Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | Rethinking Nature in Japan
Chapter | Fraternizing with the Spirits in the Noh Plays Saigyōzakura and Yamanba
Fraternizing with the Spirits in the Noh Plays Saigyōzakura and Yamanba
Abstract
Not rarely do spirits of trees and plants appear in Noh plays as main characters having lively conversations with human beings. Both – the common belief in medieval Japan that plants, trees and the land itself could possess the spirit of Buddha, and the cults of tree worship existing since ancient times – give some clues to enquire the significance of composing and performing Noh plays grounded on what previously had been described only by words or pictures, the fraternizing with the spirits. This paper aims to examine how Noh plays enacted the ‘life force’ (sei) believed to permeate nature on the stage, and further the effects that such dramatisation had on the audiences. To do so, two Noh plays will be examined: in Saigyōzakura (Saigyō’s Cherry Tree), the famous monk-poet Saigyō and the spirit of an old cherry tree elegantly debate how this world should be viewed. In Yamanba (The Mountain Crone), the spirit (or the phantom) of untamed nature of deep mountains makes its apparition.
Submitted: Dec. 10, 2015 | Accepted: Dec. 9, 2016 | Published Dec. 15, 2017 | Language: en
Copyright © 2017 Reiko Yamanaka. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/6969-171-3/CFJS-7-8
