Junko Ueda: Samurai Ghosts on the Retiro Gardens by night

Satsuma Biwa show performed by Junko Ueda on the Retiro Gardens of Madrid during the "Noche en blanco" festival, September 11, 2010.

Dan-no Ura

Then the Nii Dono, who had already resolved what she would do, donning a double outer dress of dark grey mourning colour, and tucking up the long skirts of her glossy silk hakama, put the Sacred Jewel under her arm, and the Sacred Sword in her girdle, and taking the Emperor in her arms, spoke thus: " Though I am but a woman I will not fall into the hands of the foe, but will accompany our Sovereign Lord. Let those of you who will, follow me." And she glided softly to the gunwale of the vessel.

Heike Monogatari , XIII c. Translated by Sadler, Arthur. "The Heike Monogatari." Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 46.2 (1918): 1-278; 49.1 (1921): 1-354. (Complete translation of the rufubon, the version of Edo printed texts.)


Yoshitsune

In 1185, the once-proud Taira clan perished in the Inland Sea. The victorious Minamoto no Yoshitsune should have paraded proudy through the broad avenues of Kyoto, but his brother, Shogun Yoritomo, was famed for his suspicious mind. His advisor Kajiwara Kagetoki falsely accused Yoshitsune of sedition and convinced Yoritomo to have him killed. With no place to hide in his brother's realm, Yoshitsune took six retainers dressed as mountain ascetics and went to seek shelter with Fujiwara Hidehira, ruler of the semi-independent province to the north. Our story begins as they approach a new barrier in Kaga province with the unease of one about to tread on a tiger's tail.

Kurosawa, Akira. Tora no O o Fumu Otokachi (The Men who Tread on the Tiger's Tail), 1945. Movie adaptation of the Kabuki play Kanjinchō (Namiki Gohei III, 1840) and the Noh play Ataka (Kanze Nobumitsu, 1465).


Gion-Shôja

The sound of the bell of Gionshoja echoes the impermanence of all things. The hue of the flowers of the teak tree declares that they who flourish must be brought low. Yea, the proud ones are but for a moment, like an evening dream in springtime. The mighty are destroyed at the last, they are but as the dust before the wind.

Heike Monogatari , XIII c. Translated by Sadler, Arthur. "The Heike Monogatari." Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan 46.2 (1918): 1-278; 49.1 (1921): 1-354. (Complete translation of the rufubon, the version of Edo printed texts.)