Kochō

胡蝶 The Butterfly

1 Source and/or Related Material

Unknown

2 Author

Kanze Nobumitsu

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō

4 Synopsis

A traveling priest (waki) from Mt. Yoshino visits Kyoto. At the site of the ancient palace he finds beautiful plum blossoms. While he is admiring them, a woman (maeshite) approaches him and describes events in the past that took place at the palace. She then reveals that she is the spirit of a butterfly (nochishite) who wants to attain enlightenment so that she can fly freely among the plum blossoms. A villager (ai) appears and reaffirms the woman’s identity, the glorious past history of the palace, and the extraordinary beauty of the plum blossoms. The priest decides to pray for the butterfly’s enlightenment, and she (nochishite) appears in her true form, performs a dance to celebrate her new identity, then changes into the Bodhisattva of Song and Dance before disappearing.