Tsuchiguruma

土車 The Garden Cart

1 Source and/or Related Material

Unknown

2 Author

Zeami

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Kita

4 Synopsis

Mourning the death of his wife, Captain Fukakusa (waki) has left his child behind to become a monk at Zenkōji Temple in Shinano Province (Nagano). His servant Kojirō (shite) places Fukakusa’s child (kokata) in a crude garden cart and sets out to find his master, eventually arriving at Zenkōji. There, a temple guard (ai) demands that the mentally ill and homeless Kojirō perform a dance. At first, Kojirō refuses and rebukes the guard for his rudeness, but eventually he is overwhelmed with despair and descends into madness. Observing from a distance, Fukakusa realizes that his servant and son have come looking for him, but he hesitates to desert his religious vocation and pretends not to recognize them. Lamenting their failure, Kojirō and the child decide to drown themselves in the river, but just before they throw themselves in, Fukakusa stops them and reveals his identity. All rejoice at their reunion.