Hagoromo (play)
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is among the most-performed
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese Noh plays. Tyler, Royall. ''Japanese No Dramas.'' Penguin Classics (1992)
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It is an example of the traditional
swan maiden The "swan maiden" () is a tale classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index, ATU 400, "The Swan Maiden" or "The Man on a Quest for His Lost Wife," in which a man makes a pact with, or marries, a supernatural female being who later departs. The ...
motif.


Sources and history

The earliest recorded version of the legend dates to the eighth century.Blacker, Carmen. ''Collected Writings of Carmen Blacker.''
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(2000)
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The play however apparently combines two legends, one concerning the origins of the Suruga Dance (''Suruga-mai'') and another the descent of an angel onto Udo Beach. A parallel story may also be found in the 14th volume of the fifth-century ''Sou-shen chi''. A poem by the 11th century poet Nōin is quoted. The authorship of the Noh play ''Hagoromo'' is unknown. The earliest references to the play in historical records date to 1524, which suggests that it was written well after Zeami's time.


Plot

A fisherman is walking with his companions at night when he finds the Hagoromo, the magical feather-mantle of a '' tennin'' (an aerial spirit or celestial dancer) hanging on a bough. The ''tennin'' sees him taking it and demands its return—she cannot return to Heaven without it. The fisherman argues with her, and finally promises to return it, if she will show him her dance or part of it. She accepts his offer. The Chorus explains the dance as symbolic of the daily changes of the moon. The words about "three, five, and fifteen" refer to the number of nights in the moon's changes. In the finale, the ''tennin'' disappears like a mountain slowly hidden in mist.


Adaptations

W. B. Yeats' '' At the Hawk's Well'' drew extensively from the Hagoromo legend. An abridged version of the plot of play is attested in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, with the name ''Das Federkleid'', in ''Japanische Märchen und Sagen'' (1885). An English translation exists in the book ''Green Willow; and other Japanese fairy tales'', with the name ''The Robe of Feathers''. A literary treatment of the play was given as ''The Fisherman and the Moon-Maiden'' in ''Japanese Fairy World'' (1880). Another version exists with the name ''The Angel's Robe''.
Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...
based a short story in his Phoenix series on the story of the Hagoromo, but with a sci-fi twist, featuring a time displaced human girl from the distant future instead of a tennin. Recently, the story was adapted into the
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
and
anime series is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
'' Ceres, The Celestial Legend''.Drazen, Patrick. ''Anime Explosion!: The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation''. Stone Bridge Press (2003)
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See also

* The princess and the cowherd * Tsuru no Ongaeshi


References


Further reading

* * * * * *


External links


English translation of the ''Hagoromo'' Noh play
by
Arthur Waley Arthur David Waley (born Arthur David Schloss, 19 August 188927 June 1966) was an English orientalist and sinologist who achieved both popular and scholarly acclaim for his translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. Among his honours were ...

English translation of the ''Hagoromo'' Noh play
by
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

''Hagoromo'' Noh play Photo Story and Story Paper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagoromo (Play) 16th-century plays Noh plays Japanese mythology Buddhist plays Swan maidens