Yugyōyanagi

遊行柳 The Priest and the Willow

1 Source and/or Related Material

Poems by Saigyō in “Summer,” Shin kokinshū

2 Author

Kanze Nobumitsu

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Hōshō, Komparu, Kongō, Kita

4 Synopsis

A traveling monk (waki) and his subordinates (wakitsure) are on their way to Kazusa Province (Chiba), and at Shirakawa Pass (Fukushima) they meet an old man (shite) who offers to show them a path that was traveled by the holy monks of old, along which there is a famous withered willow tree. Under the tree, they talk about Monk Saigyō, who wrote a poem about this very tree and made it famous. Suddenly the old man disappears, and a local (kyōgen) comes to retell the story in plain speech. The old man reappears from an old tomb and identifies himself as the spirit of the withered willow tree (nochishite). He dances to thank the monk for his visit and disappears with the break of dawn.