Utaura

歌占 Poem Divination

1 Source and/or Related Material

Kusemai “Hell” by Na’ami, lyrics by Yamamoto, which is based on Jōkei shōsoku and Mokuren kyō

2 Author

Kanze Motomasa

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A man (waki) who lives at the base of Mt. Shirayama (Ishikawa, Gifu), brings a lost boy named Kōgikumaru (kokata) to see a poem diviner (shite) from Futami Bay in Ise Province (Mie); this diviner once died suddenly, only to be resurrected three days later, but, because of this ordeal, his hair turned white though he was still young. First, the man from Shirayama asks about his own father, who is ill, and the diviner draws poem cards which he interprets to mean that he will recover. Then Kōgikumaru asks about his own father, and the diviner says that his wish to meet him has already been granted because the diviner, named Watarae, is his father. Father and son decide to go home to Ise together, and the man from Shirayama asks as one last favor: that Watarae perform a song and dance telling what he saw when he visited hell during his near-death experience. Watarae enters a state of divine possession, his white hair stands on end, sweat trickles down his forehead, and he stomps his feet thunderously. The God possessing him ascends, Watarae awakens from his trance, and he and Kōgikumaru head home.