Collections

The Institute houses an extensive collection of source materials dating from fifteenth century to the present. This includes manuscripts from the Muromachi period (1392–1568), manuscripts and printed sources from the Edo period (1603–1868), books, journals and catalogues published after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, paintings and other pictorial materials, as well as research literature in English and other foreign languages. Particularly valuable materials include a Kurumaya utaibon set dating from the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1603) from the former collection of NOGAMI Toyoichirō, the Den-Kojirō Nobumitsu utaibon set formerly owned by the Date family of Sendai, the Horiike utaibon set, and the Tenshō kyōgenbon, the oldest surviving collection of Kyōgen storylines.

The Institute's collection also includes many valuable source materials that became part of the collection as the result of generous gifts and donations. Many of these are stored as independent collections with individual names. The following is a list of the major independent collections. Kōzan Bunko represents the most extensive collection of Noh-related materials in Japan, and was assembled by EJIMA Ihei, former proprietor of the Wan'ya Shoten, publisher of Hōshō-school utaibon; Hannyakutsu Bunko includes the greater part of writings transmitted in the Konparu family, and was formerly housed at the temple Hōzanji of Ikoma, Nara prefecture.