Yoshitoshi - 100 Aspects of the Moon - 12

is a Japanese

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

play written by Kanze Kojirô Nobumitsu, eventually adapted to

Kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

Kawatake Mokuami , born was a Japanese dramatist of Kabuki. It has been said that "as a writer of plays of Kabuki origin, he was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Japan has ever known".Miyake, Shutarō. ''Kabuki Drama''. Tokyo: Japan Travel Bureau, Inc., ...

in 1885. It was staged for the first time in November that year and starred

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX was one of the most successful and famous Kabuki actors of the Meiji period (1868–1912). Ninth in the line of actors to hold the name Ichikawa Danjūrō, he is depicted in countless ''ukiyo-e'' actor prints ('' yakusha-e''), and is widely ...

. The play is set in the period of

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period, Heian and early Kamakura period, Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles that toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-br ...

’s downfall, when his elder brother

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

, seeing Yoshitsune as a rival power, excludes him from the royal family despite his loyal performance in battle. Yoshitsune decides to escape and meet up with his retainer

Benkei , popularly known by the mononym Benkei (), was a Japanese warrior monk (''sōhei'') who lived in the latter years of the Heian Period (794–1185). Benkei led a varied life, first becoming a monk, then a mountain ascetic, and then a rogue war ...

at Daimotsu no Ura

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

. While at a hotel en route, his girlfriend

Shizuka is a unisex Japanese given name. People with the name * , Taiwanese actress * , Japanese voice actress * , Japanese figure skater * , Japanese court dancer * , Japanese voice actress * , Japanese novelist and lyricist * , Japanese actress and da ...

dances for him, and her headdress falls off during the dance. It is a bad omen, so she leaves, and returns to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. Yoshitsune continues his journey the next day and boards the boat, where they are struck by a dangerous storm. During the storm they are attacked by ghosts of the sea, among them

Taira no Tomomori (1152–1185) was the son of Taira no Kiyomori, and one of the Taira Clan's chief commanders in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. He was victorious at the Battle of Uji in 1180. He also became successful in t ...

. They fight the spirits, but to no avail. Eventually, Benkei realises that the only way to defeat a

vengeful spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

is through prayer, and in a cathartic sequence the storm dissipates as his prayers dispel the still pursuing spirits: “Then on the tide they drift away/ Leaving no trace upon the foaming wave”.

Style

*Yoshitsune is (as always) played by preference by a child actor. *The flamboyance of the Noh play is seen as a move away from the traditional idea of

Yugen Japanese aesthetics comprise a set of ancient ideals that include '' wabi'' (transient and stark beauty), '' sabi'' (the beauty of natural patina and aging), and '' yūgen'' (profound grace and subtlety). These ideals, and others, underpin much of ...

, or muted and graceful beauty,H Parker, ''Kezairoku'' (2006) p. 65 in favor of something more expansive.

References

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External links

Benkei in a Boat
Kabuki plays Noh plays Plays set in the 12th century

Style

See also

References

External links