SUMIDAGAWA

The Sumida River

A translation prepared by the NIPPON GAKUJ UTSU SHINKOKAI

Tokyo, Japan

Reprinted from Japanese '].Joh Drama by the Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai,

published by the Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc.,

Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan.

CHORUS How far I have come from home!
3.
 INTRODUCTION

Sumidagawa belongs to that division of the Fourth Group plays known as

kyoJo-mono or 'mad woman' piece. When they are bereaved mothers, the
heroines in this division are represented as abnormally sensitive and peculiarly
susceptible to their surroundings, and fall into fits of poetic exaltation which ex-
presses itself by frenzied gestures. When their lost ones are found , their tem-
porary madness leaves them. In this particular piece, however, the heroine
·discovers her lost child to be dead and the play ends on a tragic note, not
usual in ' mad woman' pieces.
The scene is laid on both banks of the flver Sumida and on the river
itself. The place where the incident is supposed to have occurred is situated· on
the river near the present Asakusa in Tokyo which was then open country. As
the Sumida ferryman is about to row across, a traveller appears, who asks to
be ferried over, and is followed shortly after by a distraught mother who, for
many months, has been seeking her only child. It is a spring evening. At the
sight of white birds floating here and there on the river, the mad woman recalls
a poem in the Ise Monogatari, which awakens in her a frenzied longing for her
child, which finds dramatic expression in a kakeri dance.
The scene that follows takes place on the ferry. Questioned as to the meaning
of the solemn chanting across the river, the ferryman tells the traveller that on
that very day a year before a kidnapped boy was struck down by sudden illness,
and was left by the slaver to die on the roadside. The kind-hearted villag-
ers who subsequently buried him on the bank of the river are now hold-
ing a memorial service for the repose of his soul. Hearing the sad story, the
mad woman guesses that the child is indeed her long-sought boy and that
she has reached the end of her quest. In the concluding scene the grieving
mother is led to a grassy mound by a willow-tree under which the child was
buried, and is asked by the villagers to lead their prayers to Amida Buddha.
While they are chanting, the child repeatedly appears before her eyes, only to
fade away every time she attempts to clasp him in her arms. Finally as dawn
breaks, the ghost vanishes for ever into the mound, leaving her disconsolate.

145
Author: Jura Motomasa (1395-1 459), son of Zeami Motokiyo.
Source: None has as yet been ascertained. It seems likely that the
author based his plot on some ancient legend or contemporary
incident.

146
 SUMIDAGAWA

Persons
FERRYMAN OF THE SUMIDA RIVER Waki
TRAVELLER FRO M MIYAKO Waki-zure
MOTHER, A MAD WOMAN Shite
GHOST OF UMEWAKA-MARU, HER CHILD Kokata

Place
Sumida River, Musashi Province

Season
Spring

Stage-attendants place a framework mound covered

with willow branches in front of the Orchestra, in-
side which the ghost-child is hidden.

While the entrance muszc nanoribue is being

played, the FERRYMAN-OF THE SUMIDA RIVER enters
the stage and stands at the Shite Seat. He wears
a striped kimono, suo robe and trailing divided skirt.

FERRYMAN I am he who rows the ferry across the Su-

mida in the province of Musashi. To-day I
must quickly ferry people across the water be-
cause we are holding a solemn memorial service l
1 The tomb ofUmewaka is in the preci ncts of the Mokubo-ji, a small temple on the left bank of the

river Sumida, roughly opposite the present Asakusa_ Since the temple is believed to have been built
after th e present play became popular, it is very doubtful the tomb is really that of Umewaka.

147
 for someone at the village on the other side
of the river where both priest and laymen are
gathering in great numbers. Mark this well, Sits dowll ill frollt
all of you! of the CHORUS.

While the entrance music shidai is being played, the

TRAVELLER FROM MIYAKO enters with a mush-
room hat on. He wears a striped kimono, kakesuo
robe and white broad divided skirt.

