Japanese Peasant Songs/Hamlet Dance Songs

by by John F. Embree with Ella Embree and Yukuo Uyehara

Hamlet Dance Songs

Each hamlet formerly had a song of its own, sung to accompany a special dramatic dance. These dances are performed on special occasions such as a ceremony before a waterfall in Hirayama in the event of a drought, or on the occasion of the completion ceremony (rakuseishiki) of some public structure such as a bridge or a schoolhouse.

Fig. 5

Niwaka Dance—Initial Position.

Niwaka

Niwaka is the song used to accompany the special Te Odori dance of Hirayama hamlet, Suye Mura. The first two lines are sung in the same time (perhaps by the soloist), the rest is faster until the last line, which is drawn out. The nōe refrain is pronounced with a greatly lengthened ‘o.’ There are many versions and no two people use the same sequence of verses. The form of the song is an opening seven syllable line followed by the refrain nōe. This line is repeated, then there is a second repetition of this line with the refrain sai sai inserted in the middle. The last line is of five syllables and is sometimes repeated also. Thus the stanzas may be analyzed into a dodoitsu form with special refrains. An exception to this form is the opening stanza.

60a	Bochan[1] no doku[2] iku nōe Bochan[1] no doku[2] iku nōe Watashya sai sai Shinzakaya ni Shinzakaya ni Sake kai ni[3]	Young man where are you going? Young man where are you going? I am going To the new wine shop, To the new wine shop, To buy some wine.
60b	Sake no hakari ga nōe Sake no hakari ga nōe Sake no sai sai Hakari Fuji no yama Fuji no yama[4]	A measure[5] of wine, A measure of wine, A measure of A measure ofwine.[6] Fuji mountain, Fuji mountain.
60c	Fuji no yama hodo nōe Fuji no yama hodo nōe Fuji no sai sai Yama hodo Murote mo iya yo	As much as Fuji mountain, As much as Fuji mountain, As much as As much asFuji mountain Given to me, I’ll ignore it.
60d	Meido no miyagi nōe Meido no miyagi nōe Meido no sai sai Miyagi[7] Murote mo iya yo	The souvenir of Hades, The souvenir of Hades, The souvenir of The souvenir ofHades Given to me, I’ll ignore it.
60e	Fuji no shiro yukya nōe Fuji no shiro yukya nōe Fuji no sai sai Shira yukya Asahi de tokeru	The white snow of Fuji, The white snow of Fuji, The white snow of The white snow ofFuji In the morning sun will melt.
60f	Musume shimada ga nōe Musume shimada ga nōe Musume sai sai Shimada wa Nete tokeru Nete tokeru	The young lady’s hairdress, The young lady’s hairdress, The young lady’s The young lady’shairdress Comes down when she lies down, Comes down when she lies down.
60g	Take no suzume wa nōe Take no suzume wa nōe Take no sai sai[8] Suzume wa Shina yoku tomaru	On the bamboo the sparrows, On the bamboo the sparrows, On the bamboo On the bamboothe sparrows Neatly perched.
60h	Tomate[9] tomaranu nōe Tomate[9] tomaranu nōe Tomate[9] sai sai Tomaranu Iro no michi Iro no michi	It stays, yet does not stay, It stays, yet does not stay, It stays, yet It stays, yetdoes not stay, The way of love, The way of love.

Fig. 6 (top)

A Step in the Niwaka Dance.

Fig. 7 (bottom)

Niwaka Dance—The Man in the Foreground Keeps Time.

By That Side Lane

This is the specialty of Kakui hamlet in Suye Mura and is sung on special occasions, such as the opening of the new school building some years ago. It is unusual in being a continuous song of thirteen seven-syllable lines all about one subject, a trip to an Inari shrine. (Inari is a popular deity who cures the sick and brings good fortune to his followers. The messenger of Inari is the fox, so he is sometimes erroneously referred to as a fox god.) A variant of this song is given in Gesammelte Werke der Welt Musik, Vol. 13, pp. 204–5. It is described as a folksong sung by children during the Yedo period.

