Tatsuta

龍田・立田 Tatsuta

1 Source and/or Related Material

Jinnō shōtōki, etc

2 Author

Likely Komparu Zenchiku

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A traveling monk (waki) and his companions (wakitsure) stop by the Tatsuta River on their way from Nara to Kawachi Province. There, they meet a shrine maiden (maeshite), who rebukes them for trying to cross the river with insufficient aesthetic engagement. As the autumn leaves are now at their most beautiful, the priests and the shrine maiden have a poetic exchange about the leaves and the Tatsuta River. The shrine maiden guides the priests to Tatsuta Shrine and tells them that the maple tree there is sacred. She then reveals to them that she is the Goddess, Princess Tatsuta, before disappearing into the main chapel. A local (ai) arrives and tells about Tatsuta Shrine in plain speech. That night, Princess Tatsuta (nochishite) appears in her true form, tells of the water deity who guards the sacred spear that created the islands of Japan, then praises the beauty of the autumn leaves on Mt. Tatsuta with a sacred kagura dance.