Hiraiwa school (平岩流)

The Hiraiwa school is an extinct school of fue-kata (flute players) in Nohgaku (the art of Noh). This school is also referred to as Ushio school, written as 牛尾 or 潮 in Japanese.

It is said that Kanshichi Chikayoshi HIRAIWA established this school after entering a school of Buzen no kami (the Governor of Buzen Province) Ushio by order of Masamune DATE. During the Edo period, the Sendai Domain, the Owari Domain, and the Kaga Domain had supported the Hiraiwa head family, the family originated from Kanshichi's younger brother named Kahei, and the Yamamoto family who was a follower family of the Hiraiwa family respectively, although these three families stayed in Kyoto. The Kahei family began to claim to be the head family of the school at around the end of the Edo period, but this family eventually became extinct when Kahei HIRAIWA the eighth passed away in 1892. It is believed their performance style and music score were very similar to those of the Isso school.

[Original Japanese]