Kumasaka

熊坂 The Bandit Kumasaka

1 Source and/or Related Material

Ballad of Yoshitsune

2 Author

Unknown

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A traveling monk (waki) arrives at Akasaka in Mino Province (Gifu), There, he meets a local monk (maeshite) who asks him to hold a memorial service for a certain person to commemorate the anniversary of their death. The local monk invites the traveling monk to his cottage, where the traveller is surprised to find rooms filled with weapons. The local monk says they are for defending against bandits, then goes into the bedroom. Suddenly, the cottage disappears, and the traveller finds himself outdoors, in a thicket of tall grass. A villager (ai) arrives and tells how the bandit Kumasaka Chōhan once died here; upon hearing more details about him, the monk realizes that the man he just met must have been Chōhan’s spirit. The monk begins a memorial service, and the spirit of Chōhan (nochishite) appears. He describes his final battle against the young Yoshitsune, then vanishes once more.