Short answers, pulled from the story.
Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century, making it Japan's oldest major theater art still regularly performed today. It integrates masks, silk costumes, stylized gesture, chant, and a four-instrument musical ensemble called the hayashi to tell stories often featuring supernatural beings.
Kan'ami Kiyotsugu and his son Zeami Motokiyo are credited with establishing Noh in its present form during the Muromachi period, from 1336 to 1573. Their work was made possible by the patronage of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who first encountered Kan'ami's company when he was 17 years old and the young Zeami was around 12.
The five major schools are Kanze, Hosho, Konparu, Kongo, and Kita. The first four were established during the Muromachi period, all descending from a sarugaku troupe of Yamato Province. The Kita school, the last to be founded, was established by actor Kita Shichidayu during the Edo period.
Noh masks are carved from blocks of Japanese cypress and painted with natural pigments on a base of glue and crushed seashell. There are approximately 450 different masks drawn from around sixty types, each with a distinct name; they signify a character's gender, age, and social ranking, allowing the main actor, the shite, to portray humans, ghosts, deities, and demons.
UNESCO inscribed Noh on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 under the name Nogaku theatre. The Japanese government had already designated nogaku as an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1957, and the National Noh Theatre was founded in 1983 to stage regular performances and train performers.
Noh influenced a wide range of Western figures across the 20th century. Benjamin Britten saw Noh plays in Japan in 1956 and drew on them for Curlew River in 1964 and The Prodigal Son in 1968. Bertolt Brecht had read at least 20 Noh plays in German translation by 1929 and adapted the Noh play Taniko as Der Jasager. David Byrne credited Noh with inspiring the oversize business suit associated with Talking Heads.