Shōdan in Okina
Okina-gaeri
In the final dan, known as “Exit,” the Okina actor removes his mask and proceeds along the bridge in a ritualistic manner. He is accompanied by the three kotsuzumi players, who perform a single eight-beat pattern— focusing, as in many preceding patterns, on beats 1, 3, 5, and 7, and notably omitting any kakegoe (vocal calls), as shown below:
At Square 4, Okina performs a reversed sayū kata, raising and pivoting three times—right, left, right—rather than the standard left, right, left sequence. He then retreats to Square 9, where he kneels and bows. Next, he stands and leaves the stage. As he approaches the first pine, the nohkan player performs a short pattern named yorokobi-no-te (“pattern of joy”), which cues the percussion to shift to a faster four-beat pattern, shown below:
This doubling of the tempo initiates an accelerando that drives the actor’s final, brisk steps offstage.
The absence of vocal interjections from the two steady percussion patterns imparts a distinctive, mystical atmosphere to the scene. Accordingly, this concluding passage is referred to as Okina-gaeri.