Small blacksmith

Noh piece. Also used in the fifth and fourth plays. Five-school current piece. Author unknown. A tale of the miraculous powers of a famous sword. The imperial messenger orders Munechika (waki), a small blacksmith from Sanjo, to forge the famous sword that the emperor saw in a dream. Munechika, lamenting the lack of a skilled swordsmith to respond, goes to pray at his guardian deity, Inari Myojin, whereupon a young boy (mae-shite) appears and tells him the story of famous swords from all over the world, past and present, and promises to lend him his power before disappearing into Mount Inari. The mae-shite also performs the role in the costume of an old man. Munechika prepares himself as a swordsmith, prepares the forge, prays and waits, when Inari Myojin (Goshite) appears, shows his divine power, gives an interjection, and the sword, named Kogitsunemaru, is inscribed with the name of the swordsmith Munechika on the front and Kogitsune (Little Fox) on the back, and is presented to the imperial envoy. In the Kita school, there is a performance in which the performers dress in all white and use a special footwork technique called fox foot. There are also various other ingenious performances, and the clean and lively performance of the piece has made it a popular piece.

There is also a series of Kokaji pieces in Kabuki dance, such as the Nagauta pieces "Sugata no Hana no Chi no Hinagata," "Uchitsure Iro ni Aizuchi" (Shin Kokaji), and "Yukyoku Sannin Kokaji" (Imayo Kokaji), and even after the Showa era, "Kokaji" by Kimura Tomiko in the Gidayu style has been performed.

[Masuda Shozo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

能の曲目。五番目物、また四番目物にも。五流現行曲。作者不明。名剣の霊験(れいげん)談である。帝(みかど)が霊夢にみた名剣を打たせるため、勅使はそれを三条の小鍛冶宗近(むねちか)（ワキ）に命ずる。相槌(あいづち)を打つ名手のいないことを嘆いた宗近は、氏神である稲荷(いなり)明神に祈誓に出かけると、童子（前シテ）が現れて、古今東西の名剣のいわれを語り、かならず力を貸し与えると約して稲荷山に消える。前シテは老翁(ろうおう)の扮装(ふんそう)でも演じる。宗近は刀工の威儀を整え、鍛冶台を用意し祈念して待つと、稲荷明神（後シテ）が出現して神威をみせ、相槌を打ち、表に小鍛冶宗近、裏に小狐(こぎつね)と作者名を刻み、小狐丸と名づけた名剣が勅使に捧(ささ)げられる。喜多流には、白ずくめの扮装に狐足とよぶ特殊な足使いで演ずる演出がある。ほかにも多様な演出がくふうされており、その舞台の潔さ、小気味よさで人気曲となっている。

　歌舞伎(かぶき)舞踊にも小鍛冶物の系列があり、長唄(ながうた)の『姿花后雛形(すがたのはなのちのひながた)』『誘謂色合槌(うちつれていろにあいづち)（新小鍛冶）』『優曲(ゆうきょく)三人小鍛冶（今様小鍛冶）』、昭和になってからも義太夫(ぎだゆう)節による木村富子作『小鍛冶』が上演されている。

［増田正造］

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