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Azuma Jishi

吾妻獅子

[Genre]Jiuta
[Style]Tegotomono
[School]Ikuta Ryû - 生田
[Composed]Minezaki Kōtō - Shamisen

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

Minezaki of Osaka, a great composer of jiuta (a vocal style accompanied by the shamisen), perfected the tegoto-mono form towards the end of the eighteenth century. In this form, songs are connected with one another by virtuoso instrumental interludes (tegoto). Azuma-jishi is one of Minezaki's tegoto-mono masterpieces. The main tegoto of the present piece consists of five sections (dan), and depicts primarily the lion (shishi) dancing in a wild delirium of joy. Hence the title Azuma-jishi, 'Lion of the East.'

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

From olden days
Men have spoken of him-
The lady-killer
Who goes east from the capital-
On his way, the very pine trees
Pine for him-

On Mt. Fuji's peak,
Snow white
Flowers-like his outfit
And speech, redolent of the Yoshiwara (1).
Tamed by the peony flowers
On your robes,
This lion takes flowers
From his wealth
Even his fiery temper
Is beloved.

Love and be loved
A thousand ages...
Wearing separate clothes
After the exchange of loves,
In threads of music my heart
Is as tangled as my hair.

Singing on love's road,
The bedewed spring, too-
It's over!
Music mirrored
In the dancer's fan.
Gorgeously,
Wildly, passionately,
This lion also plays
In the Way of Wedlock-
May this world
Be unshakeable
For generations.

(1) Yoshiwara was the entertainment, pleasure quarter and cultural center of Edo (Old Tokyo).
Mukashi yori
iinarawaseshi
azuma-kudari no
mameotoko
shitoo tabiji ya
matsugae no
(ai)
fuji no takane ni
shirotae no
(ai)
hana no sugata ni
oshiwara-namari
kimi ga mi ni soo
botan ni narete
ono ga fuuki wo
hana to nomi
yatake-gokoro mo
nikukarazu
(ai)
omoi omoo
chiyo made mo
nasake ni kawasu
kinuginu no
(ai)
itotake ni
kokoro midare-gami
(ai)
utoo koiji ni
tsuyu soo haru mo
kuretake ya
kazoo oogi ni
utsusu kyoku

(tegoto)

Hanayaka ni
midare midaruru
imose no michi ni
shishi mo asobite
ikuyo made
(ai)
Kawaranu yo koso
medetakere

Azuma Jishi appears on the following albums

Album Artist
Play ButtonBamboo In Zen Shakuhachi : Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos

Ensemble Nipponia - Japan Traditional Vocal and Instrumental Music Shakuhachi : Miyata Kōhachirō
Azuma Lion Dance

This is an excerpt from a late- 18th-century composition that lasts 25 minutes in its entirety Composed originally for voice and koto, it is heard here in a version that also includes shamisen and shakuhachi; the three instruments represent one of the most popular instrumental combinations in Japanese music. This work also makes use of a somewhat modified form of the first variation of Rokudan - heard at the first entrance of the shakuhachi, which plays from the shakuhachi transcription of Rokudan, rather than the original koto version.

Fujii Kunie, The World of Shamisen and Jiuta Singing 3 Shamisen : Inoue Michiko
Voice : Fujii Kunie
Shamisen : Fujii Kunie
Play ButtonIn Dead Earnest Part 2 Shakuhachi : Ishikawa Toshimitsu

Inoue Michiko no Shigei - Volume 1 Shamisen : Inoue Michiko
Shamisen : Togashi Noriko
Play ButtonJapanese Traditional Shakuhachi Shakuhachi : Yokoyama Katsuya
One of the Gaikyoku (outside pieces) included in the Honkyoku repertoire along with another similar sample Kumoi jishi. Piece for consolation.
Play ButtonKatsuya Yokoyama Plays Shakuhachi - 2 Shakuhachi : Yokoyama Katsuya

Kikuhara Hatsuko Zenshu vol. 15 Voice : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Shamisen : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Shamisen : Kikuhara Koji
Koto : Kikutsuki Akiko

Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū (zoku) vol. 25 (続三曲合奏大全集25) Voice : Kameyama Kanō
Shamisen : Kameyama Kanō
Shakuhachi : Koie Jōzan
Voice : Iguchi Hōnō
Koto : Iguchi Hōnō
Voice : Suzuki Seiju
Koto : Suzuki Seiju

Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū vol. 20 (三曲合奏大全集20) Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II
Koto : Fujishiro Fumitsuna
Voice : Yonekawa Fumiko II
Shamisen : Yonekawa Fumiko II

Sankyoku Home Practice - Chuden 2 Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo II

Sō no Shiori (Ikuta Ryū) vol 8 Voice : Yonekawa Toshiko
Koto : Yonekawa Toshiko
Voice : Satō Chikaki
Shamisen : Satō Chikaki

Sōkyoku Jiuta Saku Shūsei 25 (Collection of Koto/Shamisen Songs vol. 25) Shakuhachi : Kawase Junsuke II
Voice : Abe Keiko
Shamisen : Abe Keiko
Shamisen : Fujii Kunie
Koto : Fujii Kunie

Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 23 Koto : Nakanoshima Kin'ichi
Voice : Nakanoshima Keiko

The Road of Hasekura Tsunenaga Shakuhachi : Rodrigo Rodriguez
Duet