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Years after the Genpei War, monk Renshō visits the site where he killed the young warrior Atsumori to pray for his release. Atsumori first appears disguised as a grass cutter, then returns as a ghost to recount his death in dance; Renshō refuses to reenact the killing, and the spirit asks him to pray for its release.
Sent by China's emperor to test Japan, the poet Bai Juyi meets two fishermen. The elder explains the shared nature of Japanese poetry, then reveals himself as Sumiyoshi no Kami, god of poetry. A series of dances summons a divine wind that sends Bai, defeated, back to China.
At Ariwara Temple, a traveling monk meets a woman by a grave. She recounts the childhood love of a poet and his wife, then reveals herself as the wife’s ghost and dances beside the well where they once played.
The three parts are Kantan, Damask Drum and (Un)fair Exchange. The first two draw on Japanese Noh plays and the third on a kyogen folk play. No plot details are provided.
At Shinohara, the travelling monk Yugyō meets an old man whom no one else can see. The stranger reveals himself as the ghost of the warrior Sanemori. During a memorial service he recounts his last battle and the washing of his severed head, which exposed the grey hair he had dyed black, before asking the monk to pray for him.
At the end of her life, the impoverished poet Ono no Komachi speaks with the abbot of Sekidera about poetry. A child’s Tanabata dance inspires her to dance until dawn and reflect on life’s transience.
Years after the Genpei War, monk Renshō visits the site where he killed the young warrior Atsumori to pray for his release. Atsumori first appears disguised as a grass cutter, then returns as a ghost to recount his death in dance; Renshō refuses to reenact the killing, and the spirit asks him to pray for its release.
Sent by China's emperor to test Japan, the poet Bai Juyi meets two fishermen. The elder explains the shared nature of Japanese poetry, then reveals himself as Sumiyoshi no Kami, god of poetry. A series of dances summons a divine wind that sends Bai, defeated, back to China.
At Ariwara Temple, a traveling monk meets a woman by a grave. She recounts the childhood love of a poet and his wife, then reveals herself as the wife’s ghost and dances beside the well where they once played.
The three parts are Kantan, Damask Drum and (Un)fair Exchange. The first two draw on Japanese Noh plays and the third on a kyogen folk play. No plot details are provided.
At Shinohara, the travelling monk Yugyō meets an old man whom no one else can see. The stranger reveals himself as the ghost of the warrior Sanemori. During a memorial service he recounts his last battle and the washing of his severed head, which exposed the grey hair he had dyed black, before asking the monk to pray for him.
At the end of her life, the impoverished poet Ono no Komachi speaks with the abbot of Sekidera about poetry. A child’s Tanabata dance inspires her to dance until dawn and reflect on life’s transience.
A Shinto priest asks an elderly couple about the paired pines of Takasago and Suminoe. They reveal themselves as the trees’ spirits, reunite with him at Sumiyoshi, and the local deity dances in a celebration of peace and imperial longevity.