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Nebiki no Matsu

根引の松

[Genre]Jiuta
[Style]Tegotomono
[School]Ikuta Ryû - 生田
[Composed]Minezaki Kōtō - Koto
Mitsuhashi Kōtō - Shamisen

History (Tsuge Gen'ichi):

This grand jiuta piece, originally composed by Mitsuhashi Koto of Osaka, is congratulatory in character by describing scenes from the old Japanese New Year.

Nebiki no matsu ('Pine Seedlings') were in ancient Japan believed to bring longevity and happiness when uprooted on the first Day of the Rat (according to the Sino-Japanese zodiac) in the New Year.

This piece is one of the most developed tegoto-mono, having as many as three tegoto (instrumental interludes). As the result of independent arrangements by different koto masters, several different versions of Nebiki no matsu are extant today.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)

The Divine Wind of the New Year
Is blowing. Therefore,
Let us offer up a saibara (1),
Performing in the fashion
Of the Sacred Music of Ise,
Though we use flutes of bamboo,
Not of reed (2).

From the reed plain
Of the marshes
Along the Naniwa Shore,
The cry of cranes
Come from Tamino Island
Rises with the rising sun.
Let us imagine
That those auspicious cries (3)
Are a passage of koto music.

Early spring breezes
Blow through the caves.
Rhubarb and ginger (4)
Sprout auspiciously.
Ancient pine trees
Growing by the gate
Of a field watch's house
Put forth new green.
All the world
Is at peace.

The New Year manzai man (5)
Old, yet ever young,
Brings tidings of spring
And a reign of ten thousand years.
The legendary Isle of Eternal Youth
Is none other than
This, our own
Fertile 'Land of Brightness (6).'

(1) Saibara were originally folk songs which were later adapted into the court repertoire and accompanied by instruments of the court orchestra.
(2) Ogi is a kind of reed for which Ise (in the present Mie Prefecture) is famous.
(3) The crane, thought to live a thousand years, is regarded as an auspicious creature.
(4) The Japanese word for rhubarb is fuki. Fuki is a kind of Japanese rhubarb but may be represented by the Chinese characters for ‘wealth’ and ‘honor. The Japanese word for ginger is myoga. Myoga is a plant belonging to the ginger family (zingiber mioga), but may be represented by auspicious Chinese characters meaning ‘divine protection.’
(5) Manzai is a strolling comic entertainer who appears in the New Year season to sing auspicious songs and offer blessings for the coming year.
(6) Akitsushima, which may be translated either 'Bright Island' or 'Autumn Island,' is an ancient name for Japan.
(maebiki)

Kamikaze ya
ise no kagura no
manebi shite
ogi niwa arunu
fuetake no
(ai)
ne mo saibara ni
fuki-osame baya

(tegoto)

Naniwazu no
niniwazu no
ashiwara ni
noboru asahi no
moto ni sumu
tamino no tsuru no
koegoe wo
(ai)
koto no shirabe ni
kikinashite

(tegoto)

Nokiba ni kayoo
harukaze mo
fuki ya myooga no
medetasa ni
nomori ga yado no
kadomatsu wa
oitaru mama ni
wakamidori
yomo urarakani
nari ni keri

(tegoto)

Somosomo haru no
tokuwaka ni
manzai iwoo
kimigayo wa
(ai)
yomogigashima mo
yoso naranu
akitsushima choo
kuni no yutakasa

Nebiki no Matsu appears on the following albums

Album Artist
Play ButtonFascination of the Shakuhachi - 3 Koto : Tomiyama Seikin II
Shakuhachi : Yamamoto Hōzan
Voice : Tomiyama Seikin I
Shamisen : Tomiyama Seikin I
Te-goto piece (a two-verse song with an interlude between the verses) composed hy MITSUHASHI Koto of Osaka in the ni-agari tuning. MITSUHASHI Koto composed the famed SHO CHIKU BAI, and NEBIKI NO MATSU is said to have been composed following the success of this earlier piece. The two compositions are certainly very similar, far more so than other famed pieces such as MINEZAKI's ZANGETSU and YUKI. The piece celebrates the arrival of the new year and is divided into three parts by a te-goro (interlude), each part containing musical elements of kagura, soukyoku, koro-kumi-uta and manzai. It also describes things particular to the city of Osaka, the central city of Kamigara (the western part of Japan and the country's cultural center in old days), in particular the new year in that region.
Play ButtonJapanese Koto Music with Shamisen and Shakuhachi
(Pine Tree Hunting) composed by Koto Mihashi is a traditional piece for shamisen. It was once a custom for people to go out to forests to pick short pine trees to decorate their homes at the New Year. The composition is actually a musical description of a pine tree being plucked from the ground. The three strings of the instrument are plucked and a drum effect is caused by the snapping of the plectrum against both the string and the tight cat skin covering the square box of the instrument.

Jiuta no Sekai - 5 Shamisen : Tominobu Seika
Shamisen : Tomiyama Seikō
Voice : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Koto : Kikuhara Hatsuko
Voice : Tomiyama Seikin I
Shamisen : Tomiyama Seikin I

Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū (zoku) vol. 21 (続三曲合奏大全集21) Koto : Yamane Ichiyo
Shakuhachi : Araki Kodō V
Koto : Itō Shōchō II
Voice : Itō Mieko
Voice : Itō Manami
Shamisen : Yamato Ikubo
Koto : Kojima Ishūshi

Sankyoku Gassō Dai Zenshū vol. 4 (三曲合奏大全集4) Koto : Takizawa Ikuko
Shakuhachi : Sano Reihi
Shamisen : Fujii Hirokazu
Shamisen : Togashi Noriko
Voice : Fujii Kunie
Play ButtonShakuhachi no Shinzui-Sankyoku Gasso - 01 Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō

Sōkyoku - Nebiki no Matsu / Sankyoku- Uji Meguri Koto : Kobashi Mikiko
Voice : Matsuo Keiko
Shamisen : Matsuo Keiko

Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 24 Voice : Nakanoshima Kin'ichi
Koto : Nakanoshima Kin'ichi
Shakuhachi : Yamaguchi Gorō
Voice : Nakanoshima Keiko
Koto : Nakanoshima Keiko
Voice : Tomiyama Seikin I
Shamisen : Tomiyama Seikin I
Play ButtonTogashi Noriko - 05 Shakuhachi : Aoki Reibo I
Shamisen : Togashi Noriko