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OKEIKO 11 

The piece called ’The Green Pine’ was composed in the 1850’s during the Edo period. A famous master of nagauta shamisen (nagauta=’long song’; a tarditional genre of Japanese music, which accompanies kabuki theatre) composed it for the event, where his daughter debuted as his successor under a stage name. The lyricist is unknown. Pine trees are an essential part of the Japanese landscape. Being an evergreen tree, due to its unchanging color it is associated with auspiciousness. The ’Green Pine’ is a so called ’oshuugi-mono’ (celebratory piece), which means it is an auspicious and elegant dance.

At the beginning, with ’straightening the collar –and the posture-’ and ’fixing the kimono’, the dancer tydies up his getup. This is a form of greeting and at the same time it expresses the intention of starting the dance. Which is presented as a stylized form.

 
(Mitsuko T. Sakurai)