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Usu Yuki

薄雪

[Genre]Sokyoku
[Style]Kumiuta
[School]Ikuta Ryû - 生田
[Also Known As]Asagao No Kyoku, Shinonome No Kyoku
[Composed]Yatsuhashi Kengyō - Koto

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

Usuyuki ('Light Snow'), one of the 'Thirteen Yaysuhashi Song Cycles,' is classified in omote category (1). The texts of the first four songs are based on passages from 'The Tale of Genji.' The first uses Nakanokimi's waka in the 'Beneath the Oak' (Shigamoto) chapter; the second, Po Chu-i's 'The Song of Everlasting Sorrow' cited in 'The Paulownia Court' (Kiritsubo); the third, Genji's waka in 'Lavender' (Wakamurasaki). The fourth song is based on a scene from 'Evening Faces' (Yugao).

The title is derived from the opening song, which refers to the death of the Eighth Prince (brother of Genji and father of the Uji Princess). Because of this reference, the song cycle is often performed at memorial concerts.

(1) Kumiuta are traditionally classified into four categories according to the degree of profundity and stylistic proficiency required and sometimes the technical difficulties involved. These are omote (lit. "outside"), ura (lit. "inside"), naka (lit. "interior"), oku (lit, "deep interior"). By way of illustration, it may be helpful to imagine these categories as representing the structure of the imperial palace or a Shinto shrine with outer and inner walls, and further inside, the outer and inner sanctuaries. It should also be mentioned that these categories represent stages of a student’s progress in the learning of the koto repertoire, and are regulated by the issuing of diplomas along the way.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

Lamentable
Is my destiny.
Our vow, so fragile,
Has disappeared like
The light snow.
As a keepsake,
Only tears
Remain.

Our vow
To share a wing in the sky
And to share a branch on the earth,
Was mutable after all.
But then,
I will not feel
Bitter toward him
Who once was kind.

Since I held it
In my hand, a leaf
Of the lavender,
My longing has grown
Even deeper.
Our vow of eternal love
Is tied to that affinity
With another grass.

At dawn,
A morning glory
Fresh with dew drops
On the bamboo fence.
A jeweled chaplet
Gracefully adorns
The flowery image of
The Lady.

The moon,
Which people have watched
Age after age,
Must be a true momento-
At this thought,
At this thought,
My tears fall
Like jewels on a string.

A raft floating
Down the flower-laden Yoshino River-
One can hardly find
A spot to place the pole.
The waves are high
And the wind off the mountain
Scatter the flowers' fragrance
In all directions.
Urameshi ya
waga en
usuyuki no
chigiri ka
kienishi hito no
ka tami tote
namida bakari ya
nokoruran

Hiyoku-renri no
katarai mo
kawareba kawaru
yo no narai
saritote wa
uramumaji ya
mukashi wa nasake
arishi wo

Wakamurasaki wo
te ni tsumi
fukaki kokoro no
iro masu
nagaki chigiri to
musubishi mo
kusa no yukari to
shirubeshi

Shinonome no
magaki ni
tsuyu wo fukumu
asagao
tama no kazura
taoyaka ni
kakaru ya hana no
omokage

Yoyo no hito no
nagameshi
tsuki wa makoto no
katami zo to
omoeba
omoeba
namida tama wo
tsuranaku

Yoshinogawa no
hana-ikada
sao sasu hima mo
arajina
iwanami takaki
yamakaze
yomo ni chirasu
hana no ka

Usu Yuki appears on the following albums

Album Artist

Jiuta no Sekai - 3 Koto : Tomiyama Mieko
Voice : Tomiyama Seikin I
Shamisen : Tomiyama Seikin I

Kikuhara Hatsuko Zenshu vol. 2 Voice : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Koto : Kikuhara Hatsuko

Sōkyoku (Ikuta-Ryū) - Koten no Shirabe volume 5 Voice : Matsuo Keiko
Koto : Matsuo Keiko

Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 03 Voice : Takahashi Eisei II
Koto : Takahashi Eisei II