George Breeden Blog 6

Outside Reading: Richard Pilgrim. “Zeami and the Way of Nō.”

The Do arts

In Japan they have a very defined conception of the arts. This is apparent in the Japanese suffix of Do. Roughly translated Do means, “the way of.” There are many different Do arts in Japan. Richard Pilgrim mentions there importance when he says: “… the do arts must take their place in Japanese religion as "Ways of ultimate significance." (Pilgrim 139) This is to that the Do arts related to the most significant aspects of Japanese religion. With that said it is interesting from a western perspective that the Japanese would have certain arts for closely linked with religion. Yes the western religions have there relationships with the arts, but they are relationship that had to be created over in. In contrast the Do arts of Japan are the natural companions of religion. Maybe this speaks to the significance of performance in the Japanese religion or it is simply use an interesting facet of their culture. The reality is it is hard to pin point which one it is.