The World is Dancing
English
199 pages
1: The World is Dancing 1
0 views • Aug 27, 2025
Born into a life of acting and dance with a traveling theater troupe in 14th-century Japan, 12-year old Oniyasha has one problem—he doesn’t know what the point of any of it is. Why must I step with the left foot here instead of the right? Why is one performance good and another, bad? Why do people dance at all? It all seems perfectly arbitrary, until a chance encounter in a run-down shack sets him down a path to revolutionizing the art form and influencing much of Japanese culture to come. A fictionalized account of the early life of Zeami Motokiyo (Oniyasha), the founder of modern Noh theater—the world’s oldest surviving theater art—this coming-of-age artist’s journey vividly brings to life a man far ahead of his time during one of Japan’s most culturally and socially vibrant eras.
196 pages
2: The World is Dancing 2
0 views • Aug 27, 2025
Oniyasha never understood why people dance, much less why he was dancing in his father’s theater troupe, until his encounter with an ailing and destitute shirabyoshi dancer. Moved by the raw emotion of her desperate, powerful performance, he awakens to the goodness in dance and devotes himself to the arts. Recognizing his growth, his father selects him to play a major role at the festivities at Imakumano Shrine, where the shogun himself will be in attendance. But distracted by everything at stake in this make-or-break moment, Oniyasha loses track of the beat…
197 pages
3: The World is Dancing 3
0 views • Aug 27, 2025
Oniyasha’s big debut at Imakumano Shrine ends in disaster when he loses track of the beat. But after a night spent preparing himself for the next day, he redeems himself with a performance that impresses even the shogun, who invites Oniyasha to live and train at his manor alongside talented actors and performers of all different arts. Reluctant at first, Oniyasha accepts with a little prodding from his father, and soon finds himself face to face with a new rival, and the unfamiliar perils of court politics.
181 pages
4: The World is Dancing 4
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Demoralized after his disastrous defeat to Zojiro at the shogun’s dance competition, Oniyasha spends a few aimless days down by the river, escaping reality with Kogane and the affable drifters encamped on its banks. He’s reeled back by Toku-san, a destitute traveling monk who recognizes that he’s meant for more, and who divulges that he was once a warrior who fought and lost against the Ashikaga shogunate. When Toku-san is arrested and executed for a crime he didn’t commit, Oniyasha resolves to use the next competition to tell the stories of those who were defeated and those who were left behind in the shogunate's rise to power.
195 pages
5: The World is Dancing 5
0 views • Aug 27, 2025
Deeply moved by Oniyasha’s act in the second round of the shogun’s competition, Zojiro concedes the match. With the decisive final round looming, Oniyasha struggles to decide on a piece to perform, and hits upon a radical idea—one it turns out Zojiro shares: a joint production. Things immediately go off the rails when Zojiro’s troupe chafes at the thought of Oniyasha telling them what to do, but Zojiro swallows his pride and convinces them to give it a shot. With tensions still high, Inomaru takes Zojiro and Oniyasha on an excursion to the nearby lake so they can work on the script.
246 pages
6: The World is Dancing 6
0 views • Aug 27, 2025
After the shogun’s competition, Oniyasha’s fame rockets to new heights. But even as he basks in the public’s adoration, the pressure he feels grows increasingly overwhelming. Desperate to stay relevant, he pushes his body—already straining from the changes of adolescence—too far. Untethered from his body and the joy of dance, Oniyasha slides into a downward spiral…
