''Komachi Monogatari'' (小町物がたり) is a Japanese ''

otogi-zōshi are a group of about 350 Japanese prose narratives written primarily in the Muromachi period (1392–1573). These illustrated short stories, which remain unattributed, together form one of the representative literary genres of the Japanese med ...

'' in two volumes, composed late in the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

or the beginning of the early modern period (late 16th or 17th centuries).

Date, genre and sources

''Komachi Monogatari'' was composed some time between the end of the

and the beginning of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

. It is a work of the ''

'' genre. It is one of a large number of works, the so-called ''Komachi-mono'' (小町物), that draw on the legends surrounding the poet Ono no Komachi, a category that also includes ''

Komachi Sōshi ''Komachi Sōshi'' (小町草紙) is a Japanese ''otogi-zōshi'' in one or two volumes, composed during the Muromachi period. Date, genre and sources ''Komachi Sōshi'' was composed during the Muromachi period. It is a work of the ''otogi-zōsh ...

'', '' Komachi Uta-arasoi'', '' Kamiyo Komachi'' and '' Tamazukuri Monogatari''. It specifically combines the ''dokuro-densetsu'' (髑髏伝説), legends about Komachi's skull being found in a grassy field, ''hyakuya-gayoi'' (百夜通い), legends that the courtier Fukakusa no Shōshō tried and tragically failed to visit her for one hundred nights, and ''sotoba-komachi''. It is unique among the ''Komachi-mono'' for its setting in the Rendaino (蓮台野) and the appearance of the poet-monk

Saigyō was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Biography Born in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start of ...

. Takashi Fujii, in his article on the work for the ''

Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten (Japanese: 日本古典文学大辞典) is a reference work about Japanese literature published by Iwanami Shoten circa 1983-1985. References External links * CiNii CiNii () is a bibliographic database service for ...

'', identified the

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

play ''

Sotoba Komachi The aged Komachi rests upon the ''Sotoba Komachi'' is a Noh play written by Kan'ami, and is one of the most compelling and best-known of the type. Plot and themes Much of the strength of the play derives from the variety provided by the three ...

'' as a source for the work.

References

Citations

Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Komachi Monogatari Otogi-zōshi Muromachi-period works Ono no Komachi