Home People Pieces Recordings Bibliography Schools Glossary Sites & Events Teachers Join the ISS Log In

Akashi

明石

[Genre]Sokyoku
[Style]Kumiuta
[School]Ikuta Ryû - 生田
[Composed]Kitajima Kengyō - Koto

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

The title is derived from the "Akashi" chapter of The Tale of Genji. All the songs but the fourth are based on the episode concerning the lay from the seaside village of Akashi, whom Prince Genji courts during his exile to the nearby Suma, west of present Kobe.
This kumiuta (song cycle) is composed in hira-joshi after the model of YATSUHASHI, KITAJIMA’s teacher; however it abounds with tasteful melodies and is the most favored among KITAJIMA’s works. This song cycle is traditionally classified into the naka category. (1)


(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 emote (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)

It has long been famous
The fall
At the Bay of Akashi.
How wondrous
The moonlight, cold
And brightly reflected
Over the waves that
Wash upon the beach.

Though my longing
For the capital
Has grown stronger
With every passing day,
In this far-off place
Human kindness
Diverts my wretched heart
Tonight!

Unaware of the passing time
We have talked through
The long autumn night,
No distance between us.
Our unspoken pledge of love,
Like the steadfast pines
On the rocky beach of Akashi
Shall ever remain unchanged.

How many nights
Have I passed at Akashi
Listening to the waves as they
Rise and fall on the beach?
The cries of the plovers
Add to my sorrow
As I think of the tides
Of life.

Is it the sound
Of fallen leaves in the garden?
A passing shower?
Or the distant notes of a koto?
No one will know
Of the tears
That flood my sleeve
As I listen.

The dark clouds of doubt
In which I wandered
Have cleared,
And the sky is bright at Akashi.
Overjoyed I am to be returning
To the spring blossoms
Of the capital.
Tokorokara
nanishioo
akashi no ura no
aki no koro
tsuki saewatari
yoru nami ni
utsuroo kage no
omoshiro ya

Konogoro wa
itodoshiku
miyako no kata no
koishiki ni
kakaru tokoro no
hitogokoro
uki wo nagusamu
koyoi kana

Itsu to naku
nagaki yo wo
katari akashi no
uranakumo
ika de iwane no
matsu no ha no
chigiri wa sue mo
kawaraji

Ikuyo akashi no
ura nonami
yosetewa kaeri
ukishizumi
aware wo omoo
orikara ni
aware wo soete
naku chidori

Niwa no ochiba ka
murasame ka
kakinarasu
koto no ne ka
yoso ni shirarenu
waga sode ni
amarite moruru
namida kana

Shichi-enmyoo no
akashigata
mayoi no kumo mo
uchiharete
yae sakiizuru
kokonoe no
miyako ni kaeru
ureshisayo

Akashi appears on the following albums

Album Artist
Play ButtonChallenging Eternity Disk 04 Koto : Nakamura Sōyō II
Voice : Nakamura Michiko
Koto : Nakamura Michiko
Shakuhachi : Yamamoto Hōzan

Kikuhara Hatsuko Zenshu vol. 5 Voice : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Koto : Kikuhara Hatsuko