Umewakamaru - Umewakamaru

Japanese: 梅若丸 - うめわかまる

The name of a tragic boy who appears in Noh plays, Joruri, novels, etc. In Sekkyo Joruri, the title is "Umewaka" or "Sumida-gawa", and some include it in the Five Sekkyo along with "Karukaya", "Sansho Dayu", "Aigo no Waka", etc. Umewakamaru's father was Yoshida Shosho of Kitashirakawa, Kyoto, and his mother was Madara no Onna. When his father died, 12-year-old Umewakamaru was on his way down to Oshu to rely on an acquaintance, when he was deceived by a slave trafficker and died of an illness on the banks of the Sumida River on the border between Musashi and Shimousa. When his mother came to visit him, Umewakamaru was already dead, and she went mad. The Noh play "Sumida-gawa" depicts this. The villagers living along the Sumida River felt sorry for Umewakamaru and built a grave at the place where he died to mourn him. The Umewaka Tomb is currently located at Mokubo-ji Temple in Tsutsumi-dori, Sumida Ward, Tokyo. This legend is the origin of Mokubo-ji Temple, and the temple holds a large Buddhist memorial service on April 15th to commemorate Umewaka's death. In terms of novels, the kana zoshi "Sumida-gawa Monogatari" was published in 1656 (Meireki 2), and the ukiyo zoshi "Umewakamaru Ichidaiki" (Yamatoji Books) was published in 1734 (Kyoho 19). In ancient Joruri there was Yamamoto Tosa no Jō's "Kakutagawa," which eventually gave rise to the Joruri "Futago Sumidagawa," said to have been written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and eventually developed into the Kabuki play "Sumidagawa Hana Goshozome" (1814, first performed at the Ichimura Theater) written by Tsuruya Namboku IV.

[Kazuo Sekiyama]

Umewakazuka
It is said that it was built to commemorate Umewakamaru, who was kidnapped by human traffickers and died at a young age. His mother, who had followed her son and found out about his death on the banks of the Sumida River, was so heartbroken that she took on the name Myogame-ni and established a hermitage. Myogame-zuka remains at Hashiba on the opposite bank of the Sumida River, and forms a pair with Umewaka-zuka. Sumida Ward, Tokyo ©Yutaka Sakano ">

Umewakazuka

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

謡曲、浄瑠璃(じょうるり)、小説などに登場する悲劇の少年の名。説経浄瑠璃では『梅若』または『隅田川(すみだがわ)』の題名で、『苅萱(かるかや)』『山荘太夫(さんしょうだゆう)』『愛護若(あいごのわか)』などとともに五説経のなかに加える者もある。梅若丸の父は京都・北白河の吉田少将で、母は斑女(はんじょ)。父の死にあった12歳の梅若丸は、奥州の知人を頼って下向する途中、人買い男にだまされて、武蔵(むさし)と下総(しもうさ)の境にある隅田川のほとりで病死する。母が尋ねてきたときには、すでに梅若丸は死んでいたので母は狂乱する。謡曲『隅田川』はそのさまを描いたものである。梅若丸を哀れんだ隅田河畔の里人が、死んだ場所に塚を設けて弔った。その梅若塚は現在、東京都墨田区堤通の木母寺(もくぼじ)にある。この伝説は木母寺の縁起となっているが、同寺では4月15日を梅若忌として大念仏会(だいねんぶつえ)を行う。小説では1656年（明暦2）に仮名草子『角田川(すみだがわ)物語』が出版され、1734年（享保19）には浮世草子『梅若丸一代記』（八文字屋本）が出た。古浄瑠璃では山本土佐掾(とさのじょう)の『角田川』があり、やがて近松門左衛門作といわれる浄瑠璃『雙生(ふたご)隅田川』が現れ、歌舞伎(かぶき)の4世鶴屋南北(つるやなんぼく)作『隅田川花御所染(はなのごしょぞめ)』（1814、市村座初演）にまで発展した。

［関山和夫］

梅若塚
人買いにさらわれ、幼くして亡くなった梅若丸の菩提を弔うために築かれたといわれる。わが子を追い、隅田川のほとりでその死を知った母は悲しみに打ちひしがれ、妙亀尼と称して庵を結んだという。隅田川対岸の橋場には、妙亀塚が残り、梅若塚と対をなしている。東京都墨田区©Yutaka Sakano">

梅若塚

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