Noh is a classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century, and it is the oldest major theatre art in Japan still regularly staged. Many plays adapt traditional literature and tell of a supernatural being, such as a ghost, who appears as a human hero and narrates their story. Performers use masks, costumes and props, with masks representing roles like ghosts, women, deities and demons. Emotion is conveyed through highly stylised gestures and slow, controlled movement rather than acting. Traditional performances combine several Noh plays with comic kyogen pieces, and the whole form is known as nogaku. Noh is highly codified and passed down within family schools through the iemoto system.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.