I think
it is typically a Japanese gender issue. Ages ago, Japanese mountains or deep
forest was off-limit for women. I told you until about 150 years ago, Mt. Oyama
大山 (ASL 1252m) was closed for women (; my post on May
26, 2017). In the middle of Ura-Sandoh 裏参道 hiking route for the peak of Mt.
Oyama, there still stands a big notice made of a stone saying “From here no
woman is allowed to go forward”. Carefree Japanese old guys are often chatting
like “Oh, yeah, that’s because the goddess of a mountain is often ugly, and so
they are jealous of women entering in their territory, ha ha ha!” … I assure
you, younger generation and women smile embarrassingly when we encounter such
casual yesteryear remarks in this “#Me Too” age, even in Japan. But this notion
could have some deep-seated something about Japanese traditional femininity, AND
general attitude toward nature. This year’s program for Oyama Torch Light Noh Festival
大山薪能 happened to express such thinking in the most
refined way. On October 2nd, 2018, the theatrical troop led by Kanze Kiyokazu 観世清和 performed “Adachi-ga-hara 安達ヶ原,” a
story of a witch living in a deep forest.
 |
| The
ancient notice saying “No woman allowed from here” in Mt. Oyama |
The
drama is based on a legend of a faithful nanny, called Iwate 岩手, for a baby princess who was a daughter of a rich minister in
Kyoto. The princess could not speak, even after her 5th birthday. The
parents worried a lot, and asked fortune tellers if there was a remedy. One of
them recommended preparing her a meal made of inner organs of a living baby who
was still in a womb. The parents were horrified, but ordered the nanny to cook
such dish. This power-harassed employee departed Kyoto to procure the
ingredient, leaving her daughter in Kyoto with her hand-made talisman. She
reached to Adachi-ga-hara that locates in a deep forest of the present-day
Fukushima Prefecture 福島県, and decided to stay there until ‘a suitable
pregnant woman’ comes to her shabby dwelling. Years’ passed. Iwate became an
old woman. One day, a young travelling man with a pregnant wife came to Iwate’s
place and asked if they can stay for one night. Iwate was “delighted,” and let
them in her hut. Soon the labor of a young wife started. Iwate cheated the
young husband to go outside for a while, killed his wife, drug out the baby
from the womb, and killed the baby to procure the magic ingredient. When Iwate
began clearing-off the crime scene, she noticed the victim wore a familiar
looking talisman. That was the thing Iwate hand-made for her baby girl. She realized
she killed her daughter and grandkid. Iwate became a human-eating demon from
that time on.
 |
| This
year, Suzukawa River 鈴川 running next to the Oyama Noh Stage had really abundant water. |
Noh play
of Adachi-ga-hara is the after-story for this witch Iwate. Another years passed
and a holy yamabushi monk of Yukei Tokoh-boh 阿闍梨裕慶東光坊 came to
Iwate’s hut in cold forest after dark. He and his servants lost their way and
asked the witch one night stay. She reluctantly allowed them to her hut, and
let them see her “ordinary job” of spinning threads (Oh, so Jungian scenery …)
while she lamented her “unlucky” and “painful” life. It grew late so that her
stock of firewood became thinner. She told them she went in the forest to
procure woods, and asked “Never open the door of my bedroom.” The party of the
monks said goodnight for Iwate, and began napping. However, a servant of the
monk could not resist the temptation to have a peep of the bedroom. (This is
another symbolic development!) He slightly opened the door of the chamber and
found a pile of human bodies dripping with blood. They were horrorstruck, and ran
into the forest panicking. The witch found them escaping after discovering the
contents of her bedroom. She was furious and chased them in a supernatural
speed. The holy monk recited the mantra of Acala
with all his might. Hey, presto, the witch could not trail them anymore. At the
top of her voice, she cursed her tormented life and betrayal of male guests who
not only forced into her shabby lodging but also saw her secret. She then melted
in the dark forest … The end, … a sad story.
 |
| The stage on October 2nd, 2018. |
In Noh performance,
the main actor (called “Shite” in Noh
terminology) plays Iwate, and is expected to express a dramatic contrast between
the old woman reluctantly accepted stranger in her domain, and the witch
furiously chasing the rude guys for revenge on everything. The costume of the
first half is understating greyish kimono called “Ironashi-Karaori” 無紅唐織 with the stylized face mask,
named Fukai-no-men 深井の面, representing an elder woman. The performance
is done mainly sitting. With the minimum gesture in front of the spindle, Shite by Kanze expressed irritation and
hidden menace of a seemingly frail elderly woman. Then, for the second half of
the plot, as a female demon, Shite
wraps the upper part of Ironashi-Karaori
around his waist, and wears Hannya 般若 mask representing female face filled with
jealousy and resentment. The performance is a violent dance chasing for the
monks. This year in Oyama, Kanze played the latter part in almost Kabuki like
craziness in front of the real black pine of Oyama Noh Stage. The agony he
expressed at Shite-bashira (the
corner of the main stage that connects with corridor like space, Hashigakari) was something of
heart-broken … The air of Mt. Oyama was damp and chilly on October 2nd
this year, which made the despair of a cursed woman more real in the forest.
 |
| The
Noh stage for Oyama Afuri Shrine. The scenery normally painted in the other Noh stages is made of real vegetation here. This is something. |
Adachi-ga-hara,
the story of Iwate, is a sort of prototype for female demon in Japanese
culture. The tale has a backdrop of shining human city that is Kyoto, and a
deep forest where the cussed woman was practically expelled. The tormented
witch was swallowed by a cold forest at the end of the play. In contrast, the
famous monk went back to the marvelous world of man-kind with a help of Acala. After viewing the play, I had an
uneasy feeling of witnessing unfairness for the poor nanny, and for the forest
of Oyama. I don’t know why this year Kanze Company chose this play in Mt. Oyama
where once we females were off-limit. Deep in the forest of Mt. Oyama the place once had even a cedar tree that was
used for black magic to kill, which was often performed by women (; my post on April
14, 2017) … I don’t think the witch and the forest voluntarily chose to have
such experience, oh yeah. If we can say something in the 21st
century, the problem Iwate had could have been avoided if she had said “No” to
her abusive employer who ordered her to commit an abominable crime for their
benefit. Women of the world, be brave and clarify to the world, No means NO!
OK, OK, OK … It’s difficult, but we can do it, yeah. But how about the forest?
The connotation of tormented female life and the forest is another creation of
Japanese way of thinking. The place can be abused, but would devour us if it
wants to ... Is it a perception we hold for such a long time? If so, what would
we do for forests in this age of global warming?
 |
| The
place once had a cedar tree specialized in the black magic. It was destroyed when the Great Kanto Earthquake caused a massive landslide here. |
If you find an environmental issues
in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation
Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター
657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121 厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323
You can send an enquiry to them by
clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/
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