Tokusa

木賊 Scouring Rushes

1 Source and/or Related Material

Unknown

2 Author

Possibly Zeami

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A traveling monk (waki) and his subordinates (wakitsure) are taking a young boy named Matsuwaka (kokata) to his home in Sonohara of Shinano Province (Nagano). There, they meet an old man (shite) and his companions (tsure), who are gathering horsetail grass to dry and sell for scouring brushes. The monk and the old man have a poetic exchange, in which they discuss the broom trees of Fuseya Forest and various poems which have been written about these woods. The old man offers the monks lodging for the night, and at his home, the man serves them wine and tells how his only son went missing, and how he invites travelers to his home in hopes that he will learn of the child’s whereabouts. The old man describes a song and dance that his son used to like. Wearing his son’s old clothes, he tearfully performs the dance. The priests reveal to the man that their charge Matsuwaka must be his child, and father and son are reunited.