Yamanba

山姥 The Mountain Crone

1 Source and/or Related Material

Setsuwa tales and other sources relating to the figure of Yamanba

2 Author

Zeami

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

The entertainer Hyakuma Yamamba (tsure) has made a name for herself in the capital, taking as her artistic persona Yamamba, the monstrous old woman of the mountain. On her way to the temple of Zenkōji with an attendant (waki), she calls on a villager (ai) to guide them along a treacherous mountain path above the river Sakaigawa. Suddenly the sky goes as dark as night, and a strange woman (maeshite) calls out to offer the group lodging, guiding them to her hut. Since Hyakuma Yamamba has achieved success as an entertainer thanks to her Yamamba, the old crone asks her to perform it in order to help her achieve enlightenment. Hyakuma Yamamba timidly begins to sing, but the woman suddenly disappears, saying that they will dance together tonight. One and all are dazed and confused, but they decide to wait for nightfall. As the sun goes down, the entertainer begins to dance her monstrous mountain woman dance, and just then, the real Yamamba (nochishite) appears in her true form, dancing and singing about the scenery of the mountain ravines and crevasses, and how good and evil, angels and demons, are but two sides of the same coin. By seeing and hearing the mountain crone dance as performed by the real Yamamba herself, Hyakuma Yamamba receives a direct transmission of the Law of the Buddha. Singing and dancing of the passing of the seasons as she makes her mountain rounds, the monstrous old woman of the mountains disappears.