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Nanakomachi

七小町

[Genre]Jiuta
[Style]Tegotomono
[School]Ikuta Ryû - 生田
[Composed]Yaezaki Kengyō - Koto
Mitsuzaki Kengyō - Shamisen

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

Nanakomachi ('Seven Tales about Komachi') was composed at the beginning of the nineteenth century by Mitsuzaki Kengyo as a jiuta, and arranged into an ensemble piece for the koto and shamisen by Yaezaki Kengyo (1766?-1848), Mitsuzaki's teacher. The text is based on seven legends concerning Ono no Komachi, the celebrated poetess of the ninth century known for her beauty, The seven legends are taken from the 'Nanakomachi' no plays which deal with anecdotes from Komachi's life (hence the title Nanakomachi): Namely, Soshiarai-komachi, Kayoi-komachi, Sekidera-komachi, Sotoba-komachi, Kiyomizu-komachi, Yamamoto-komachi (or Amagoi-komachi, not performed today), and Omu-komachi.

Nanakomachi is considered one of Mitsuzaki's masterpieces, and a very difficult piece to perform.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

Whence the seed
Of these floating weeds
Grown thick
In ridges of waves?
What is their seed?

The story of Komachi in Soshiarai (1)
Has a special quality to it.
But closer to the heart of things
Is the story of Captain Fukakusa
And the one hundred nights
He waited in vain at her doorstep.
If the sun shines brightly
Because the name of our country
Is Hinomoto, the rising sun
Then what about Amegashita (2)?
Water flows quickly down
As does the heart

To a hermitage in Mount Osaka
At the Temple of Seki.
Whether Komachi in a cottage
Or out among the holy wooden tablets,
The girl of great beauty
Once had many suitors

Now shamed by age
In the field of Ichiwara
Komachi prays
To the Merciful Goddess
Kannon at the Kiyomizu Temple,
Whose divine grace shines purely.

The olden days
Have never changed
In my memory.
The bamboo screen
Inside the palace-
How I yearn for it,
How I yearn for it.

(1) A no play entitled Soshiarai-komachi which deals with an episode involving Ono no Komachi's waka poetry and Otomo no Kuronushi who tried to show that Komachi plagiarized her waka from the Man'yoshu, an ancient anthology of waka. She disproved this.
(2) Literally, 'Beneath the Heavens,' this is a term which is often used to refer to the islands of Japan. As a pun, however, it also means 'under the rain.'
Makanakuni
nani wo tane tote
ukikusa no
nami no une une
oishigeruran
(ai)
Sooshiarai mo
nanishioo
sono fukakusa no
shooshoo ga
momoyo-kayoi mo
kotowari ya
hinomoto nareba
teri mo seme
saritote wa mata
amegashita towa
shita yuku mizu no
oosaka no
(ai)
Iori e kokoro
sekidera no
uchi mo sotoba mo
sodetsuma wo
hikute amata no
mukashi wa komachi
(ai)
ima wa hazukashi
ichiwara no
(ai)
koseki mo kiyoki
(ai)
kiyomizu no
daihi no chikai
kagayakite

(tegoto)

Kumori naki yo no
kumo no ue
arishi mukashi ni
kawaranedo
mishi tamadare no
uchi ya yukashiki
uchi zo yukashiki

Nanakomachi appears on the following albums

Album Artist
Play ButtonAbe Keiko - 02 Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō
Voice : Abe Keiko
Shamisen : Abe Keiko
Voice : Fujii Kunie
Koto : Fujii Kunie

Abe Keiko Record Set - 09 Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō
Voice : Abe Keiko
Shamisen : Abe Keiko
Voice : Fujii Kunie
Koto : Fujii Kunie
Play ButtonAraki Kodo III and Fukuda Eika - Collection of Famous Performances - 03 Voice : Fukuda Eika
Shamisen : Fukuda Eika
Shakuhachi : Araki Kodō III
Koto : Kawada Tō
Play ButtonFascination of the Shakuhachi - 2 Koto : Kawahara Naoko
Voice : Yagi Keiji
Shamisen : Yagi Keiji
Shakuhachi : Yamamoto Hōzan
A te-goto piece (a two-verse song with an interlude between the verses) composed by MITSUZAKI kengyo of Kyoto, the koto accompaniment being done by YAEZAKI kengyo. MITSUZAKI kengyo is the famed composer of GODAN-GINUTA, AKIKAZE NO KYOKU and other works. With these pieces, composed only with the koto in mind and excluding the sangen, he laid down the basis for the revival movement in the Bakumatsu Era. However, this piece, with lyrics by FUNAZAKA Mitsue, does include the sangen. The sangen is in hon-choshi tuning while the koto is in hankumoi. NAKA KOMACHI describes seven different stages in the life of ONONO Komachi, a famed poet whose work is found in the Kokin Waka Collection and who is regarded as one of the six greatest poets. Little regarding her life is known and later she was also known as TAMATSUKURI Komachi.

Ikuta-Ryū Sōkyoku - Nana Komachi/ Sato no Akatsuki/ Hachidan no Shirabe Voice : Matsuo Keiko
Shamisen : Matsuo Keiko
Koto : Mori Yūji

Inoue Michiko no Shigei - Volume 5 Voice : Inoue Michiko
Shamisen : Inoue Michiko
Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō
Koto : Kobayashi Tamae

Kinko Ryū Shakuhachi Sankyoku Meikyoku Sen - Dai Ichi Shū - Vol 2 Voice : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Shamisen : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Koto : Miyoshi Atsuko
Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō

Sasagawa Shizue no Shigei Vol. 5 Shamisen : Sasagawa Shizue
Koto : Suzuki Kazuko
Shakuhachi : Matsumura Hōmei

Sasagawa Shizue no Shigei Vol. 8 Shamisen : Sasagawa Shizue
Koto : Suzuki Kazuko
Play ButtonSeiha Hogakkai Play Favorites 04 - Mitsuzaki Kengyo Shamisen : Inoue Michiko
Voice : Nakashima Yasuko
Play ButtonShakuhachi no Shinzui-Sankyoku Gasso - 03 Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō
Play ButtonSokyoku Jiuta Voice : Yonekawa Toshiko
Shamisen : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko II

Sōkyoku Jiuta Gassō-shū (disc 2) Shakuhachi : Araki Kodō V
Voice : Fujii Taeko
Koto : Fujii Taeko
Voice : Mochitsuki Masako
Shamisen : Mochitsuki Masako

Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 36 Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō
Voice : Abe Keiko
Shamisen : Abe Keiko
Voice : Fujii Kunie
Koto : Fujii Kunie