Ukifune

浮舟 Drifting Boat

1 Source and/or Related Material

“A Drifting Boat,” “The Mayfly,” “Writing Practice,” Tale of Genji

2 Author

Book by Yokō Motohisa, music by Zeami

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A traveling monk (waki) is on his way from Hatsuse (Nara) to the capital (Kyoto), when he stops in Uji and meets a woman (maeshite) rowing a small boat. The monk asks her about famous people of Uji, and she tells him about Lady Ukifune from the Tale of Genji. Curiosity piqued by the depth of the woman’s knowledge, he asks her who she is, and she replies that she lives in Ono (Kyoto) and asks him to visit; then, she vanishes. A local man (ai) comes and tells about Ukifune in plain speech. The monk goes to Ono and holds a memorial service for Ukifune, and she appears in her true form (nochishite). She tells how she was torn between two suitors and possessed by an evil spirit, but then saved by the Priest of Yokawa. Her painful attachment to this world lightened by the priest’s prayers, Ukifune vanishes with the break of dawn.