Hoka

The hôka was a type of male entertainer, prevalent chiefly in the Muromachi period, and chiefly associated with juggling, acrobatics, and sleight-of-hand. Many hôka dressed as Buddhist monks, and came to be seen as semi- or pseudo-religious figures. Hôka are cited by Zeami in his Sandô (1423) as one of four types of ideal characters for shite roles; Zeami suggests that since the hôka are performers to begin with, a Noh actor portraying a hôka entertainer will have an easier time of conveying an artistic quality through that character.

References

• Shelley Fenno Quinn, Developing Zeami, University of Hawaii Press (2005), 123-124.