The people around Shimogyo, who are fascinated by the flowers and ask about the sights of flowers here and there, looked at the cherry blossoms of the Higashiyama landowner yesterday and today, they went to visit to Nishiyama, Saiyou hermitage room(Anjitsu).
Saigyou Hoshi (Waki) loves the old cherry blossoms of tree in front of the hermitage room and he doesn’t like such foreigners because he is quietly looking at the flowers and one tree alone. However, without turning back, he opened the door of Shibagaki and asked for it inside. Saigyo, who was disturbed by the mountain, sing to himself that “It can be in the family of cherry blossoms only when people flock to see the cherry blossoms” but he staggered with the people in the trees of flowers.
Around the end of the night, a white- haired old man (Shite) appeared from the cherry blossom cave (Utsuogi). When Saigyou was surprised and asked, he said that he was a crazy old man who wanted to know the meaning of whistled Waka (Japanese traditional songs) poems. And he was asked what it means to be a “cherry blossom family”. It must be the spirit of an old tree, because he doesn’t think he want to invite people because he thinks he is as old tree whose flowers are few and branches are decayed.
Just as Saigyo quietly deals with old trees, the spirit of old trees seems to be satisfied just because he is loved by Saigyou and the enthusiastic dialogue between Saigyo and the old man continues in this way. The spirit of the old tree, which praises the city of flowers and its many famous places, pulls the foot of the old man in the sound of the bell at a later night and make him dances quietly (the first dance of introduction).
Even at night, it warms up and whitens, but even if it’s regrettable, Saigyou’s dream still disappears.
Highlights:
Saigyo-zakura (Saigyo’s Cherry Blossoms) is a third-act Noh play (the act performed third when a formal five-act Noh program is presented). This work from the Muromachi period (1392–1507) was written by Zeami. The content of the play concerns Saigyo (in Noh, the waki, or counterpart of the protagonist), whose enjoyment of life in seclusion is disturbed by crowds of cherry blossom viewers. He recites a poem in which he states that the fault for this lies with the cherry blossoms. He is then met by the spirit of the cherry blossoms in the form of an old man (the Noh shite, or protagonist), who rebuts Saigyo’s poem and describes famous sites in Kyoto for cherry blossom viewing, then performs an elegant dance before vanishing with the break of dawn. In this work, the cherry blossom spirit is thought to embody “the profound subtlety of growing old in body.” We find a hint of this embodiment in a waka poem of Saigyo’s found in his Sanka shu (Poems of a Mountain Hermitage): “To view the blossoms, people come along in throngs. Sadly, the fault, I find, lies with the cherry trees.” A late-Edo local song composed by Saichi Kengyo Kikuzaki also refers to this complaint.
On the summer evening, in order to cool off, the emperor took a group of ministers go to Shinsen-en Garden. Then having a white heron which landed on the pond. It was interesting with the emperor, so he ordered the brewer to capture the heron. The heron which noticed the brewer aiming at him from Ashibe took off once but when it has known it is a command of the emperor, it came down again mysteriously and hung the wings and fell down. The brewer who embraced the heron saw the emperor and both of the brewer and the heron were awarded the fifth place. This place is the so-called fifth-ranked heron. The heron happily roamed around, and it was forgiven and flew high in the sky.
The heron shite is only allowed to be played by boys or performers who have passed the 60th birthday. The eyes are special dance called “Sagiran”_Heron’s eyes which imitates the appearance of a heron and dances in a clean white color things.
Highlights:
“Sagi” is a short song and the story is very simple, but it has many characters and is a big song of great learning and heavy learning. The episode in the song where the heron receives the fifth rank from the emperor is said to be the origin of the name of the fifth rank heron.
As a guide, only children or elderly people after the 60th birthday are allowed to work for the “heron” shite. It is said that it is limited to children and old people because it is close to the realm of God, which is not secular. The shite dances face-to-face without a noh mask, but if an adult of a special age does not play the shite, he must wear a noh mask (such as a life-prolonging crowner) to dispel the secular color. In “Sagi”, the pure sacredness of Shite is respected.
Only birds have few words of shite, and dance is the main subject. “Sagi midare” including a special type is danced, but it shows the appearance of flying and walking with the muddy legs, showing the elegant beauty of the dancing heron, which is a big part of this song. It is a highlight. The same turbulence is different from “Shojo”.
