Hagoromo (The Feather Robe)
It is based on the Hagoromo Legend*. One spring morning a fisherman comes to the pine grove at Miho, a sandbar jutting into Suruga Bay. He hears lovely music and smells perfume in the air. He then finds a robe of feathers (hagoromo) hanging from the branch of a nearby pine tree. About to return home with the robe, he is stopped by the sorrowful voice of a heavenly being who laments that she has lost her feathered costume. Overcome with remorse, the fisherman returns the robe in gratitude, the spirit dances and rising upward into the sky, disappears in the morning mist.
* The story is very widely spread. It exists with variations in India, China and Japan.
Kyogen - Comic interludes that are integral part of Noh performance
Shimizu (A Demon for Better Working Conditions)
A master calls his assistant and orders him to go to Shimizu to draw water in a special pail, which he values very highly, for tea. Reluctant to do such an errand, the assistant puts on a mask, dresses up like a demon and goes to his master to demand better working conditions.
Aoi no Ue (Lady Aoi)
It is based on the TALE OF GENJI, the long novel written by Murasaki Shikibu (980 – 1014) who was a court-lady. Lady Aoi, wife of Prince Genji, has a mysterious illness, so a medium is summoned. As she begins to divine the source of illness by plucking her catalpa bow, the ghost of Genji’s former love Lady Rokujo appears. The ghost bewails the loss of Genji’s love and attacks his stricken wife. A Buddhist mountain ascetic priest is sent for and struggles with the enraged ghost, which later takes the form of a female demon. The ghost fades away as the prayers of the priest begin to take effect.
Musical Instruments
Nohkan (flute), Kotsuzumi (small drum), Otsuzumi (drum) and Taiko (big drum) |
