I received a book titled "Yes, Noh Naomi Seki" from a friend who runs a small publishing company, which was recently released. It is about the life of a female Noh performer.
What surprised me when I read the book was that this person, Ms.Seki Naomi, came into the world of Noh at the age of 34 from a completely different world and is now a "Shitekata(Main Noh Actor)" of the Hosho-styl(family), which is truly rare. I think "Nohgaku" is one of art form that Japan is truly proud of, in which the human drama is expressed by condensing and simplifying to the utmost limit a number of human characters that have been determined in each ‘family’ style, which has continued in the male lineage for 600 years. I hear that there are still very few women in this art form as men's dances. What I feel through the various patterns of life that lead there is indeed summed up by the phrase, "It's never too late to start."