Professor, Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan; Associate Professor, Institute of Science Tokyo
Please note: This lecture will be held in person (location TBA) and virtually on Zoom. This event is free and open to the public, but you must register to attend online. Register for the Zoom webinar at https://myumi.ch/e7MkV
How are different forms of knowledge translated and negotiated through the creation of a new Noh? Drawing on the development of Chiune: Visas for Life, a new English-language Noh about Japanese Diplomat Sugihara Chiune, grounded in Noh’s musical and performative traditions, this talk examines how research, embodied learning, and collaboration form the basis of the creative process. It traces the development of text, music, and movement through this process. Anno argues that knowledge of Noh tradition shapes Chiune at multiple levels, from its overarching structure to the development of specific sections, including the michiyuki (travel song) and Visa no dan (visa-stamping section).
Mariko Anno is an associate professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo and currently the Toyota Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies. Her research on Noh performance practice, particularly the nohkan (Noh flute), examines musical structures, oral transmission, and the negotiation of tradition and innovation. Anno’s book, Piercing the Structure of Tradition: Flute Performance, Continuity, and Freedom in the Music of Noh Drama (Cornell University Press, 2020), is the first English-language monograph on the nohkan. Her work also examines Noh in transnational settings, particularly how Noh’s musical and performance conventions shape English-language Noh. Chiune: Visas for Life, her current project, is an English-language Noh she wrote and co-composed about Japanese diplomat Sugihara Chiune. The work was performed by Theatre Nohgaku in October 2026, with grant support from the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Oakton College.
Photo: Mask by Kitazawa Hideta. Photo by Kitazawa Sohta.
This lecture is supported in part by the William P. Malm Fund.
If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at [email protected]. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
How are different forms of knowledge translated and negotiated through the creation of a new Noh? Drawing on the development of Chiune: Visas for Life, a new English-language Noh about Japanese Diplomat Sugihara Chiune, grounded in Noh’s musical and performative traditions, this talk examines how research, embodied learning, and collaboration form the basis of the creative process. It traces the development of text, music, and movement through this process. Anno argues that knowledge of Noh tradition shapes Chiune at multiple levels, from its overarching structure to the development of specific sections, including the michiyuki (travel song) and Visa no dan (visa-stamping section).
Mariko Anno is an associate professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo and currently the Toyota Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies. Her research on Noh performance practice, particularly the nohkan (Noh flute), examines musical structures, oral transmission, and the negotiation of tradition and innovation. Anno’s book, Piercing the Structure of Tradition: Flute Performance, Continuity, and Freedom in the Music of Noh Drama (Cornell University Press, 2020), is the first English-language monograph on the nohkan. Her work also examines Noh in transnational settings, particularly how Noh’s musical and performance conventions shape English-language Noh. Chiune: Visas for Life, her current project, is an English-language Noh she wrote and co-composed about Japanese diplomat Sugihara Chiune. The work was performed by Theatre Nohgaku in October 2026, with grant support from the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Oakton College.
Photo: Mask by Kitazawa Hideta. Photo by Kitazawa Sohta.
This lecture is supported in part by the William P. Malm Fund.
If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at [email protected]. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
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