HUNTINGTON BEACH : Library Showcases Japanese Art Form

For 55 years, Fusataka Homma has entertained audiences in his native Japan with one of that country’s oldest theater arts.

Homma, 61, gave an introduction and solo performance of his craft last week to about 100 people at the Central Library.

Homma, who lives in Tokyo, began studying the dramatic art of Noh at age 6 and is the 18th generation of the Sado-Homma Hosho School of Noh. The art form combines drama, dance and music. The principal characters wear masks and elaborate costumes.

Through interpreter Yasko Gamo, a cousin who teaches Japanese at Orange Coast College, Homma said he began his visits to the United States in 1966. His aim, he said, is to continue a tradition that started in the 14th Century and, at the same time, to share his culture with Americans and Japanese Americans.

During his performance, he portrayed a scene in which a woman is saddened by the departure of her lover. In Noh drama, he explained, male actors don’t always play male characters.

The event was sponsored by the Japan America Society of Southern California, the Sister City Assn. of Huntington Beach, Central Library, and the Shin’enkan Foundation.

Anjo, Japan, has been Huntington Beach’s sister city for more than 14 years.

Library Services Director Ron Hayden said Homma’s visit is “the type of cultural event we want to have so the community can appreciate cultures from other areas.”