Aoyagi
青柳
This is a piece of genre Jiuta in the style of Kumiuta from the Yanagawa Ryû School. This piece was composed for Koto by the person Yaezaki Kengyo. This piece was composed for Shamisen by the person Ishikawa Koto.
Poem (translated by John Tedford)
| Maeuta: [The mound upon which this ancient willow stands is sacred.] Thus, even on the playing field in flower-bedecked Kyoto where courtiers gather for the game of kemari, there are planted at each corner a willow, a cherry tree, a pine, a maple tree. The limbs of these four trees cast their shadows on the field where, in the evening, echoes the sound of the kemari ball. The willow and cherry blend together as beautiful as the brocade which decorates the courtiers' robes. In the breeze which drifts through the slits in the bamboo shades, the scent of perfume comes wafting. Tegoto I Nakauta: Tora, the household cat, catches his dragging leash [on the bamboo shade which lifts to reveal Nyosan] Lord Kashiwagi is overcome by longing for this unattainable beauty and like the falling oak leaves [1] wanders astray on the path of love, without hope, in vain. [Now let us leave the story of Kashiwagi and return to the ancient willow of Aoyagi.] The spirit of the Noh play dons the willow-colored kariginu [2] and kazaori [3] Tegoto II Atouta: Floating on the wind come his footsteps first uneven but then supple and light. The manner of his dance is wonderful. Truly, this dreamlike apparition seems to us reality. Truly, this dreamlike apparition seems to us reality. [1] Kashiwagi means "oak tree." [2] Kariginu are short kimono worn by nobles for hunting. [3] A kazaori is a black lacquered hat (eboshi). |
Aoyagi appears on the following albums
| Album | Shakuhachi | Koto | Shamisen | |
 | Fascination of the Shakuhachi - 1 | Yamamoto Hozan | Kobayashi Tamae | Inoue Michiko |
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| Hauta | |||
| Ikuta Ryu Sokyoku Senshu Volume 05 | |||
The International Shakuhachi Society - 2013