On a stage
illuminated by torches, the musician and jiuai (chorus) sat down quietly,
and a high shrieking sound from a bamboo flute marked the beginning of the
story.
The first performance was
“Kasuga Ryujin”(“The Kasuga Dragon God”). It is a story about a monk who plans
to travel abroad and the dragon god who tries to stop him. Myoe Shonin, a
Buddhist monk, who decided to travel to scared Buddhist sites in China and
India, appears on the stage. He has come to visit Kasuga Shrine in Nara to
announce his itinerary.
But an old
Shinto priest, performed by Tatsumi, tries to convince him to continue his Buddhist
practice in Japan. Tatsumi had explained prior to the performance that
traveling abroad meant risking one’s own life because about one-third of
vessels sank during voyages in the Kamakura Period (1185 to 1333), when the
story set.
The monk
finally agrees and gives up his trip and the delighted old priest promises to
show him the life story of Buddha and disappears. Then, the dragon god, also
performed by Tasumi, appears again and presents Buddhas life story before the
eyes of the monk, and vanishes into a pond.
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