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This is a Sokyoku piece in the Uta mono style from the Yamada Ryű school . This piece was composed for koto by Yamada Kengyo .

History (from Tsuge Gen'ichi)
Aoi no ue, Yamada Kengyo's masterpiece, is considered the most profound work in the Yamada style repertoire.

Its rhythmic texture - a quick alternation of tension and relaxation - is highly dramatic. Also, being over 40 minutes long, this piece demands highly-polished technique, energy, and endurance on the part of the performers.

Aoi no ue is based on a no play of the same title. In fact, its text is taken almost intact (though the final one-third is cut), from the no play. The play is based on 'The Tale of Genji,' in particular, an episode from the 'Heartvine' (Aoi) chapter. Princess Rokujo was once courted by Genji, whose affection, however, soon shifted to other women. Rendered helpless by her noble upbringing and pride, the princess was overcome by jealousy, which eventually to the form of a revengeful ghost. The ghost stole out of her body, without her realizing it, to torment Lady Aoi, Genji's wife who was about to give birth to a son.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)
Riding the three vehicles
Of Law
Others may escape
The burning house.

Mine is but a cart in ruins
Like Yugao's house;
I know not
How to flee my passion.
Like an ox-drawn cart,
This weary world
Rolls endlessly
(On the wheels
Of retribution.)
(On the wheels
Of retribution.)

Like wheels of a cart
Forever turning
Are birth and death in all living things;
Six Worlds and Four Births
You must journey;
Strive as you will, there is no escape.
What folly to be blind
To the frailty of this life,
Like the banana stalk without a core,
Like a bubble on the water!
Flowers of yesterday are
But a dream today.
How sad my fate!

Upon my sorrow
Others heap
Their spite.
Unforgettable,
Unforgivable.
To find a moment
Of respite,
Now the ghost
Has come,
Drawn by the sound
Of the birch-bow.

Ah, how shameful
That even now
The eyes of others I should shun
As on that festive day.
Though all night long
I gaze upon the moon,
I, a phantom form,
Remain unseen by it.

Hence,
By the birch-bow's upper end,
I shall stand to tell
My sorrow.
Whence comes
The sound of the birch-bow?

Though by the mansion-gate
I stand,
Having no form,
People pass me by
Without notice.

How strange!
I see,
Though I know not who,
A lady
Gentle-born
Riding in
A ragged coach,
And one who seems
A waiting-maid,
Clutching the shaft
Of the ox-less coach
And weeping,
Swathed in tears.
Oh! Pitiful sight!

Is this the evil spirit?
Who it is
I now can guess.
Tell me straight
Your name.
Tell me straight
Your name.

In this world
Where all, like lightning
Passes,
There should be none
For me to hate
Nor no fate
For me to mourn,
Why did I leave
The way of truth?

Attracted
By the birch-bow's
Sound,
Here I now
Appear.
Am I unknown
To you yet?
I am the ghost
Of Princess
Rokujo.
In those olden days
When I walked the world,
On spring mornings
I was invited
To the flower feasts
Of the Palace,
And on autumn nights
I viewed the moon
In the royal garden.
Gaily thus,
I spent my days
In bright hues
And scents.
Fallen in life,
I am today no more
Than a morning-glory that
Withers with the rising of the sun.

My heart knows
No rest from pain;
Bitter thoughts grow
Like fern shoots
Bursting forth
In fields.
To vent
My vengeance,
Here
Have I appeared.
Know you not
In this life,
Charity is
Not for others?
Be harsh
To another,
And it will recoil
Upon you.
Why do you cry?
My curse is
Everlasting.
My curse is
Everlasting.
Oh, how I hate you!
I will punish you.

What shame!
For Princess
Rokujo,
Gentle-born,
To you vengeance
And act as
One low-born,
Are you not ashamed?
Stop
And say no more.

Say what you will,
I must strike her now.
So staying
I walk towards the pillow
Of Lady Aoi
And strike her.
Now that things have come
To such a pass,
There is nothing more to do.
So saying, she walks
Towards the Princess Rokujo.
For this you will soon suffer.
Present vengeance is the retribution
Of past wrongs you did to me.
The flame of consuming anger
Scorches only my own self.
You shall feel
The fullness of its fury.

This loathsome heart!
This loathsome heart!
My unfathomable hate
Causes Lady Aoi to wail
In bitter agony.
But long as is
Her life
In this world,
Her love
Of the Shining Prince
Will never end-
The Shining Prince,
Lovelier than
A firefly
That flits across
The marshland.

I shall be to him
A stranger,
Which I was once,
And I shall pass away
Like a dewdrop
On the mugwort leaf.
When I think of this,
How bitter I feel!

Even were I living,
Our love is already an old tale,
Never to be revived
Even in a dream.
Yet all the while
My longing grows more
Till I am ashamed to see
My love-torn self.
In ragged coach,
Standing by her pillow,
I shall place the Lady Aoi
And secretly
Bear her off,
And secretly
Bear her off.

(1) The following English translation has been adapted from The Nippon Gakujutsu Shinko Kai's translation of the no play Aoi no ue (Japanese Noh Drama, Vol. 2, Tokyo 1959).

Aoi no Ue (Yamada Ryu) appears on the following albums:

Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
Jiuta to Sokyoku no Sekai - 4  (Listen)
Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 46  (Listen)		Nakanoshima Kin'ichi
Yamada Kengyo o Utao Disk 1  (Listen)