Azuma Play - Azuma Play

An ancient dance. Also called Azuma-mai, it was originally a dance from the eastern region, but was later adopted by the imperial court and turned into Bugaku. There is a legend that it originated when a heavenly being descended to Udo Beach in Suruga Province (Shizuoka Prefecture) and danced. It first appeared as Azuma-mai in records from the memorial service for the Great Buddha of Todaiji Temple in 861 (Jogan 3), and was already performed at the Kasuga Festival and Oharano Festival around the time of Jogan. It was gradually later performed at the Kamo and Iwashimizu temporary festivals, Hirano Festival, Kamo Festival, and Gion temporary festivals. It ceased to be performed at the imperial court for a time, but was revived and revised during the Edo period.

The current Azuma-yu dancers are either six or four in number. The dancers' costumes consist of a blue-dyed robe, outer hakama, and a sword. They wear a ken'ei crown with a oi-kake ornament on their heads, and the crown is decorated with seasonal flowers. The singers include a hakama, a tsukeuta, a koma-bue, a hichiriki, a wagon, and a koto-mochi. The dances are Suruga-uta and Motomego-uta. Currently, Azumayu is performed by musicians from the Imperial Household Agency at the spring and autumn Imperial Ancestors' Festival, the Emperor Jinmu Festival, and the annual festival of Hikawa Shrine in Omiya Ward, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, as well as at festivals at Kamo Shrine, Kasuga Wakamiya Shrine, Nikko Toshogu Shrine, and Kotohira Shrine.

[Shigeru Takayama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

古代歌舞。東舞(あずままい)ともいい、もと東国地方の歌舞であったものが、のちに朝廷の大儀に取り入れられ、舞楽化するに至った。駿河(するが)国（静岡県）有度(うど)浜に天人が降りて舞ったのがその起源だという伝説がある。861年（貞観3）東大寺大仏供養のおりの記録に「東舞」とみえるのを初めとして、すでにこの貞観(じょうがん)のころには春日(かすが)祭、大原野祭で行われており、以後賀茂(かも)および石清水(いわしみず)臨時祭、平野祭、賀茂祭、祇園(ぎおん)の臨時祭などでも漸次行われるようになった。宮廷では一時期とだえていたが、江戸時代に再興、訂正された。

　現行の東遊の舞人は、6人ないし4人。舞人装束は青摺(あおずり)の袍(ほう)に表袴(うえのはかま)をつけ太刀を帯びる。頭には巻纓(けんえい)の冠に緌(おいかけ)をつけ、冠に季節の挿頭(かざし)の花を飾る。歌方は拍子、付歌(つけうた)、高麗(こま)笛、篳篥(ひちりき)、和琴(わごん)、それに琴持(こともち)。舞は駿河歌と求子(もとめご)歌につく。現在、東遊は宮内庁楽師により春秋の皇霊祭、神武(じんむ)天皇祭や埼玉県さいたま市大宮区の氷川(ひかわ)神社の例祭などに奏されるほか、賀茂神社、春日若宮、日光東照宮、金刀比羅(ことひら)宮の祭礼にも行われている。

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