TRAVELLER To the far Eastland I am bound,

shidai To the far Eastland I am bound;
Tedious days of travel lie before me.
CHORUS To the far Eastland I am bound;
jidori Tedious days of travel lie before me.
TRAVELLER I come from Miyako. I have a friend 111 Remom his hat.
the Eastland and now I am going there to
visit him.
michi-yuki Behind me wrapt in clouds and mists Puts it all agaill.
Lie the mountains I have crossed,
Lie the mountains I have crossed.
Many a barrier have I passed through,
Many a province have I traversed.
Here lies the far-famed Sumida,
And now I have reached the ferry,
And now I have reached the ferry. Remo.'es his hnt.
Travelling in haste, here I am
at the Sumida ferry and over there
I see a ferry-boat about to leave.
I will make haste and board it.
Hi boatman! I want to get in
your boat.
148
FERRYMAN All right sir! Get in. But first may I ask Rises

you what is the meaning of that unusual noise

from where you have just come?
TRAVELLER It is a crazy woman from Miyako and peo-
ple are amused by her mad dancing.
FERRYMAN Then I will delay the ferry-boat for a while Sits on the Wan
Seat to the right of the
and wait for the mad creature. TRAVELLER.

While the entrance music issei is being played, the

MOTHER appears and stops on the Bridgeway by the
First Pine. She wears a Fukai mask, wig, painted
gold-patterned under-kimono, embroidered koshimaki
outer-kimono, broad-sleeved robe. She has on a mush-
room hat, and carries a spray of bamboo.

MOTHER " Although a mother's mind

sashi May be unclouded,
She well may lose her way
Through love of her child."l
How true that is !
Where does my darling stray?
Shall I ask these travellers?
Does he know bis mother's grief?
" Does not the skyey wind
CHORUS Whisper to the waiting pines? "2

The MOTHER advances on to the stage and per-

1 Poem by Fujiwara-no-Kanesuke contained in the Gosetlshii.

2 Poem by Lady Kunaikyo included in the Shin Kokinshii. In its complete form it reads:
Has he (tbe lover) not beard tbe saying,
Tbat even tbe wind blowing
Through tbe upper regions of the sky
Does not disdain to visit the pine?
The word' pine' has a double meaning of ' tree' and ' pining heart.'

149
 forms a kakeri dance.
MOTHER In this world fleeting like the dews
Upon Makuzu Field/
CHORUS Should I thus pass my days
Complaining of my bitter day?
MOTHER For many years I lived
sashi In Miyako, at Kita-Shirakawa 2 ;
Then suddenly I lost my only child,
Kidnapped by a slaver.
They told me he was taken
Beyond the Osaka Barrier 3
Eastwards, to far-off Azuma, 4
Since when with mind distraught
I wander on my desperate quest,
Torn by longing for my boy. Weeps.

CHORUS (( Though he be a thousand miles away

sage-uta - 'Tis said-a mother ne'er forgets her child;'5
age-uta And yet the bond of parenthood
Cannot survive the grave,
Cannot survive the grave. 6
Ah! Woe is me
That even in this world I must be parted
from him
Like the (( four young birds that left their
nest."7

l Field at the foot of Higashiyama Hill in Kyoto, where there is now Maruyama Park.
Eastern suburbs of Miyako.
See Tamura, p. 34, note l.
4 I.e. Eastland. See Tamura, p. 23, note l.
5 Quoted from a poem by Po Chu-i which more exactly reads: "A parent may go a thousand miles
from home, but he never can forget his child."
6 Due probably to a Buddhist theory it was currently believed that the bond between parent and

child lasts only during the present life whi le that between man and wife endures for two lives.
7 Allusion to a conversation between Confucius and Yen Hui (&lfel) found in the Words alld Deeds
of Confucius where it is told that once, very early in the morning, Confucius was sitting with his
disciple Yen Hui. H earing very mournful cries, the master enquired what they were, whereupon the

