Secrecy in the Japanese arts

"Secrecy in Japanese Arts explores gei esotericism as a mode of knowledge. Gei esotericism refers to "secret transmission" by which dancers, swordsmen, and other performers and artisans transmitted their expertise - such as choreography and training methods - in a selective manner in premodern Japan. Using examples including theater and martial arts, Morinaga elucidates esotericism as a readable logic in its own right, not as a mysterious feature of Japanese culture. She first investigates esotericism's operation and logic in its prime, by reading treatises of the Noh theater and martial arts, and then inquires into how esotericism encountered modernity in modern Japanese theater."--Jacket.