Shindo school (進藤流)
The Shindo school is an extinct school of waki-kata (supporting actors) in Nohgaku (the art of Noh). They played exclusively for the Kanze school, and they had been proud of their status as a 'leading waki-kata school' since the middle of the Edo period.
Description
The first generation head was Kyuemon Tadatsugu SHINDO (1552 - 1635), who had learned from Sokatsu HORIIKE (a follower of Motoyori KANZE), a great waki (supporting actor) performer of te-sarugaku (amateur Noh), before the establishment of this school. In 1603, Kokusetsu KANZE added this school to a group of waki schools which belonged to the Kanze school, and in the Kanei era, the Shindo school took over the position of the head waki-kata of the Kanze school when the Fukuo school, which had been the head waki-kata until then, became extinct.
Since they were the main waki-kata of the Kanze school, which was said to be ranked at the top among the major four Noh schools (the Kanze, the Hosho, the Konparu, and the Kongo schools), they were ranked at the top among waki-kata schools throughout the Edo period. Although Kokusetsu later had his nephew named Soha HATTORI restore the Fukuo school, the Shindo school remained at a higher position than the Fukuo school until the end of the Edo period. They were also influential in the area of su-utai (chanting a Noh text without musical accompaniment) especially in their earlier times; Tadatsugu's son, Isan SHINDO did not succeed to the head of the family but made his living by teaching su-utai in Kyoto. The "Fude no Tsuide Sho" is a book of Noh chants compiled by Isan.
After the Meiji Restoration, since the 10th generation head Nobuhiro (信啓) SHINDO ruined the family, many performers including his successors stopped performances in this school style, and the school eventually became extinct in 1868. Researches conducted by a group including Satoshi TSUKITAKU, a performer of the fue-kata (flute players) Morita school, recently revealed su-utai from the Shindo school had been handed down in the Matsue region. It seems that some influence of the Shindo school had been kept in some regions even after the head family became extinct, and it is said that a libretto of a Noh drama of this school was issued in the Izumo region between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.