150
 Will my weary quest end here?
Now I have reached the Sumida,
Now I have reached the Sumida
That flows between Musashi and Shimosa.
MOTHER Pray, boatman. Let me get into the boat.
FERRYMAN Where are you from and where are you going?
MOTHER From Miyako I have come in search of
someone.
FERRYMAN Since you are a woman of Miyako and mad
to boot, I will not take you aboard unless you
amuse us with one of your crazy dances.
110THER What a clumsy way of speaking! Since you
are the Sumida ferryman, you should have
answered, "Come on board, for the day is
spent,"l
Yet you refuse a passage
To me, a city lady.
How ill-becoming a Su-
mida boatman
To speak so rudely!
FERRYMAN How like a woman of Miyako to use such
elegan t language !
MOTHER Your words remind me of the poem N arihira
once composed at this very spot.
"0, birds of Miyako,
If you are worthy of your name,

pupil repli ed that they could not be lamentations over the dead, and told him the story of a bird which
had built its nes t on Mt. Han-shan. When the four young birds it had reared had grown up and prepared
to leave the nest, the mother-bird had uttered heart-rending cries not unlike those they were now hearing.
Upon enquiring from the neighbour it turned out that the master had died and that in order to defray
his funeral expenses, the family had been obliged to sell one of the children into slavery, and were now
about to part from him for ever. Confucius praises his pupil for his keenness in distinguishing voices.
1 Quoted from the Ise MOllogatari, chap. viii, where Narihira, the supposed author, describes hi&
travels through the Eastland in search of a place to settle in, after his life in Miyako had become too
unpleasant. The chapter ends with his crossing the river Sumida.

151
 Tell me, does my love still live? "1
Tums towards the
0, boatman, yonder is a white bird not found right.

in Miyako. What is its name?

FERRYMAN It is a sea-gull.
MOTHER Row unpoetical! By the sea you may call
it a gull or a plover or whatever you will, but
here by the Sumida river why not "Miyako-
bird? "
FERRYMAN Truly I was in the wrong!
Living in this famous place
'Twas thoughtless of me,
Instead of Miyako-bird,
MOTHER To call it sea-gull.
FERRYMAN So N arihira long ago
MOTHER Asked, " Is she still alive? "
FERRYMAN Remembering his lady in Miyako.
MOTHER Moved by like yearning,
I am seeking my lost child
In the Eastland.
FERRYMAN To long for a sweetheart,
MOTHER To seek after a lost child,
FERRYMAN Both spring
MOTHER From love.
CHORUS 0, Miyako-bird, I too will ask you,
age-uta 0, Miyako-bird, I too will ask you,
Is my dear child still living
Somewhere in the Eastland?
I ask and ask, but it will not answer.
Oh, rude Miyako-bird !
The MOTHER turns
I'll call you ' rustic-bird.' towards the Waki
" By the R iver Rorie Front.

1 Quoted from the same. 'Miyako-bird' is a poetic name for sea-gull.

152
 Where boats hurry past each other,
Miyako-birds utter their cries: "1
There at Naniwa in the West, She goes to the First
Pine and touching the
Here by the Sumida in the East- brim of her hilt gazes
into the distance.
How far I have come from home !
But, pray, °
boatman, Returning from the
Bridgeway, she goes up
Let me come on board. to the FERRYMAN and
dropping the spray of
Though crowded be your boat, bamboo, joins her hands
ill supplication.
0, let me too on board, I pray!
FERRYMAN So sensible a mad woman I never saw. Be Slips his right arm
out of his kimono and
quick and come aboard. This is a dangerous picks up his pole.
The MOTHER re-
crossing; please take care and sit still. You moves her hat and hold-
too, traveller, get in. ing it in her left hand,
steps f orward as if
into a boat and
4 sils down. The
TRAVELLER sits side-

TRAVELLER Why are all those people gathered together ways behind the M OTH-
ER while the FERRY-
over there, under that willow-tree? MAN stands at the back
and plies his pole.
FERRYMAN They are holding a solemn memorial service
connected with a sad tale which I shall tell you
while the boat is crossing to the other side.
katari It happened last year, on the fifteenth of the
third month; yes, and this is the very day on
which it happened. A slave-trader was on his
way to the Northeast, taking along with him
a boy he had bought-a tender lad some
twelve years old. Wearied out by the un-
accustomed hardships of the road, the boy
was seized with a mortal illness. He was so
weak, he said he could not drag himself a
step farther, and lay down on the bank.
What heartless men there are in this world!

