Kokeshi Joruri “Hanako Omuko-san” [Sponsored Performance]

2011. An unforgettable year for Arabs and Japanese people. Great East Japan Earthquake.

Arab Spring. It happened in the same year. Bouazizi, a young man who set himself on fire in Tunisia. Hanako, a woman who died in the tsunami in Minamisanriku. both unforeseen accidents. lives lost.

A young man's journey in search of a spouse. A story that prays for their souls.

Original/Screenplay: Makiko Sakurai

Appearance

Makiko Sakurai (singing, speaking)

Shiobara Niwa Village (Nagauta, Storytelling)

Kineya Asakichi (shamisen)

Junzo Tateiwa (Darbukka, Rec)

●Greetings

2011 was a memorable year for many people in Japan, with the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th.

2011 was also the year in which the Jasmine Revolution, which started with the self-immolation of a young man in Tunisia, spread to Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, North Africa, and the Middle East.

This big event also claimed the lives of many people.

Two young people appear in "Hanako no Omuko-san". "Hanako" is the girl who rang the half-bell to tell people that the tsunami had hit. "Hanako's mother" had a stall selling fruits and vegetables to survive being destroyed by the police. A young man who set himself on fire. They meet in the afterlife, the "Netherworld," and are happily united.

Mainly in Yamagata, there is a custom called "Mukasari Ema" in which when an unmarried man and woman passes away, they draw a fictitious groom and bride and dedicate an ema to the temple, depicting the scene of the deceased's wedding ceremony.

This custom was born out of the parents' belief that marriage is the most glorious and auspicious event for a person. I made this work with the desire of the bereaved family to make the deceased person as happy as possible.

Since the events of 2011, I would like to perform this piece with the hope that both the deceased and the living will be healed together and can move forward.

Makiko Sakurai

●Synopsis

In Tohoku (mainly in Yamagata), it is believed that those who die unmarried are the ones with the most regrets. Therefore, there is a custom to dedicate a votive picture of a fictitious mother-in-law or fictitious wife and a deceased unmarried person giving a congratulatory message to a temple. .

One spring, Hanako was swallowed by the tsunami and died. It is said that if you bury a deceased person's tooth at the summit of Yamadera, you will be able to go to paradise as soon as possible. Hanako's parents and her younger sister Sakura carry Hanako's teeth up the mountain temple.

On the way, Hanako meets an old man who sells kokeshi dolls. Among the kokeshi dolls sold by the grandfather, there was a Kokeshi doll similar to Hanakokuri. Sakura didn't have any money, but somehow managed to negotiate with her grandpa, and in exchange for Sakura's hairpin, she was given a kokeshi doll that looked just like her sister for one night.

Holding the kokeshi doll, Sakura fell asleep. Onee-chan Hanako appears in her dream and goes west to find her mother. Then I meet a young man who died there. A young man who set himself on fire at the age of 26 to protest against police vandalizing a fruit and vegetable stall.

The two talked about each other's countries for a thousand and one nights, and decided to have a wedding ceremony. People gathered to sing each other's national songs, and it became a lively celebration.

Sakura was separated from her parents and was sleeping alone with a kokeshi doll.

The next morning, Sakura goes to the old man who sells kokeshi dolls to return them, but there is no old man or kokeshi dolls there, just a big cave. Sakura left the kokeshi there and left Yamadera.

That night, Sakura dreams of Hanako again. I'm pointing at the cherry blossom hairpin that I gave to the old man who was wearing Shiromuku. The kokeshi doll that Sakura was holding last night is now being held by her sister.

“A girl who receives a kokeshi doll from her wife will surely meet a good wife.