Kyogen Summary
Kyogen is a traditional Japanese comic stage drama that took shape in the Muromachi period and has been handed down alongside Noh theater. While Noh centers on song and dance, kyogen relies on dialogue and gesture, turning ordinary people's carelessness, vanity, and greed for food into laughter. Manga Portal's KYOGEN: Japan's 600-Year-Old Comedy retells its classic plays as manga, one episode at a time.
In Episode 1, Suehirogari, a master orders his servant Taro Kaja to buy a "suehirogari." Not knowing the word means a folding fan, Taro Kaja gets tricked by a swindler into buying an old umbrella. In Episode 2, Busu, Taro Kaja and Jiro Kaja discover that the tub their master called deadly poison actually holds sugar. They eat every bit of it, then cook up an outrageous excuse.
In Episode 3, Bo-shibari, two servants tied up to keep them away from the sake work together to drink it anyway. In Episode 4, Kazumo, a daimyo hires a sumo wrestler who turns out to be a mosquito spirit, and the uproar ends with a giant fan being brought out. Every story has kyogen's special brand of humor, which portrays people who fail in a way that makes them hard to dislike.
Story summary
Episode 1Told to Buy a Fan. He Bought an Umbrella. — Suehirogari (The Fan)
In the mangaTaro Kaja is sent to the capital to buy a "suehirogari," without knowing it means a folding fan. A smooth-talking swindler sells him a battered old umbrella for a fortune, and the Daimyo explodes. Thrown out of the house, Taro Kaja makes one last move with the song the swindler taught him.
In the original mythThe play begins with a kahōmono, a rich and fortunate man, preparing for a happy celebration. He wants a suehirogari to give his guests as a gift. The word literally means "widening toward the end," and it is a lucky name for a folding fan, which spreads open like a future that keeps growing brighter.
Episode 2Even Its Breeze Kills. So We Peeked. — Busu (The Poison Jar)
In the mangaBefore heading out, the Daimyo leaves behind a tub of "busu," a poison so deadly that even the breeze off it will kill you. Left to watch the house, Taro Kaja and Jiro Kaja are terrified, but they can't stop wondering what's inside. Once they find out, they turn their master's lie right back on him. It's one of Japan's best-loved kyogen comedies, a favorite in school textbooks.
In the original mythThe master of the house has to go out, so he calls his two servants, Taro Kaja and Jiro Kaja, and tells them to watch the place while he's gone. Before he leaves, he points to a covered tub. It holds busu, he says, a poison so strong that if the breeze blowing from it so much as touches you, you die. Stay away from it. Then he leaves.
Episode 3Can't Reach My Cup—But I Can Reach Yours — Bō Shibari (Tied to a Pole)
In the mangaEvery time the Daimyo leaves home, his sake mysteriously goes down. So before heading out, he ties Taro Kaja's arms to a pole and Jiro Kaja's hands behind his back. Neither can lift a cup to his own mouth, but each can reach the other's. This kyogen play about two servants teaming up is 600 years old.
In the original mythBō Shibari is one of the best-known plays in kyogen, the comic theater that grew up alongside Noh. It opens with a master who has a problem: every time he leaves the house, his sake disappears. He is quite sure who is drinking it. His two servants, Taro Kaja and Jiro Kaja, are the only ones home.
Episode 4Mid-Bout, He Turned Into a Mosquito — Kazumo (The Mosquito Wrestler)
In the mangaA show-off daimyo demands a strong new retainer by the end of the day, so Taro Kaja runs out to the highway and finds a sumo wrestler who claims he's never lost. There's just one problem: he's actually a man-sized Mosquito Spirit.
In the original mythKazumo is a short comic play from kyogen, the spoken comedy that grew up alongside Japan's solemn noh theater and has been performed for roughly 600 years. The title combines ka (mosquito) and sumo, Japan's traditional style of wrestling, so an English title might simply be The Mosquito Wrestler.
Episode 5The Lord Who Cheated Off a Servant's Shin — Hagi Daimyo
In the mangaA vain lord who can't write a single line of poetry walks into a poetry challenge armed with his servant's fan ribs and, somehow, a shin. Only you know the answer in Hagi Daimyo, a 600-year-old comedy about cheating.
In the original mythA lord from a distant province has been stuck in the capital for a long time because of a lawsuit. The case drags on, he grows bored, and he asks his servant, Tarokaja, for ideas. Tarokaja suggests visiting a garden famous for its splendid hagi, or bush clover, a flowering shrub. There is one catch: the garden's owner always asks guests for a waka, a short classical poem. The lord cannot compose one.