1 Poem by Otomo-no-Yakamochi contained in the Mallyiishii.

153
 The slaver abandoned the boy by the roadside
and went on his way.
But the people of this neighbourhood, judg-
ing from his appearance that the lad was of
gentle birth, nursed and tended him as best
they could. But perhaps because of his karma,
he grew worse and worse. When he was at the
point of death, we asked him, " Where were
you born, who are you? " " I was born in
Miyako-he replied-at Kita-Shirakawa, the
only child of Lord Yoshida. My father being
dead, mother and I lived alone. Then I was
kidnapped and now am brought to this pass.
Please bury me here by the roadside, so that
passers-by coming from dear Miyako may at
least cast their shadow over my grave: and
plant a willow-tree in memory of me. " He said
these words, calmly, like a man; invoked Amida
Buddha several times, and died. What a pite-
ous happening! The M OTHER weeps.

There may be some people from Miyako in

this boat. Let them offer prayers for the
repose of his poor soul, even if they are not
relations of the dead lad. Look! While
you were listening to my long and tedious
tale, the ferry has reached the bank. Make
haste and land!
TRAVELLER I will surely remain here to-day and though Going to the Waki
Seat, addresses the
I had nothing to do with the lad, I will offer up F ERRYM AN and then
sits dowll.
a prayer fo r him.
FERRYMAN Come, my mad creature there! Why not Turns alld looks at
the weeping M OTHER.
get out of my boat.? Hurry! How tender-
hearted of you to shed tears over such a story.
154
 Please get out of the boat quickly!
MOTHER Boatman, when did the event you have just Turns to the
F ERRYMAN.
told us take place?
FERRYMAN It took place last year, III the third month,
on this very day.
MOTHER What was the lad's age?
FERRYMAN Twelve.
MOTHER His name?
FERRYMAN Umewaka-maru.
MOTHER And his father's name?
. FERRYMAN Lord Yoshida .
MOTHER Since then have neither of his parents been
here?
FERRYMAN Nor any of his kin.
MOTHER Much less his mother !
FERRYMAN No, that would have been out of the question.
MOTHER No wonder, neither kin nor parent came.
He was the child
This mad woman is seeking .
Is this a dream?
Lets fall her hat and
o cruel fate! weeps.
FERRYMAN Who on earth could have dreamt of such
a thing? Until now I thought it was
none of our business. The boy was Puts away his pole
your child. You are to be pitied! and standing behind
her, helps her out of the
Now let me show you where the boy is boat, then takes a few
steps towards the
buried. Please come with me. mound.

5
FERRYMAN This is the grave of your dead child. Pray Goes to the Waki
Seat and sits down.
for his soul's repose, as only you can do.
MOTHER I had hoped against hope Moves to the lift,
To find my child half facing the mound

155
 And now I have reached strange Azuma, and sits gazing at it.

He is no more upon this '"\...

earth;
Naught but this mound rftI 'III I'\
I I ,1 ,\
remams.
0, how cruel ! ---
Was it for this that he was born,
To be taken from his native land,
To the remotest part of Azuma,
Only to become dust by the roadside ?
Does my dear child truly lie beneath this Half rises and fixes
her eyes on the mound.
grass?
CHORUS
sage-uta
° you people there,
Dig up the sod
The MOTHER tUTnl
towards the FERRY-
MAN and moves her
So that I may once again hand as if to dig, then
subsides on to the stage
Gaze on his mortal form. and weeps.
age-uta He whose life was full of promise IS
gone,
He whose life was full of promise is
gone,
And she whose life IS worthless left
behind.
Before the mother's eyes the son appears
And fades away
As does the phantom broom-tree. l
In this grief-laden world
Such is the course of human life.
The winds of death
Scatter the spring-time flowers of life ;
The clouds of mutability

1 Mythical tree shaped like a broom said to have stood in a village called Sonohara on the boundary
between Shinano and Mino Provinces. It had the mysterious property of being seen clearly from afar, but
of disappearing when anyone approached closer.

156
 0' ercast the shining moon
That should light up the endless night of
life and death.l
Now my eyes see 'how fleeting is this life,
Now my eyes see how fleeting is this life.

