Sekidera Komachi - Sekidera Komachi

Noh piece. Third piece. Five-school contemporary piece. Written by Zeami. In ancient times, it was also called "Komachi." A monk (waki/wakitsure) from Seki-dera in Omi Province visits the hut of an old woman (shite) living nearby, accompanied by a young boy (chigo) to listen to a story of waka poetry. From the details of the story of the waka poetry, the monks learn that the old woman is the remnant of Ono no Komachi. A contrast is made between the recollection of her glamorous past and her desolate present. Komachi is invited to the Tanabata festival, and is drawn to the young boy's dance, dancing a dance of her memories and reminiscing about the past, but returns to her hut as the bell sounds at dawn. It is called one of the "Three Old Women," along with "Obasute," about the spirit of an old woman abandoned in the mountains, and "Higaki," about an old dancing girl who falls into hell, but compared to those, this work has extremely few dramatic ups and downs. Moreover, since it is a work written in modern Noh, it is extremely difficult to portray the deep lament of the old woman and the splendor of the past in its monotonous style. It is considered to be the most secret piece of Noh. In the Kanze school, it has been performed occasionally in recent years, but in the Konparu school, it is the second time in history that a disciple other than the head family has been allowed to perform it, since Shimotsuma Shojin in the Momoyama period, and the late Sakurama Kyūsen in 1955 (Showa 30). It has not been performed in the Hōshō school or Kita school since the Taisho period, and in the Kongō school since the Meiji period. This is how important Noh has been.

[Masuda Shozo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

能の曲目。三番目物。五流現行曲。世阿弥(ぜあみ)作か。古くは『小町』ともよばれた。近江(おうみ)国、関寺の僧（ワキ・ワキツレ）が和歌の話を聞くため、稚児(ちご)（子方）を伴って、あたりに住む老女（シテ）の庵(いおり)を訪れる。和歌の物語の端々から、僧たちは老女を小野小町の成れの果てと知る。華やかであった昔の述懐と、落魄(らくはく)の現在との対比が語られる。七夕(たなばた)の祭りに招かれた小町は、稚児の舞にひかれて、思い出の舞を舞い、昔をしのぶが、明け方の鐘の音とともに庵へ帰って行く。山に捨てられた老女の霊の『姨捨(おばすて)』、地獄に落ちた老いた舞姫の『檜垣(ひがき)』とともに「三老女」とよばれるが、それらに比べ、劇的な起伏は極端に少ない。しかも現在能で書かれた作品だけに、その淡々としたなかに、深い老女の嘆きと、昔の華やかさを描くことは、至難の業である。能の最奥の秘曲とされている。観世(かんぜ)流では近年ときに上演をみるが、金春(こんぱる)流では宗家以外の弟子家に許されたのは、桃山時代の下間少進(しもつましょうじん)以来、1955年（昭和30）の故桜間弓川(さくらまきゅうせん)が史上二度目の例である。宝生(ほうしょう)流、喜多(きた)流では大正以来、金剛(こんごう)流では明治から上演されていない。それほど重く扱われてきた能である。

［増田正造］

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