Fujisan

富士山 Mt. Fuji

1 Source and/or Related Material

Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, legends of the Divine Maiden of Fire

2 Author

Zeami, revised by Komparu Zenpō

3 Repertoire

Komparu, Kongō

4 Synopsis

Shōkei (Chinese name unclear—waki), an envoy of a Chinese king named Zhaoming, visits the foot of Mt. Fuji together with his retainers (wakitsure), and there they meet some diver women (maeshite, maetsure). One of them tells him the story of the mountain’s smoke and the origin of its name, then praises its divine appearance, as its cap of snow lasts even in summer. She goes on to tell how the Japanese emperor received an incense of immortality from Princess Kaguya, a mysterious maiden from the moon, and when he burned it here the smoke covered the whole sky. Hinting that she is in fact the Great Bodhisattva Sengen, the diver disappears. A God of a lesser shrine and servant of Sengen (ai) enters. Announcing that the Bodhisattva will bring the medicine of immortality, the deity presents a dance and exits. The Divine Maiden of Fire (nochishite), a guardian deity of the land, appears together with Princess Kaguya in the form of the Bodhisattva Sengen (nochitsure). Princess Kaguya gives the medicine to the envoy and dances, and the Maiden of Fire presents a dance known as gaku. Thereupon Princess Kaguya rides on a purple cloud and enters a subsidiary shrine on the peak of Mt. Fuji, as the Maiden of Fire ascends into the sky.