FERRYMAN Your tears no longer serve; chant but your Stands up, holding
a disc-like gong and a
prayers for his repose in the other world. wooden hammer,
The moon has risen,
The river breeze is blowing,
The night is at its height,
'Tis time we began our night prayers.
Asking her to join them
They start to beat their gongs. Striking his gong,
turns towards the
MOTHER O'erwhelmed by grief MOTHER,

The mother cannot say her prayer,

But prostrate weeps upon the ground.
FERRYMAN This is not as it should be. However many
After giuing her the
people may gather together, it is a mother's gong and hammer, he
prayers that will rejoice her dead child. takes his place in front
of the CHORUS,
So saying he hands the gong to the
mother.
MOTHER You say true-
I'll take the gong
Rises and faces the
For my child's sake. mound.
FERRYMAN Ceasing her moan, in a clear voice
MOTHER She prays with them under the shining

1 The full moon is likened to Sakyamuni who dispels the darkness of ignorance and enlightens

mortal minds.

157
 moon.
FERRYMAN Her thoughts wing straight
To the Western Land of
Bliss.
FERRYMAN and 110THER
Adoration to countless
Tumillg towards the
million Buddhas- mound, join their hallds
Each one Amida ill prayer.

In the Western Paradise/

The world of supreme bliss!
CHORUS N amu Amida! N amu Amida ! The MOTHER beats
the gong, accompanying
N amu Amida! N amu Amida ! the illvocation.
110THER From the Sumida
Join in the voices
Of the breeze and waves.
CHORUS N amu Amida! N amu Amida !
Namu Amida!
110THER True to their name
Faces the Front
11iyako-birds join the choir. audience.
The voice of thf
GHOST and CHORUS GHOST of Umewaka-
N amu Amida! N amu Amida ! mant is heard from in-
side the mound.
Namu Amida!
Ceases to beat her
110THER Surely just now among them I heard my gong.
child's voice. He seems to be praying inside
this mound.
FERRYMAN We, too, have heard your child. We shall
keep silent; say your prayer alone.

1 Lung-shu JOdomon Collection of T exts relating to the Western Paradise, edited in

Lung-shu by a man of the Southern Sung dynasty) states that seeing an aged couple assiduously repeating
the Ilembutsu prayer and using a bagful of seeds to mark the number of repetitions, Sakyamuni was filled
with pity at their pious device, and taught them a better means of doing so by sayi ng : "Namu to th e
thirty-six trillion, one hundred and nineteen thousand five hundred Amida Buddhas of the Western
Paradise, all having the same name and title."

158
MOTHER o that I might hear his VOIce but once Turns towards the
mound and strikeJ the
again! gong.

Namu Amida!
GHOST N amu Amida! N amo Amida !
CHORUS See, his voice and shape!

The GHOST OF UMEWAKA-MARU comes

out of the mound and stands in front oj the
Waki Seat. He wears a flowing black-hair
wig, white broad-sleeved robe and white twill kimono.
·MOTHER Is it you, my child?
GHOST Is it you, my mother? T UTllS towards the
MOTHER.
CHORUS And as she seeks to grasp it by the hand, The MOTHER drops
the gong and hammer
The shape begins to fade away; and runs up to the
GHOST, who retreats
The vision fades and reappears and re-enters the mound.
And stronger grows her yearning. Dazed and weeping, she
looks up and moves two
Day breaks in the eastern sky. or three steps towards
the 8bite Pillar. The
The ghost has vanished ; GHOST reappears and

What seemed her boy stands at the 8bi te

Seat. With stretched
Is but a grassy mound arms the MOTHER runs
towards it, and attempts
Lost on the wide, desolate moor. to embrace it, but as
Sadness and tender pity fill all hearts, the GHOST retreats
again into the mound,
Sadness and tender pity fill all hearts! the MOTHER falls,
clasping the empty air.
Rising again she ap-
proaches the mound,
gazing at the willow-
branches, then, discon-
solate, retreats slowly to
the 8hite Pillar and re-
maillS there weeping.

159