八女福島の燈籠人形

芸題

The Yoshinoyama Kitsune Tadanobu
Hatsune no Tsudumi～Synopsis～①

After Yoshitsune conquers Heike, one of thebiggest Samurai groups at the time, hereceives Hatsune no hand drum from theimperial court as a reward for the victory.
Although the hand drum is a reward, he does
not want it. The hand drum is actually amessage from the imperial court, which means[ Kill your brother, Minamotono Yoritomo ].
( The pronunciation of kill and beat a drum havethe same sound. )③Hand Drum Tota is ordered to findLady Shizuka and Yoshitsune’s hand
drum. He attempts to capture herand steal the hand drum away fromher. However, Yoshitsune’s vassal,
Tadanobu Sato, helps her.

The program
begins now【about 30min】②

Yoshitsune is loyal to his brother, so
he asks his love, Lady Shizuka tohold on to the hand drum in his place.
This is a gesture meant to show that
he has no intention of killing hisbrother. His brother however issuspicious of Yoshitsune and sends
his army against him.

④

Yoshitsune gives a reward to
Tadanobu, then he ordersTadanobu to protect Lady
Shizuka. Yoshitsune leaves Lady
Shizuka and Tadanobu behind inorder to escape from his brother.

⑤⑥One day Lady Shizuka knows thatThis Tadanobu says he is not the

Yoshitsune is staying in Yoshino,Nara, so she takes Tadanobu andtravels to visit him there in
Yoshino. She arrives in Yoshino tofind out that there is a different
Tadanobu.

man who protected Lady Shizuka.
They also find out that theTadanobu, who protected Lady
Shizuka, is nowhere to be found.
Yoshitsune orders Lady Shizuka tofind out where the real Tadanobu
is.

⑦⑧

Whenever Lady Shizuka beat thehand drum, Tadanobu turned up
soon after, so she beats the hand
drum and Tadanobu shows up.
Lady Shizuka asks Tadanobu what
has happened.

Tadanobu says that he is a fox
and that the hand drum’s leather
is made from the hides of hisparents. This is the reason why
he guards Lady Shizuka. Since
she carries the hand drum on her,
he will always be there to protect
her.

⑨⑩Yoshitsune, whose relationshipwith his parents and brother isweak, is moved by the fox’s love
for his parents. He appreciatesthat the fox has protected Lady
Shizuka. He gives the hand drumto the fox.

In appreciation for receiving thehand drum, the fox let’s themknow that the army is coming
soon. He then takes the hand
drum in his mouth with great joy,and returns to the mountains.

Ya m e F u k u s h i m a n o To u r o u N i n g y o u

八女福島の燈籠人形
This fox loves his parents whose hides were used to makethe leather on the hand drum, so he kindly protects Lady
Shizuka, who carries the hand drum on her.

What role do the puppets on the stage play?
☜Lady Shizuka（ horizontally controlled puppet ）Lady Shizuka:

two teams operate this puppet from both sides

The theme for this year’s story is based on “Yoshitsune
Senbonzakura” which is a very popular Kabuki program.
( Senbonzakura means one thousand cherry trees )What is Hatsune no Hand Drum?
Hatsune no hand drum is a legendary hand drum. The hand
drum’s leather is made from the hides of a fox and a vixen
which lived for a thousand years. It is said that by banging
the hand drum, it causes rain.

☜ Minamoto no Yoshitune（ decorative puppet ）Minamoto no Yoshitune: This puppet does not move. He staysof the stage.

on the left side of the stage. Yoshitsune is the younger brother ofLady Shizuka is the love of Yoshitune’s life. She holds on to theYoritomo Minamoto, the head of Genji, which was one of thehand drum for him. She travels with Tadanobu to visit

largest Samurai groups. He asks Lady Shizuka to hold onto theYoshitune.

hand drum as a gesture of loyalty to his brother, but his brothersends the army against him anyway.

☜ Kitsune Tadanobu（ sub controlled puppet ）Kitsune Tadanobu: a team operates this puppet from below
the stage.
Kitsune Tadanobu is a fox who takes the shape of
Yoshitsune’s vassal, Tadanobu. He protects Lady Shizuka
since she carries the hand drum on her, and the fox’s
parents’ hides were used to make the hand drum.

☜ Hand Drum Tota（ sub controlled puppet ）Hand Drum Tota: a team operates this puppet from below thestage.
Hand Drum Tota attempts to capture Yoshitsune and tries tosteal the hand drum.

☜ Female attendant（ horizontally controlled puppet ）Koshimoto: two teams operate this puppet from both sides of thestage.

What’s going on inside the stage?

Koshimoto is an attendant of Lady Shizuka.

Japanese theater form ( Kyogenkata )Kyogenkata plays a role in matching thetiming of the puppets’ operating team withthe musical accompaniment. Since the puppet
operating team and the musicalaccompaniment do their roles on different
floors of the theater they cannot make eye
contact with each other. The Kyogenkata
beat wooden clappers and the puppet
operating team and the musicalaccompaniment match the timing by listening
to the sound of the clappers. TheKyogenkata plays a very important role.

Songs・Musicians ( Uta・Hayasikata )Uta・Hayasikata is the musical accompaniment. The singer tells a story using themelody. The band is composed of Shamisen, a Japanese stringed instrument,
Tsudumi, a Japanese hand drum, and Taiko, a Japanese drum. The singer and the band
perform live, matching the puppets’ performance.

Guardians ( Kokenyaku )Kokenyaku are children who stay on theside of the stage during the program.
They are used to take care of the puppets,
doing such things as straightening out thepuppets’ costumes.

Horizontal control ( Yokozukai )Yokozukai is a team that operates puppets from both sides of the stage. On eachside, 6 person teams operate the puppet. It is quite difficult to operate the puppet
from the sides. The highlight of the operation is Okuriwatashi. This means moving

Costumes ( Ishoukata)

the puppet smoothly from left to right and from right to left. To perform aIshoukata is the team that takes
care of the puppets’ costumes.
A puppet changes costumes several
times during the program.
Changing costumes quickly is calledSunuki.

successful Okuriwatashi, the two teams must match the timing very carefully. Pay
attention to the moment the puppets move from side to side.
Sub control ( Shitazukai )Shitazukai is a team that operates the puppets from below the stage. Since they
are constantly looking up to operate the puppets from below, it is physicallychallenging work.