Ukai

鵜飼 The Cormorant Fisherman

1 Source and/or Related Material

Unknown

2 Author

Enami no Saemon Gorō, revised by Zeami

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A monk (waki) and his companions (wakitsure) are on their way from Kiyosumi in Awa Province (Chiba) to Kai Province (Yamanashi), when they ask for shelter from a local man (ai) in Isawa. He refuses, so the priests decide to stay at a shrine near the river. There, they encounter an old cormorant fisherman (maeshite), whom one of the monks recognizes as once having welcomed him into his home when he was traveling in the area. The old man says that he was put to death for fishing in a forbidden area and reveals that he is now a ghost. The priests encourage him to act out cormorant fishing for them, which he does, but as the moon comes out, the man is filled with regret over his sinful occupation and reluctantly leaves. The local man reappears and confirms that a cormorant fisherman was recently put to death in these parts. The monks hold a memorial service for the fisherman, and Enma, King of the Underworld (nochishite) appears. He describes the scene in hell, where the cormorant fisherman has been sent for the sin of killing living beings. However, by virtue of his once having offered lodging to the monk and of the monks’ recitations of the Lotus Sutra for him now, Enma’s heart softens, and he sends the man to paradise.