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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saigyōzakura (西行桜, Saigyō's cherry tree) is a Noh play by Zeami about the famous poet Saigyō, regarding his well-known love for cherry blossoms.
_by_Tsukioka_Kōgyo_(National_Noh_Theatre).jpg)
Saigyō was renowned for his love of the flowering cherry - what he himself once called "my lifelong habit of having my mind immersed in blossoms".[1]
As a recluse however, he sometimes found himself in conflict with the Japanese habit of collective blossom viewing: as he wrote in his Sankashū, "Leave me in solitude/O Cherry flowers./Draw not people,/for they come in crowds".[2]
Wishing to be alone with his cherry-blossoms,[3] Saigyō is annoyed by the arrival of a party of (potential) viewers; and, on admitting them, composes a waka blaming the cherry tree for their intrusive presence.
That night he is visited by the spirit of the cherry-tree, who rebukes him by pointing out the separateness and independence of all living creatures from human concerns.[4] The two then converse, before the play ends with an extensive dance celebrating cherry flowers, exceptional sakura sites like Kiyomizu-dera, and the transient beauty of Spring.[5]
Twelve Plays of the Noh and Kyôgen Theatres, Karen Brazell (ed.) 1988
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