Hiroshima City Kagura Troupe Performances Series January - March [Yuki Lodge]

Held on the 2nd and 4th Sundays from 2024/1/14 (Sun) to 3/24 (Sun)

Yamato Takeru-no-Mikoto

Set during the reign of the 12th emperor, Keikō, this play centers on his second son, Yamato-oguna-no-Mikoto. Yamato-oguna is ordered to travel to Kumaso Province in Kyushu to defeat Kawakami Takeru, who is the leader of the most powerful family in the province and a source of strife to the people in the land.

When Yamato-oguna arrives, Takeru is holding a grand housewarming party. Yamato-oguna hatches a plan to disguise himself as a beautiful maiden to join the party, and then attack once Takeru is drunk. His plan works, and before Takeru is cut down, he proclaims that he thought there was no one who could beat him in the western region of the country, but now he knows that in Yamato Province, there is a powerful warrior named Yamato-oguna. To show his respect, he bestows his name (Takeru) upon Yamato-oguna, who is known from that day forward as Yamato Takeru-no-Mikoto.

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Modori-bashi Bridge (Part One of the Ōeyama Trilogy)

 In the mid-Heian period, there was a demon named Shuten-dōji who lived on Mt. Ōeyama in the Tamba Province. He had many demon henchmen who worked for him, and they would appear in the capital, Kyoto, and villages near the capital, causing all manner of havoc and chaos. One of his henchmen, Ibaraki-dōji, would transform into an old woman and each night, the demon would appear at Modori-bashi Bridge in Kyoto and terrorize the people. Watanabe-no-Tsuna, one of Minamoto-no-Raikō’s Four Heavenly generals, is ordered to destroy Ibaraki-dōji, but is nearly killed himself when faced with the demon’s dark powers. However, he is saved by Sakata-no-Kintoki, who arrives to join the fray, having been told about Tsuna’s fate in a prophecy by the god of Iwashimizu. Kintoki and Tsuna succeed in cutting off Ibaraki-dōji’s left arm. The demon then flees back to his home on Mt. Ōeyama.

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Shōki

Long ago, when the god Susanō-no-Mikoto travelled to the Tang Dynasty of China, he called himself Minister Shōki and defeated a demon known as Kyomō. A descendant of this demon, harboring a grudge toward Minister Shōki, later travelled to Japan as the plague demon of the seasons, spreading the plague and sickness to the people and causing them to suffer.

When Minister Shōki heard what happened, he went to face the plague demon, but the demon couldn’t be seen with the naked eye as he was using magic to become invisible. Using his cogon grass ring, Minister Shōki was able to see the plague demon.

The plague demon is a fearsome creature who is responsible for all illnesses: the infectious diseases of the spring, high fevers of the summer, internal bleeding of the autumn, and brutal coughs of the winter. Using his cogon grass ring, Minister Shōki asks the plague demon a series of questions while fighting a fierce battle, and in the end, Minister Shōki is able to defeat the demon.

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Mt Katsuragi-zan

Long ago in Yamato-no-Kuni (current Nara Prefecture), high on Mt. Katsuragi-zan, there lived an ancient spider demon bent on throwing the world into chaos. When the great general Minamoto-no-Raiko falls terribly ill, the demon seizes on the opportunity to be rid of him. Raiko sends his maid, Koch, to fetch some medicine to cure him, but before she can return, the demon attacks her and possesses her body. The demon then brings Raiko poison, telling him that it is a potent medicine. Raiko takes the medicine, but realizes that Kocho has been possessed by the spider demon and attacks with his sword, a family heirloom with magical powers. The spider demon, bleeding, fees to its lair on Mt. Katsuragi-zan. Raiko entrusts the magical sword to his men and sends them to Mt. Katsuragi-zan to slay the spider demon.

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Defeating the Demon Trio (Oni Taiji-no-Mai)

This is the story of a trio of demons (big, medium, and small) representing evil who wreak havoc in the once-peaceful land, causing suffering to all. In order to bring peace and order back to the land, Kizuki Dai-Myōjin defeats the demons with his bow and arrows.

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The Origin of the Legendary Swords (Arakami-no-Mai)

This performance, known for its fast-paced action, tells the origin story of three legendary swords (Totsuka, Kusanagi, and Murakumo) that protect the gods. The Totsuka Sword lies deep in Asama-ga-Take in Ise Province, the Kusanagi Sword lies in Atsuta-no-Miya in Owari-no-Kuni, and the Murakumo Sword lies in Itsukushima.

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The Opening of the Heavenly Rock Cave (Ama-no-Iwato-Hiraki-no-Mai)

Saddened and distraught by the fighting between her sons, the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Ōmikami shuts herself in a rock cave, plunging the world into total darkness. All the gods gather on the Heavenly Plain and hatch a plan to bring light back into the world by performing 120 different kinds of kagura. Intrigued by the musical sounds of the kagura performances, Amaterasu Ōmikami pushes the boulder in front of the cave open a little to take a look. It is then that Onoko-no-Daijin is able to destroy the boulder and bring Amaterasu Ōmikami, and the light, back into the world.

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The Old Woman in the Woods (Yama-uba)

Minamoto-no-Raikō heads to conquer the Eastern Lands with his retainer, Watanabe-no-Tsuna. They come across Mt. Agero in Shinshū. Living on Mt. Agero is an old woman who was the wife of a warrior. However, when her husband died, she was cast out of the imperial capital. Harboring hatred for the world and its cruel people, she was reduced to becoming a mountain bandit with her only son, Kaidō-maru. The pair try to attack Raikō, but he overpowers them, and Kaidō-maru’s mother begs Raikō to spare her son’s life. Moved by the old woman’s plight to save her son, he forgives her and takes her son as his retainer, renaming him Sakata-no-Kintoki. He goes on to be one of Raikō’s four most trusted generals.

