Satsuma no Kami - Lord of Satsuma

Kyogen play title. Kyogen about becoming a monk. A monk (shite) who has come to Kamigata for sightseeing passes the Kanzaki ferry on his way to Sumiyoshi Tennoji Temple and enters a teahouse, but is penniless. Not only is he treated to tea thanks to the owner's donation, but the ferryman, who likes beautiful haiku, even teaches him how to ride the boat for free. The monk, tickling the boatman's curiosity, successfully reaches the other side, and when it comes time to recite a beautiful haiku in exchange for the boat money, he forgets the key punchline that "the boat money is Satsuma no Kami, in other words, Taira no Tadanori (free ride)," and is embarrassed. In the Middle Ages, monks could travel even without a coin on their person. This was because it was believed that giving to religious people would lead to their own rebirth in paradise. There are also monks who seem unlikely to lead to paradise, but this is a glimpse of such a social situation, and is portrayed with a keen sense of the common people. The term "Satsuma no Kami" has long been used as a play on the name of Taira Tadanori, a Taira clan general who served as the Satsuma no Kami (provincial governor of Satsuma) and the phrase "free ride."

[Mitsuo Yuya]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

狂言の曲名。出家狂言。上方(かみがた)見物にやってきた僧（シテ）が、住吉天王寺へ行こうと神崎の渡しに差しかかり、茶屋に入るが無一文。亭主の施しで茶をふるまわれたうえ、渡し守は秀句好きだからと、ただで舟に乗る方法まで教わる。僧は船頭の趣味心をくすぐりながら、まんまと向こう岸にたどり着き、いざ舟銭がわりの秀句をいう段になって、肝心の「舟銭は薩摩守、つまり平忠度(ただのり)（ただ乗り）」という落ちを忘れてしまい、恥をかく。中世のころ、僧侶(そうりょ)は身に寸銭なくても旅ができたという。宗教者への施しが自分自身の極楽往生につながると考えられていたからである。とても極楽につながるとは思えない僧侶も出没したが、そのような世相の一こまを、鋭い庶民感覚で取り上げている。平家の武将で薩摩守であった平忠度を「ただ乗り」にかけて、「薩摩守」の語が古くから使われている。

［油谷光雄］

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