Verily, I say, it has become quite difficult to have the power

to master the style of Sarugaku because when one attempts

to discover its origins or the nature of performance

in the hoary past, one finds several explanations:

one, that it originated in the land of Buddha;

another, that it has been passed down from

the age of the Gods.

But whatever the case, as time has passed, and the ages

separate us from then, we have not strength sufficient

to master it. In more recent periods, the practice

has extended to the general population.

In the reign of the Empress Suiko, Crown Prince Shotoku

gave a verbal order to Kokatsu of the Hata clan

to hold sixty-six banquets, both for the Safety of the Realm

as well as for the purposes of more general Entertainment,

from which we derive the designation 'Sarugaku.'

Since then, people throughout the generations have

borrowed from the landscape and its affective symbology

to add and nurture this type of activity.

The descendants of Kokatsu inherited its performance

techniques and became the hereditary priests of the Kasuga

and Hiei shrines. Thus, it flourishes today as a sacred art

of these two shrines, one troupe called the Yamato(Washu),

and another troupe called the Omi (Goshu).

(Translated by KLR)