61

Mukō yokocho no Oinarisan ni Issen agete Choito ogande Osen ga chaya Koshi wo kaketara Shibucha wo dash’ta Shibucha yoku yoku Yokome de mireba Kibi no dango ka Awa no dango ka Dango dango de Sonna kotja ikene.

By that side lane To Inari shrine— One sen was offered, Prayed for a moment, Then to the tea house. When I sat down, They offered bitter tea. Well, well at the tea I glanced askance: Was it corn cake? Was it millet cake? Cake, cake. No, that won’t do.[10]

At the Ferry of Yamasaki

This song is sometimes included as part of Mukō Yokocho No (No. 61). It is similar to it in being a “long” poem about one subject. The form is irregular.

62

Yamasaki no Watashiba de Chira to misomeshi Gojū ryō saki ni Tobo tobo Yoichibe ga Ato kara tsukekuru Sadakuru Totsan machine Totsan machine Iya sonna kotja ikene Mada hokani mo Takusan aredo Amari nagoyaja[11] Shokun mo taikutsu Watashi mo taikutsu Kokoro attari de S’tettoke hottoke

At Yamasaki Ferry I found it, Fifty ryo,[12] and sauntered[13] slowly, slowly. After Yoichibe[14] Came following Sadakuru.[15] Hold on old man, Hold on old man, No, no, that won’t do! There are yet more Stories to tell— Since it’s too long You must all be tired, I also am tired— So, here I’ll stop.

Genjōmero

One of several verses sung for the monkey dance, a specialty of Shōya hamlet in Fukada Mura. The first two lines are sung very slowly and the last one very rapidly. The dancers dressed in red costumes wear monkey face masks. The form of the song is irregular.

63

Genjōmero-me wa Sh’to yo ya hosoi ne Genjō san na Doko kara kai

Genjomero[16] Smaller than a man, Mr. Genjo Whence came he?

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1. The n of Bochan (Botchan) is elided so this is actually a seven-syllable line.
2. For: doko.
3. A variant of 60a is: ​

   Neisan ga doke iku nōe Neisan ga doke iku nōe Neisan ga sai sai Shinzake ni Shinzake ni Sake hakari

   Young lady where are you going? Young lady where are you going? The young lady: For the new wine, For the new wine, A measure of wine.

4. The accent of this last yama is shifted from the first syllable to the last, thus stressing the final syllable of the song, as is also done in the other Niwaka stanzas.
5. A hakari is a beam scale, commonly used to measure various things, including the rice wine sake. No definite amount is indicated in the song, but a shō is a usual amount to purchase under such circumstances—i.e., sending a man servant or a maid servant to buy some wine. A shō equals about half a gallon (American measure).
6. “Is like” is understood here.
7. In the song as it appears in my field notes this line reads meido no miyagi, but this does not fit the form of the other stanzas and is probably an error.
8. In my field notes the line Take no sai sai reads Take wa sat sai. This is probably an error.
9. For: tomatte.
10. In the Yedo version the end of the song is somewhat different. The complete text in Gesammelte Werke der Welt Musik is: ​

    Mukō yokocho no Oinari san e Issen agete Zatto ogande Osen no chaya e Koshi wo kaketara Shibucha wo dashite Shibucha yoko yoko Yokome de mitara-ba Kome no dango ka Tsuchi no dango ka Odango dango Kono dango wo Inu ni yarō ka Neko ni yarō ka Tōto tonbi ni Sarawareta

    By that side lane To Inari shrine— One sen was offered, Prayed hurriedly, Then to the tea house. When I sat down, They offered bitter tea. Well, well at the tea I glanced askance Was it rice cake? Was it dirt cake? Cake, cake. This cake Shall I give to the dog? Shall I give to the cat? At last by a hawk It was snatched away.

11. Probably from the term Owari Nagoya, i.e., Nagoya of Owari province, noted for its castle.
12. A ryō is an old coin comparable to a modern yen.
13. The idea is that, having suddenly found so much cash, the man picked it up quickly and then walked along slowly as if nothing had happened in order to arouse no suspicion.
14. Yoichibe is the hero of the story.
15. Sadakuro is a type name for thieves in Japan. The name is pronounced Sadakuru here in accordance with the Kuma dialect, where ‘u’ often replaces ‘o.’
16. Genjōmero is a type name for monkeys.