Background Information

This play ‘Tsuchigumo / Earth Spider’ that was written by Kawatake Mokuami was premiered in 1881 in Tokyo. The Kabuki plays that have their original Noh versions are called ‘Matsubame-mono’, and they are performed on the simple stage, a big pine tree is painted on the back wall like the Noh stage. Also ‘Tsuchigumo’ belongs to them.

Story

Scene-1; At Raiko's Mansion

Minamoto-no Raiko has fallen into unknown illness. Many priests tried to exorcise it, because he suspected if evil spirit was troubling him. But he didn’t recover. His retainer Hirai Yasumasa comes for the sick visit to Raiko's mansion. Raiko seemed not so bad, and Yasumasa went to the next room. Kocho who is a lady in waiting visits there to bring medicine from the imperial court. After she danced to make Raiko enjoy, she left to prepare his medicine.

Raiko begins to suffer, and a man visits to the mansion then. He introduced himself as a priest Chichu, and he said he would like to exorcise evil spirit that was troubling him. Suddenly, Raiko’s attendant, Otowaka shouted.

‘Don't be inattentive, my lord!’

Otowaka found that Chichu’s shadow made a strange form. Raiko slashed Chichu with a sword, but Chichu emited thousands of thread to Raiko, and disappeared. Chichu was an evil spirit of the earth spider. However, he left bloodstain there. Hearing the strange shout, Yasumasa comes there as soon as possible. Raiko ordered Yasumasa to exterminate the earth spider.

Scene-2; At the Mountain

Raiko has the big four retainers, Watanabe-no Tsuna, Sakata-no Kintoki, Urabe-no Suetake and Usui Sadamitsu. Yasumasa and the big four retainers went into the mountain to search for the earth spider following its bloodstain. And they found the earth spider which got damaged. Although the earth spider resisted with spider’s threads, it was killed at last. The End (2005,1,2)