Suma Genji

須磨源氏 Genji at Suma Bay

1 Source and/or Related Material

Tale of Genji and related medieval traditions

2 Author

Unknown, attributed to Zeami

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Kongō

4 Synopsis

Fujiwara no Okinori (waki), a priest from Hyūga Province (Miyazaki) is on a pilgrimage to the Ise Grand Shrine with his attendants (wakitsure). He stops at Suma Bay and meets an old woodcutter (maeshite) carrying brushwood, who has been gazing at a young cherry tree. When Okinori asks about the tree, the old man tells him the story of Prince Genji, who loved cherry trees. The old man then suggests that he himself is Genji and currently lives in the Tusita Heaven, then he vanishes. A villager (ai) comes to retell the story of Genji’s exile to Suma in plain speech. That night, Genji (nochishite) descends from heaven wearing blue-gray robes and does the elegant court dance “Seigaiha” to the music of the waves. He sings of his time in Suma, how he descended from the Heavens to bless living beings, and he vanishes with the Spring dawn.