Umegae

梅枝 Plum Branch

1 Source and/or Related Material

Adapted into a ‘meet a ghost’ play from the noh “Fujidaiko”

2 Author

Unknown

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A group of monks (waki, wakitsure) are on their way from the Minobu Mountains to Sumiyoshi in Settsu Province (Osaka) when they are caught in the rain. They seek a night’s lodging at a nearby hut, where a woman (maeshite) lives alone. They ask her about a drum and musician’s robe that she has on display in the house, and she says that they belonged to a man named Fuji, who was killed by Asama, his rival for the role of court musician. Then she reveals that Fuji was her husband and that the drum and robe are all she has to remember him by. She asks for prayers, then vanishes. A local man (ai) comes to retell the story in plain speech. The monks recite sutras for the couple, and Fuji’s wife (nochishite) appears dressed in Fuji’s robes. Confessing her attachment to the memory of her husband, she performs several dances, then vanishes with the break of dawn.