Tradition/Customs

Illustration of a wife

What is "The Artistic Wife"? Detailed explanation from synopsis to features [Yamagata Prefecture]

Egatazura Nyobo is one of the folk tales passed down all over Japan, but did you know that the plot and ending vary slightly depending on the region in which it is passed down?

In this article, we will explain in detail the story of Egatake Nyobo, which is passed down in Yamagata, as well as how it differs from stories passed down in other regions

Summary of the Egazu Nyobo (Esugata Wife) handed down in Yamagata

The story of Egazu Nyobo, as told in Yamagata, is as follows:

Summary of Egatani Nyobo

Long ago, in Kurokawa (now Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture), there was a lazy son named Magosaburo. After getting married, he started working hard, but he fell in love with his wife so much that he stopped working again

His wife then said, "I have a great idea," and asked him to have a large portrait of her painted in town, and then told Magosaburo to look at the portrait and get to work

Picture wife 1

One day, the painting that Magosaburo was holding was blown away by the wind and got caught on a pine branch in the castle, so the lord ordered him to find a bride

Picture Wife 2

The bride was summoned to the castle, but she stopped laughing

In the autumn, when Magosaburo went near the castle to sell chestnuts, his wife laughed at the sound of his voice, so the lord bought all the chestnuts and gave them to his wife to eat. When Magosaburo went to sell chestnuts again, he was summoned to the castle as well, and after exchanging his kimono with Magosaburo's, he went out to sell chestnuts himself

Picture Wife 3

Because Magosaburo ordered the gates to be closed, the lord was unable to return to the castle even after dark, and from then on Magosaburo and his wife lived happily together in the castle

However , when he returned to Kurokawa because life in the village was good, he received a Noh mask and returned to his village, and this is said to have been the beginning of Kurokawa Noh.

Characteristics of the Egazu Nyobo (female wives) handed down in Yamagata

The Egazu Nyobo tales handed down in Yamagata are classified as the "seller type" in the classification of story types in "A Comprehensive Guide to Japanese Folktales."

The general outline of the "salesman type" story in Egatagawa Nyobo is as follows:

  1. A beautiful woman comes to be married and her husband doesn't want to leave her side, so she makes him carry her portrait and go to the fields
  2. The lord falls in love with a woman in a painting that was blown away by the wind, and searches for her and calls her to him, but she does not smile at all
  3. When her husband became a peddler and walked around the castle shouting his salesman's voice, the woman laughed for the first time when she heard his voice
  4. When the lord went out in a costume change with her husband to make the woman laugh, the gatekeeper chased him out of the castle
  5. The husband becomes the lord and the couple lives happily in the castle

In the depictions of women in other regions, the items for sale are often "horoku" or "peaches," they are "chestnuts."

This is because sweets made with chestnuts, such as steamed chestnut yokan and chestnut monaka, are still popular local specialties in Yamagata, so familiar local ingredients were probably incorporated into the folktales

It is also notable that the final part of the play alludes to the origins of Kurokawa Noh , a traditional performing art from the Shonai region of Yamagata Prefecture that is also designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan

Tohoku Rokken Trivia Media NEFT
Kurokawa Noh is a Shinto ritual that has been developed independently by farmers for 500 years [Yamagata Prefecture]
https://jp.neft.asia/archives/21435
At Kasuga Shrine in Kurokawa, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, at the foot of Mt. Gassan, a tribute performance will be held of the folk performing art "Kurokawa Noh," a ritual Noh performance passed down by parishioners (farmers) for 500 years and designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property by the nation. Kurokawa Noh, which strongly retains the flavor of Noh from the era of Kan'ami and Zeami, is home to five schools of Noh: Kanze, Hōshō, Konparu, Kongō, and Kita. However, Kurokawa Noh does not belong to any of these schools and has continued to be passed down in its own unique way. As a result, it can no longer be performed by any of the five schools...
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Kurokawa Noh is descended from the Sarugaku style perfected by Zeami, but it does not belong to any of the five schools of shite, which are the leading actors Kanze, Hosho, Konparu, Kongo, and Kita, or the three schools of waki, which are the counterparts to Hosho, Fukuo, and Takayasu

For this reason, the Noh masks used in Kurokawa Noh are different from those used in those schools, and many of them are unique

can be seen in the "Kurokawa Noh Mask and Costume Illustrated Guide" published by the Kurokawa Noh Preservation Society in 2014

It may be an interesting way to enjoy Kurokawa Noh, or to read the "Illustrated Guide to Kurokawa Noh Masks and Costumes," while imagining what kind of masks the couple received at the end of Egatake Nyobo

summary

Egatani Nyobo is one of the folk tales passed down throughout Japan, but the tale passed down in Yamagata is classified as the "seller type" in the classification by story type in "An Overview of Japanese Folktales," and it is notable that the story ends with an allusion to the beginnings of Kurokawa Noh

Please use this article as a reference to further enjoy the story of Egazu Nyobo, which is passed down in Yamagata

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