Takeda Isa

Biography

Takeda Isa (*1990, Tokyo) is a Noh performer of the Hōshō school specializing in shite roles. She is the eldest daughter of master Takeda Takashi and studied the art of Noh under his guidance, as well as with Takahashi Akira and Hōshō Kazufusa, the 20th head of the Hōshō school. She made her stage debut in 1994 in a shimai dance performance, and performed her first leading role in a full-length Noh play in 2013. For her academic achievements at the Tokyo University of the Arts, she received the Ataka Award and the Graduate School Acanthus Music Award. She has performed and lectured on Noh theatre both in Japan and abroad, including in the United States, Italy, France, Sweden, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Denmark, where she launched the artistic and educational project NOH+DENMARK in 2017. She is a member of the Nōgakukai Association and of the Hōshō school performers’ association.