'F or kyogen actors, Japan losing the war in 1945 was a wonderful event as it liberated kyogen from its long subjugation to noh," actor Shigeyama Sennojo says. "For the first time in 400 years, kyogen was recognized as an independent form of theater."

According to Sennojo, kyogen — realistic pieces of drama consisting of comic or satirical dialogues — had always existed within the world of the more spiritual noh tradition. It was part of the shikigaku (ceremonial dance and music) practiced by samurai society during the Tokugawa Period and for privileged circles during the Meiji Period. The social changes in postwar Japan, though, enabled kyogen actors to be active on their own, and there was a striking revival in the 1950s. Participating in other forms of Japanese performing arts, they were finally able to perform before non-noh audiences.

Both kyogen and noh evolved from Sarugaku, performing arts popular in the Heian Period (794-1185) that had been imported from Tang Dynasty China and included acrobatics, magic and pantomime. But to Sennojo, kyogen is simply the most basic form of dramatic Japanese performance arts.