The heron crown that shows the heron and the costume are all white, creating a clean impression. There are not many opportunities for “herons” to be danced. If you have a chance, please do not miss the refreshing and exhilarating stage.
Saigyou Hoshi, who was traveling in the land, has heard from a villager that having a mound which belongs to Lieutenant General Fujiwara no Sanekata who is a pioneer of kado_versification. Fujiwara no Sanekata received the grace of Enyuin(the fifth prince of Emperor Murakami) and Hanayamain (the first prince of Emperor Rezei) during the Heian period, a nobleman in the shape of a court flower that was widely heard as a song, and is counted as one of the thirty- six elders used. The friendships with Michitsuna Fujiwara, Michinobu and Gensenkata and the relationships with many women such as Sen Shonagon have been handed down to this day and many friend songs, love songs and gift songs of court life have been left behind. When he said that he was handing Waka poems to mourn the Jitsu-Kata, an old man appears from of direction that nobody known where it was and asks Saigyo that the “Shin Kokin Wakashu” has been organized and begins the song story of Rokkasen in the Kokinshu. Then, the old man announced the extraordinary festival of Kamo in the capital and said to Saigyo, “Look at me” and flew to the west. Then, a village man appears there and wakes up Saigyo who was sleeping. When Saigyou realized that what he had been dreaming of was a dream, he fell asleep, afterward the spirit of the real person appeared in the dream of Saigyou Hoshi and he put bamboo leaves and danced at the Kamo festival and he talk about his love and reflects his appearance in the water of Mitarai and he is admired by himself and still continues to dance as merciful. However, if you look closely you will be surprised and disappointed at what you see in the water as you are very old. Eventually, with the sound of thunder, the real spirit disappears and becomes a mound. In the dream of Saigyou Hoshi, this work depicts an old real spirit reminiscing about his youth and becoming euphoric.
It is presumed to be Zeami’s work, and Hideo Kanze premiered the song in 1993.
In December 2007, Gensho Umewaka re-performed at the National Noh Theater special performance.
Highlights:
A work depicting an old spirit in the dream of Saigyou Hoshi, who remembers his youth and becomes euphoric. ＜Peculiarity＞ remains in each style as an independent song, and is a highlight. It is presumed to be the “Saigyo Noh” that appears in Zeami’s “Sarugaku Dangi.”
At the foot of Kanayama mountain, there was a filial piety called Koufu. One night in a dream Koufu was informed that if he went to the city of Yanko and sold sake, he would become wealthy, and he did accoding the dream and he gradually became wealthier and wealthier.
There was person who came to his store and drank sake, but no matter how many cups were piled up, he wouldn’t be disturbed at all. When Koufu asked his name, he replied that he is Shojo(Shite), he lives in the sea. One moon night, Koufu went out to the sea and waited for the arrival of Shojo. Eventually, Shojo has appeared true from the waves and begins a banquet. The wind that crosses between the reeds is like a whistle, and the sound of the waves that strike is like a drum. The feast becomes a rush, the stars shine, and the moonlight spills. Among them, the tipsy Shojo shows a rare dance appearance even at night (always Nakanomai, in the case of Ran). He slides and kicks the waves and plays on the water.
Satisfied in this way, Shojo loves Koufu’s filial piety, praises his honest heart, gives him a pot of spiritual sake that never runs out even if he draws it, and gets drunk at night when the moon tilts. It ends up.
However, when he noticed, he was no longer in the shape of a Shojo, and the jar of spiritual sake was left as it was.
This Noh was originally a two-part song, but now it is a semi-noh-style congratulatory song, omitting the previous stage. Shojo is a liquor fairy, and everything from hair to face costumes is a symbol of fineness.
Highlights:
One song has a congratulatory taste. “Midare” or “Shojo Midare” book (kogaki) ** is attached, and Nakanomai , in which the shite dances in the song, is changed to a special dance called “Midare”. I often play. In this case, it is written as “Ran” or “Ran” instead of “Shojo” on the program. “Ran” and “Shojo” are one of the performances and require special training. In addition to this, there are also interesting books that serve sake jars and feature a large number of shojo.
The content of the song is simple, and the main purpose is to show the atmosphere of celebration and congratulation rather than following the story. Please enjoy the charming monster with a bright red face and the dance of the joy of Shojo.
* * Kogaki: A special production of Noh performed in a different format than usual.
