Pit Workers in the Old Days #9: Visitors to the Coal Pit (Ahodarakyo Chanter, Blind Biwa Minstrel Zato)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito #9: Yama no Homonsha (Ahodarakyo, Biwa Zato)
[Pit Workers in the Old Days #9: Visitors to the Coal Pit (Ahodarakyo Chanter, Blind Biwa Minstrel Zato)]
21.0 x 30.2 cm Ink Painting

(1) Ahodarakyo Chanter
He chanted humorous nonsense verses called Ahodarakyo, tapping wooden gongs called mokugyos as follows:
Hatake ni hamaguri hottemo nai.
Bozu no hachimaki shimari ga nai.
Suna ni shoben tamari ga nai.
Yamiyo ni teppo atari ga nai.
Chaka-poka! Chaka-poka!

If you go clamming in the fields, you won't find any clams.
If a priest wears a headband, it won't be tightly tied.
If you urinate on the sand, it will be quickly absorbed.
If you shoot your gun on a moonless night, your bullet won't make a perfect hit. Chaka-poka!
Chaka-poka! (Onomatopoeia of the tapping sound of the wooden gongs)

(2) Blind Biwa (Japanese Lute) Minstrel Zato
He sang a song as follows:
Kyo no Gojo no hashi no ue,
somo Benkei no naginata wa
e ga hasshaku de mi ga hasshaku.
Kireru haba nara toita no gotoshi.
"Soreja, Zato san, teki ga miemai?"
Tokoro dokoro nya mado ga aru.
Teren! Byon! Bing! Bing!

On the bridge of Gojo in the capital,
Benkei stood with his naginata in his hands.
Both the pole and blade of Benkei's naginata were 8 feet long.
And the blade was as wide as a door.
"Then, Zato san, he couldn't see his opponent, could he?"
The blade of his naginata had some windows here and there.
Teren! Byon! Bing! Bing! (Onomatopoeias of the sounds of the Biwa)

There was a famous biwa minstrel called Kurozato in today's Komoda in Iizuka City.
I don't know if he was called like this because he had a dark (kuro) face. He professionally played the biwa and performed incantations to exorcize demons and taught how to gain refuge from the anger of the god of directions called Konjin. It was around 1899 or 1900 that I heard about him and I do not know what he had done before then.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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