Atsumori

敦盛 The Warrior Atsumori

1 Source and/or Related Material

The Tale of the Heike 9

2 Author

Zeami

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

The old warrior Kumagai Naozane (waki) reluctantly killed the beautiful noble youth Taira no Atsumori at Suma Bay during the Battle of Ichinotani, as depicted in the Tale of the Heike. In keeping with his vow at that time, Kumagai has become a monk with the religious name Renshō. He visits the old battlefield at Ichinotani (present-day Kobe) to pray for Atsumori, and some grass-cutters (maeshite, tsure) appear, playing the flute most elegantly. They converse with the monk about their woodsmans’ songs and flutes, until one of the men (maeshite) hints that is in fact Atsumori, whereupon he suddenly disappears. Renshō, having heard again the details of Atsumori’s death from a local villager (ai), prays to Amida Buddha, and Atsumori (nochishite) appears again. The spirit dances and sings about the doom of his own Heike clan, and how he was struck down by Kumagai. However, Atsumori emphasizes that now they are no longer enemies, but friends in the Buddhist Dharma.