Sarugaku

Sarugaku(猿楽), literally "monkey music," was a form of theatre popular in Japan during the 11th to 14th centuries. It originated from "sangaku," a form of entertainment reminiscent of the modern-day circus, consisting mostly of acrobatics, juggling, and pantomime, sometimes combined with drum dancing. It came from China to Japan in the 8th century and there mingled with indigenous traditions, particularly the harvest celebrations of dengaku.

Of particular significance is the development of sarugaku troupes in Yamato around Nara and Kyoto during the Kamakura and early Muromachi periods. In particular, the sarugaku Noh troupe Yuzaki, led by Kan'ami, performed in 1374 before the young shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The success of this one performance and the resultant shogunal patronage lifted the artform permanently out of the mists of its plebian past. From then, the term sarugaku gave way to the current nomenclature, Noh.

Kyogen also developed from sarugaku

The Japanese term "Sarugaku" is also used in other contexts to refer to a job or profession that seems to debase the employee or to treat him or her as a source of entertainment rather than as a professional^[1].