能のあらすじ・見どころ Summary and Highlights of Noh Sanemori English
Summary
Yugyō, a traveling monk visiting various provinces, is staying in the village of Shinohara in Kaga (today Ishikawa Prefecture). During his sermon, the monk occasionally mutters to himself, arousing the curiosity of a local villager, who decides to inquire about the reason.
As the monk preaches, an old man appears seemingly out of nowhere to listen. However, this old man is visible only to the monk, making it appear to others as though the monk is speaking to himself. The monk repeatedly asks the old man to reveal his identity. When the monk explains that recounting one’s past leads to salvation, the old man reveals that he is the ghost of Saitō Bettō Sanemori, who died in battle at Shinohara, before disappearing.
The villager, who came to ask about the monk’s words, is then asked to recount the circumstances surrounding Sanemori’s death. The monk then decides to hold a memorial service for Sanemori’s spirit, and the villager spreads word of this event.
As the memorial service begins, Sanemori’s ghost emerges from the water, resplendent in his warrior attire. Seeking release from the torments of the asura (the Buddhist hell where warriors are cast after death), Sanemori recounts his past: he had dyed his white hair black and donned youthful attire to join the battle, prepared to die. He describes his decision to wear a splendid brocade jacket (hitatare) for his final battle, aware that this would be how he faced his death. He then reenacts the moment he was struck down by the warrior Tezuka no Tarō Mitsumori. Finally, he pleads for prayers for his salvation before vanishing from sight.
Highlights
This work by Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443) dramatizes the life and final moments of the warrior Saitō Bettō Sanemori, as depicted in Volume 7 of the 12th-century warrior chronicle The Tale of the Heike. The story of Sanemori’s spirit appearing in the village of Shinohara and meeting a traveling monk is thought to be based on rumors that spread in 1414. Using the framework of these tales of Sanemori’s spirit receiving Buddhist teachings from a monk of the Ji sect, the play vividly portrays the dignified and poignant death of the elderly warrior Sanemori.
The Battle of Shinohara took place in 1183 when the Genji forces, led by Kiso Yoshinaka, defeated the Heike forces. Sanemori fought for the Heike, though before the Heiji Rebellion, he had served the Genji leader Yoshitomo. According to the warrior chronicle Genpei Jōsuiki, Sanemori was the one who sent the two-year-old Yoshinaka, who had become an orphan after his father’s death, to the mountains of Kiso. Determined to die in his native Hokuriku, Sanemori chose to confront Yoshinaka, someone tied to him through fate, as his final opponent.
The latter half of the play focuses on the story of Sanemori’s ghost seeking atonement. The ghost recounts the events following his death and his final moments. He gestures, describing how his severed head was washed in a pond and how he was struck down by Tezuka no Tarō Mitsumori.