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　　Dance

This play 'Ibaraki' is a very simple story that a hero fight against a demon. Some Kabuki plays are from Noh, and they are performed on the stage that is made like a Noh stage. They are called 'Matsubame-mono'. 'Ibaraki' is performed as Matsubame-mono, but there isn't its original Noh play. But there is a Noh play 'Oeyama' that a demon master Shuten-doji appears on. Ibaraki is a henchman of Shuten-doji. Both of the demons were killed by Raiko's retainers. They are based to the old legends.

Minamoto-no Raiko (or Yorimitsu, 948?-1021) was a commander of the Genji clan at Heian period. It is known well that he had the big four, Watanabe-no Tsuna, Sakata-no Kintoki, Urabe-no Suetake and Usui Sadamitsu. They fought against demons.

At Heian period, nobles spent luxurious life at Kyoto. But there were many poverty people outside the Court. People was troubled by robbers and bandits. They called robbers and bandits demons. Raiko made the big four exterminate the robbers and bandits, and they became heroes. And they became a legend.

As I mentioned before, some Kabuki plays are from Noh. It might be difficult for foreigners to understand the difference between Noh and Kabuki. If I was asked if Kabuki was an art, I would hesitate to answer. Please think that Kabuki was just an entertainment for the ordinary people until Meiji Restoration in 1868. After that, Kabuki has become a traditional cultural stage entertainment. It might have been sorry matter.

Noh is an art. Noh is composed by slow action and dancing. Sometimes Noh's dancing is performed itself individually. Actually Noh's action is like dancing. It's beautiful very much.

Noh's actors were retainers of the feudal lord before. They were treated as officers. Noh was played for the noble class and the warrior's class. Noh's actors taught how to dance it, because it was thought stylish that the feudal lords or warriors played Noh by themselves. Sometimes they danced Noh, just before they went to the battlefield. I think that Noh looks like praying. If you had a chance to watch Noh, it might be boring, because actors wouldn't seem to move as much as you expected. Please feel just its beauty as an art.

When a Noh play got a good reputation, it was performed as a Kabuki play soon. 'Oeyama' is one of these cases. And this play 'Ibaraki' is thought as an episode of ''Oeyama. So it is performed as Matsubame-mono in Kabuki. Watanabe-no Tsuna is the most popular person of the Raiko's big four. He had been a hero of people until the ending of Edo period. Sometimes Tsuna was thought as a simple man, though.

It is difficult to find a hero recently, although people feels uneasy about the society, crimes, terrorism, and war. Even if the President Bush shouts the justice, it doesn't mean superman coming. Everyone knows that we should do everything one by one practically. It might mean that there is no space for a hero in the recent society, and it would be similar that people doesn't expect the revolution any more. And heroes have been forgotten.

Although Raiko has been known well still now, its reason isn't only the legend that is interesting. He succeeded as a commander of Genji clan, because he had a political ability. His political ability might have made people talk the legend of him for a long time. I think that he might not have been a hero.