UDAKA Michishige is both a professional Noh actor and a Noh mask carver. He was designated a representative of a National Intangible Cultural Asset by the Japanese government in 1991. He not only teaches and performs extensively in Japan, but has performed Noh and exhibited Noh masks internationally... 3/10 The 9th Annual Sanrinshojo
UDAKA Michishige Kennoh-kai Noh Performance
Tokyo 2:00~4:15 p.m. (doors open at 1:00p.m.)
Message:
Let me first offer my thanks for your continuing support of my Sanrinshojo: Kennoh-kai Noh performance series.
As it is already almost a year since the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, causing me to postpone last year’s Sanrinsho performance that had been scheduled for June, this performance is dedicated to the support of efforts to rebuild the areas struck by the multiple disasters.
While many events were cancelled directly after the disasters, I was able, with the cooperation of Shinonome Shrine in my hometown of Matsuyama, to perform Noh there on April 4th as a prayer for the speedy recovery of the stricken areas.
There are many on-going programs now to assist in the recovery following the Great East Japan Earthquake and I would like to do my small part by making a contribution of a portion of the proceeds of this performance to those efforts.
I have chosen to perform ‘SANEMORI’, a Noh telling the story of a warrior over sixty years of age who chose to dye his white hair black before going into battle, demonstrating his indomitable spirit. Now that I am over sixty myself, and an ‘old warrior’, it is my hope to portray the resolution and determination of the Japanese.
Although this is a busy season and you all have many commitments, I hope many of you will be able to attend the performance.
A brief summary of ‘SANEMORI’:
Over 200 years have passed since warrior Saitoh-Bettoh-Sanemori was killed in battle at Shinowara during the epic war between the Heike and Genji clans, recorded in the Tale of the Heike. Priest Ta-Ami Shonin, traveling the country preaching sermons on the path to enlightenment provided by the Amida Nembutsu, repetition of the invocation of the buddha of infinite light, Amida, of the Ji Sect of Pureland Buddhism and offering prayers for the dead, comes to preach at Shinowara, in present-day Ishikawa prefecture. An Old Man attends these meetings each day but can be seen only by the Ta’ami. On being questioned, the Old Man admits that he is the Ghost of Sanemori, who died in battle at Shinowara at the age of seventy-two. Explaining that his attachment to the past has prevented him from gaining enlightenment, he disappears near the lake there.
Ta’ami Shonin offers prayers for the soul of Sanemori and is rewarded by the appearance of the ghost, dressed for battle. The Ghost of Sanemori rejoices in the prayers and in the promise of enlightenment through the nembutsu. He then narrates and en-acts his final days: how he asked to be allowed to wear red, a color reserved for generals, on the battlefield; how he chose to dye his white hair black so that everyone would imagine he was a much younger warrior; how, after his death, his head was taken and rinsed in the lake, his identity revealed when the black dye washed out; his memories of his last battle in which he took another warrior’s life just before losing his own. Then, his story told, the Ghost of Sanemori asks again for prayers and disappears.
Click here to download PDF file of the flyer.(Japanese)
Program:
Commentary: MATSUOKA Shinpei. Professor, Tokyo University
Interviewer: NAKAMURA Yuko, actress
Kyogen: SADOGITSUNE MIYAKE Sukenori, MIYAKE Chikanari
<INTERMISSION>
Noh: SANEMORI UDAKA Michishige
Tickets: Reserved (stage front): 7,000 yen
Reserved (waki-shomen--facing the chorus): 6,000 yen
General admission (naka-shomen--facing the sighting pillar): 5,000 yen
Student (naka-shomen--facing the sighting pillar): 2,000 yen
For tickets or further information contact: ogamo-tr@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp
Information about the plays will be available at the theater free of
charge in English, French, German, and Italian.
A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the
non-profit organization KIDS EARTH FUND (KEF)
<http://www.kidsearthfund.jp/en/kids_about.html> in support of their
efforts to help Great East Japan Earthquake victims.
The Udaka Kai Office
(For questions or reservations.)
TEL: +81 (075) 701-1055
FAX :+81 (075) 701-1058
Email: ogamo-tr@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp