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She changes her apparel and appears, gracefully transformed, wearing a beautifully shimmering Karakoromo-style kimono, and a diaphanous headdress, known as a sukibitai. She explains that the kimono belonged to Princess Takako, who was mentioned in the previous poem, and the headdress was once owned by Narihira, who had composed the poem. She then reveals that she is the spirit of the water iris. She tells that Narihira had appeared in this world as the incarnation of a Bodhisattva of song and dance; he offered the light of salvation to all living creatures in the world and the words of his poems have the power to save even non-sentient plants. While reciting Narihira’s story of love and poetry recorded in the Tale of Ise, the spirit dances mysteriously and elegantly. Eventually she receives the merit of the Buddha’s law that leads even flowers and trees to Buddhahood. She achieves enlightenment and disappears at dawn.
This drama, “Kakitsubata” has only two characters, the spirit of the water iris (shite) and the traveling monk (waki). It is a short and simple story which is completed in one scene, something unusual to the style of mugen-noh. The highlight of this piece is surely the visionary dance and chanting of the shite, a female spirit of the flower, which seems to plunge her into a profound dream. She connects Narihira’s brilliant love with the merit of Buddha, centering on the story of “Azuma-kudari” in Ise Monogatari (the Tale of Ise). Please enjoy this world of refined verses and music, gorgeous costumes, and restful dance, intertwined with fleeting illusions infused with the fragrance of elegant aristocratic culture, with the poetic sentiments of the Japanese language, and with the sensations of brisk early summer as represented by the water iris. STORY PAPER : Kakitsubata (Water Iris)Story Paper presents noh chant stories in modern speech, with story outlines, highlights and more using Adobe PDF format, which can print out and zoom in. Print out the pages and take them with you when you see the actual noh performance.
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