Paper short abstract:

The origin tales (engi) of Kōzuke Province recorded in Shintōshū (14th century) saw a great number of variants and retellings during the Edo period. Focusing on narrative recitatives (katarimono), it will be shown how mediality and genre shaped the narratives in the course of their transmission.

Paper long abstract:

The mid-fourteenth-century collection Shintōshū compiled by monks of the Agui lineage of Tendai Buddhism is known for its narratives recounting how humans become deities. Six of these so-called ‘narrative origin tales’ (monogatari-teki engi, Tsukudo 1966) take place in Kōzuke Province. These tales gained particular popularity and, in proximity to the places they refer to, continued to be written down in manuscripts until well into the Meiji period. While many manuscripts remained relatively close to the original, the stories were also retold in various ways.

The proposed paper will examine the role and interrelation of mediality and genre in the transmission of these tales. From hints in the texts contained in the Shintōshū we can infer that they were both read silently and performed orally. While they may be considered ‘semi-oral’ in the literal sense of the term, early modern variants were often either conceived as written sources, adding historiographical content, or developed into narrative recitatives (katarimono) that were divided into six or twelve sections (dan) and exhibit stylistic parallels to early jōruri. Transmission could also be carried out orally, as a manuscript titled Gunma Takai iwaya engi demonstrates, which contains mistakes that can only be explained by the fact that it was based on an oral text. At the same time, the Gunma Takai iwaya engi also includes an historical account mostly quoted from Nihon shoki.

The paper will particularly focus on eighteenth-century katarimono such as Akagiyama daimyōjin go-honji and Kōzuke no kuni Gunma no kōri Funaoyama go-honji ki. While studies of Shintōshū and the later versions of its tales mostly take an interest in history and religion or simply compare textual variants for details of their transmission, the katarimono should also be regarded as literary works. The texts will therefore be compared with regard to narratological categories such as character and plot. It will be shown how the retelling of the stories is connected to new generic and medial conventions, while at the same time retaining religious and historiographical functions.

Paper short abstract:

It was first told in Azuma kagami that Asaina Yoshihide pulled three same fish out of the sea. When in the Edo period the meaning of the word same changed from ‘ray’ to ‘shark,’ the story of Asaina’s feat was transformed as well. This paper traces the developments of the story in different media.

Paper long abstract:

The warrior Asaina Yoshihide (1176 - ?) came to be regarded as a legendary hero and in the late medieval period occasionally figured in intermedial works such as the illuminated handscroll Asaina monogatari (owned by Chester Beatty Library, Dublin), the illustrated book Asaina (owned by Tokyo University), or the Kyōgen play Asaina. This paper will focus on one episode that first appeared in Azuma kagami, a historical chronicle of the Kamakura period. In this story, Minamoto no Yoriie, the second Shogun of the Kamakura bakufu, hears that Asaina is a good swimmer, and he orders him to demonstrate his swimming skill. Asaina then catches three live fish called same in the sea. The word means ‘shark’ in modern Japanese, but the entry in the Japanese-Portuguese dictionary Vocabulario da Lingoa de Iapam, compiled by Jesuit missionaries in 1603, shows that before the early modern period the word meant ‘ray,’ which is gentle and never attacks humans. This does not contradict various documents of the time. Furthermore, in war tales (gunki monogatari) such as The Tale of the Heike, swimming masters are often described as being excellent divers. The story of Asaina catching three same (=rays) is therefore thought to represent his high diving ability, rather than his bravery as has been understood in previous studies.

During the Edo period, however, the word came to mean aggressive ‘shark,’ as it does in modern Japanese. In fact, same seems to have meant ‘shark’ in the dialect of the Kanto region since before the medieval period, and the meaning of the word changed throughout the country as the cultural power of Edo increased. In the Edo period, the Asaina story was adapted as a tale of bravery in which he defeats large monsters of fish, and can be found in some literary works such as the novel Asaina shimameguri no ki zenden (1815-1827) by Takizawa Bakin. The change in the meaning of the word has greatly affected the way stories and characters are expressed. This paper will analyze the process of the change based on texts and illustrations as well as their interrelation.

Paper short abstract:

The Taima Mandala and its creation legend were widely enjoyed via visual representations and oral preaching. The noh play Taema is based on them, but rather than dramatizing the legend, it uses a variety of techniques to allow the audience to witness the miracles firsthand

Paper long abstract:

The Taima Mandala is one of Japan’s oldest and largest Pure Land mandalas. Depicting the Pure Land of Amida Buddha in extraordinary detail, it became the focus of ardent worship as Pure Land beliefs gained wide popularity. Innumerable replicas were produced and distributed throughout the country, often accompanied by oral preaching that expounded both the image of the Pure Land and the legend of the mandala’s miraculous creation. According to the legend, the mandala was created from lotus threads by Amida Buddha and Kannon Bodhisattva, who appeared in disguise in response to the prayers of devout Lady Chūjō. Additionally, picture scrolls of this legend were often used in oral preaching. The final scene of both the legend and the picture scrolls portrays the procession of Amida Buddha and bodhisattvas to Lady Chūjō’s deathbed and her rebirth in the Pure Land, which was the basis of the Welcoming Rite (mukae-kō) held at Taima Temple.

Zeami’s noh play Taema was based upon the legend of this mandala, but with the original story line deliberately blurred. In the first act, Lady Chūjō does not appear onstage. Rather, Amida Buddha and Kannon Bodhisattva appear in disguise and describe the wondrous Pure Land as it unfolds before our eyes, just as they told Lady Chūjō in the legend; they then reveal their true identity and make a miraculous ascension to the Pure Land. In the second act, the spirit of Lady Chūjō performs a dance as the “Bodhisattva of Song and Dance.” Thus, she is not the one welcomed into the Pure Land (as depicted in the legend, picture scrolls, and rite) but the one who welcomes us to the Pure Land, where dancing bodhisattvas are among the first things that one sees after being reborn there.

The play does not simply function as a three-dimensional picture scroll dramatizing the well-known legend. By blurring the storylines in various ways and using the power of theatrical language to control the audience’s spatial perception, it makes the audience experience the miracles as Lady Chūjō experienced them in the legend.