Yagibushi

This folk song is found along the Nikko Reihei-kaido road and the Tone River basin, spanning the three prefectures of Gunma, Tochigi, and Saitama. It has been sung as a Bon Odori song in the area. Its origins lie in the song "Shinbo Kodaiji," which was born in the early Tenmei era (around 1782) in what is now Shimogumi Shinbo, Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, and was turned into a long-form kotobuki (a love song) song by blind female musicians. It seems that it was either a soy sauce craftsman who came to Kizaki-shuku or a Daikagura performer who brought it to the post towns along the Nikko Reihei-kaido road. As it began to become very popular, the one from Yagi-shuku in Ashikaga (now Yagi, Mikuriya-cho, Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture) became famous. Then Watanabe Gentarou (born in 1872 in Horigome, Yamabe village, Tochigi Prefecture, later known as Horigome Genta), a carriage puller with a beautiful voice, appeared and added the opening sound of "Bakatabushi," bringing together the form we see today, and the upper shibutare performers Yoshibei and Kanjū performed the Hanagasa dance.

[Tsutomu Takeuchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日光例幣使(れいへいし)街道沿いから利根(とね)川流域にかけての、群馬、栃木、埼玉3県にまたがる民謡。同地方で盆踊り唄(うた)として歌われてきたもの。その源流は、天明(てんめい)初年（1782ころ）に現在の新潟県十日町市下組(しもぐみ)新保で生まれた和尚(おしょう)の悪口唄『新保広大寺』で、それが瞽女(ごぜ)などの手によって長編の物語を歌う口説(くどき)節化された。それを日光例幣使街道の宿場へ持ち込んできたのは、木崎宿あたりへきていたしょうゆ造りの職人か、太神楽(だいかぐら)の芸人あたりらしい。それが大流行し始めたなかで、足利(あしかが)の八木宿（現在栃木県足利市御厨(みくりや)町八木）のものが有名になっていった。そこへ馬車引きで美声の名手、渡辺源太郎（1872年栃木県山辺村字堀込生まれ。のちの堀込源太）が現れ、「馬方節」の歌い出しの「ハァー」を加えるなどして、今日の形をまとめあげ、上渋垂(しぶたれ)の芳兵衛、勘十の両人が花笠(はながさ)踊りをつけた。

［竹内　勉］

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