能のあらすじ・見どころ Summary and Highlights of Noh Mutsura English
Summary
A traveling monk and his followers are on a journey from the capital to Mutsu and stop by Shōmyōji Temple in Sagami Province (present-day Kanagawa Prefecture). It is autumn, and the trees in the temple precincts are all in full autumn colors, except for one maple tree that remains green as in summer. While the monk is pondering this mystery, a woman appears. When the monk asks her about the origin of the maple tree, she begins to tell its story. The woman explains that when Fujiwara (Reizei) Tamesuke, a middle-rank noble from Kamakura, visited Shōmyōji Temple, the trees on the mountain had not yet turned red, but this particular maple tree was already in autumn colors. Tamesuke composed a poem upon seeing this sight: “How is it that this single tree showers its leaves ahead of the mountain?” The maple tree was so moved by Tamesuke’s poem that it ceased to turn red ever since. The monk, finding the woman suspiciously knowledgeable, asks about her identity. She reveals herself to be the spirit of the maple tree and disappears after requesting the monk to chant sutras.
A local man appears and, upon being questioned by the monk, provides a detailed account of the maple tree’s history and encourages the monk to chant sutras before leaving. Late at night, under the clear autumn moonlight, the monk is offering sutras when the spirit of the maple tree appears. Expressing gratitude for the prayers, the spirit asks to be saved and performs an elegant dance. With the arrival of dawn, the spirit vanishes.
Highlights
Nō plays often feature spirits of plants such as cherry blossoms, irises, and banana trees, with Mutsuura being one of these works. In the past, this play was also called Mutsuura momiji or Mutsuura kaede. Shōmyōji Temple, the setting of the play, is an ancient temple of the Buddhist Shingon Risshū sect located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. It was originally built by Hōjō Sanetoki in the mid-Kamakura period. Mutsuura is the name of the area around Shōmyōji, currently pronounced "Mutsu-ura," but in the context of the nō play, it is read as "Mutsura.”
This play centers around a poem by Reizei Tamesuke (1263-1328), a Kamakura period poet known as the founder of the Reizei family, famous for its poetry tradition, which continues to this day. Tamesuke taught waka (Japanese classical poetry) to influential figures of the Kamakura shogunate and was a leading figure in the Kantō poetic circles. He lived in Fujigaya, Kamakura, and his collection of poems is known as the Fujigaya wakashū. The poem featured in the play is included in this collection.
The highlight of the play are the elegant dances performed by the spirit of the maple tree in the latter half, in the kuse and jo-no-mai sections The spirit describes the beauty of various plants through the seasons while dancing gracefully. Often, the costumes for plant spirits are adorned with red to represent young women, but in this play, costumes without red, symbolizing the green leaves of the maple tree, are frequently used.