DOI Heft:
No. 81 (December, 1899)
DOI Artikel:Edwards, Osman: Religious plays in Japan
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19783#0181
Japanese Religious Plays
Kidgen. i. Kitsune-Tsuki: -Possession by Foxes.
2. Roku Jizo : the Six Jizo. 3. Fukuro Yamabushi :
the Owl Priest.
By an hour before noon the audience, seated on
cushions in little pens holding four or six persons,
had composed itself to that air of thoughtful anti-
cipation which I had hitherto associated only with
devotees of Ibsen or Wagner.
The story of Shunkwan was quite devoid of
spectacular appeal. Exiled in 117 7 with other
rebellious priests by Kiyomori, the ruthless Taira
chief, to Devil's Island (Kikaigashima), he is dis-
covered celebrating with his companions an obla-
tion to Kumano Gongen, and praying for speedy
restitution to his fatherland. Pitiful, indeed, is the
case of these banished suppliants, who wear the
blue-and-white hempen skirts of fishermen, and
whose penury is such that they are obliged to bring
the God water instead of sake, and sand instead of
rice, and hempen fetters instead of white prayer-cord.
Yet Kumano Gongen hears and answers their peti-
tion. An Imperial messenger arrives from Kyoto
with a letter from the daughter of Shunkwan, an-
nouncing that the Son of Heaven, Lord of the
Land of the Rising Sun, has been graciously
pleased to recall his erring subjects, pardoning their
offences and inviting their prayers for an expected
heir to the throne. Beaming with grateful joy, the
old man now scans the Imperial mandate more
closely, only to find that his own name is omitted
from the list of those forgiven. Yasugori and
Moritsane will be taken, but he, Shunkwan, must
be left. In vain do his fellow-exiles lament and
protest; all know that the Son of Heaven's decree
must be obeyed to the letter. Accordingly, the
others embark, while their disappointed chief falls
speechless and hopeless on the shore. A simple,
poignant story! So touchingly interpreted that
the primitive and even ludicrous makeshifts of the
mounting seemed hardly incongruous !
Now came the children's turn to laugh at the
first of the Kidgen, entitled " Kitsnne Tsuki," Pos-
session by Foxes. Most of the comical interludes
deal with rustic stupidity or cunning, and all refer
in some way to religious belief or practice. If one
may judge by the ubiquity of his images, the fox is
the most sacred animal in Japan. It is they who,
if not propitiated, ruin the rice crop. Farmer
Tanaka sent two of his men into the fields with
rattles to scare away birds, and laid on them
THE EARTH SPIDER FROM A COLOUR PRINT BY KOOYO
158
Kidgen. i. Kitsune-Tsuki: -Possession by Foxes.
2. Roku Jizo : the Six Jizo. 3. Fukuro Yamabushi :
the Owl Priest.
By an hour before noon the audience, seated on
cushions in little pens holding four or six persons,
had composed itself to that air of thoughtful anti-
cipation which I had hitherto associated only with
devotees of Ibsen or Wagner.
The story of Shunkwan was quite devoid of
spectacular appeal. Exiled in 117 7 with other
rebellious priests by Kiyomori, the ruthless Taira
chief, to Devil's Island (Kikaigashima), he is dis-
covered celebrating with his companions an obla-
tion to Kumano Gongen, and praying for speedy
restitution to his fatherland. Pitiful, indeed, is the
case of these banished suppliants, who wear the
blue-and-white hempen skirts of fishermen, and
whose penury is such that they are obliged to bring
the God water instead of sake, and sand instead of
rice, and hempen fetters instead of white prayer-cord.
Yet Kumano Gongen hears and answers their peti-
tion. An Imperial messenger arrives from Kyoto
with a letter from the daughter of Shunkwan, an-
nouncing that the Son of Heaven, Lord of the
Land of the Rising Sun, has been graciously
pleased to recall his erring subjects, pardoning their
offences and inviting their prayers for an expected
heir to the throne. Beaming with grateful joy, the
old man now scans the Imperial mandate more
closely, only to find that his own name is omitted
from the list of those forgiven. Yasugori and
Moritsane will be taken, but he, Shunkwan, must
be left. In vain do his fellow-exiles lament and
protest; all know that the Son of Heaven's decree
must be obeyed to the letter. Accordingly, the
others embark, while their disappointed chief falls
speechless and hopeless on the shore. A simple,
poignant story! So touchingly interpreted that
the primitive and even ludicrous makeshifts of the
mounting seemed hardly incongruous !
Now came the children's turn to laugh at the
first of the Kidgen, entitled " Kitsnne Tsuki," Pos-
session by Foxes. Most of the comical interludes
deal with rustic stupidity or cunning, and all refer
in some way to religious belief or practice. If one
may judge by the ubiquity of his images, the fox is
the most sacred animal in Japan. It is they who,
if not propitiated, ruin the rice crop. Farmer
Tanaka sent two of his men into the fields with
rattles to scare away birds, and laid on them
THE EARTH SPIDER FROM A COLOUR PRINT BY KOOYO
158