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The Tale of Suzuka Gozen (Suzuka Gozen)

On Mt. Suzuka in Ise Province, the Great Demon Ōtake-maru commits countless atrocities, terrorizing the people with his supernatural powers. Saka-no-ue Tamuramaru Toshimune and his father, Toshihito, are ordered by the emperor to destroy the demon and head to Mt. Suzuka. Having heard the news that the two are on their way to destroy him, Ōtake-maru orders Tate-Eboshi to kidnap Toshimune, and bring him back to Mt. Suzuka. Tate-Eboshi uses her supernatural powers to create a dense fog to separate the father and son.

From the dense fog, a woman appears and asks Toshimune what he is doing there. He tells her his story and she says that she will show him a way out of the fog if he follows her. Toshimune does as he is told, but suddenly, the woman attacks him, for the woman is actually the Great Demon Ōtake-maru’s wife, Tate-Eboshi. Toshimune fights her with the Sohaya Sword, blessed with the divine protection of Bishamonten. With the help of his father, the battle looks to be won, but before Toshihito can strike the final blow, he is stopped by his son, who asks Tate-Eboshi why she looks so sad. She says the reason for her sadness is that her marriage to the Great Demon Ōtake-maru was arranged by the Demon King and her husband’s heart is cold. Toshimune asks her for her help in defeating her husband, and she agrees, saying that she’s already died once, so she has nothing to lose.

The trio head to Ōtake-maru’s manor where Tate-Eboshi lulls him into a sense of false security before he is attacked and defeated. Toshimune and Tate-Eboshi are married, and she takes the name Suzuka Gozen.

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Momiji-gari

Originally a Noh chant, it was turned into a kagura play featuring Taira-no-Koremochi, a military commander during the Heian period, as the main character. When rumors reach the capital that demon women, who live deep in the forests of Mt. Togakushi in Shinshū, are terrorizing the people of the surrounding villages, Koremochi is ordered to destroy them and heads to Shinshū. But, the demon women, having heard that Koremochi is on his way, decide to lure him to a maple leaf-viewing party deep in the mountain forest. There, they pour him cup after cup of sake and once he’s inebriated, the demons strike. However, the god Yahata-no-Kami realizes the danger that Koremochi is in and sends his messenger, Takeuchi-no-Kami, to deliver a sacred sword to him. Regaining consciousness thanks to divine intervention, Koremochi uses the divine sword to defeat the demon women.

Chant: In a village without demons in Togakushi, the sun sets and tonight, the faces of demon women await

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Yamata-no-Orochi (The Eight-Headed Snake Demon)

In the land of Izumo-no-Kuni (current eastern Shimane prefecture), there lived an elderly couple with eight daughters. However, year by year and one by one, their daughters were eaten by a fearsome eight-headed snake demon called Yamata-no-Orochi. Left with only one precious daughter, the elderly couple was in despair over how to save her. It was then that the powerful god, Susano-o, happened upon the elderly couple and their daughter. When he asked why they were so sad, they told him the story, and he agreed to slay the demon in exchange for their daughter's hand in marriage. 'The elderly couple agreed, and Susano-o hatched a plan to slay the demon: he has the elderly couple make a barrel of poisoned sike, then, their daughter stands behind it, so her reflection is visible in the sake. Orochi would then consume the sake, thinking it was the daughter, and be weakened by the poison. Once weakened, Susano-o would attack and triumph over Orochi.

Susano-o’s plan works, and after slaying the demon, a sword falls from its stomach. Susano-o claims the sword as proof of his victory, and is becomes a national treasure.

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Nine-Tailed Fox (Akko-den)

In the mid-Heian period, there was a beautiful maiden named Tamamo-no-mae who served Emperor Toba. She earns his favor, but as she does, the emperor begins to feel unwell. Sensing something is wrong, his diviner, Abe-no-Yasuchika, consults with the spirit realm and finds that Tamamo-mae is actually a golden nine-tailed fox in disguise from China, where she seduced a king with large quantities of alcohol and caused havoc in the land.

With her true identity revealed, Tamamo-no-mae flees to Nasuno-ga-Hara in Shimotsuke Province where she uses her ability to shapeshift to cause chaos in the province, bringing suffering to the people. When she transforms into a beautiful woman again, she goes to Jūnen-ji Temple, where no women are allowed, under the pretense of being a lost traveler. There, she captures a monk named Chinsai and devours him. In the end, famed archer Miura-no-suke and Kazusa-no-suke are ordered to destroy the nine-tailed fox and Tamamo-mae is defeated.

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Takiyasha-hime (Lady Takiyasha)

About 1,000 years ago, the aristocrats in Kyoto, the capital of Japan, lived in the lap of luxury while the people living outside of the capital lived in poverty. Angered at this disparity of wealth, General Taira-no-Masakado, a resident of the Kanto area, decided to overthrow the current government and create his own capital province in the east where wealth would be distributed more evenly. However, when the government received word of his plans, they ordered him and his entire family to be killed. This play centers on Takiyasha, the sole survivor of the Taira clan massacre. Seeking revenge, she is gifted dark magical powers by a god and assembles an army to destroy the government forces who murdered her family.

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