The National Hansen's Disease Museum will be hosting a sekkyobushi performance on Saturday, February 18th, featuring Master Wakamatsu Wakatayu III.
The program will feature "Oguri Hangan" and "Shintokumaru," which have a connection to the ancient Japanese society and Hansen's Disease in the background. Come and enjoy the world of authentic singing and playing by Master Wakamatsu Wakatayu, who is also a holder of the Tokyo Metropolitan Intangible Cultural Property.
Please feel free to browse the exhibits after the show has finished. We look forward to your visit.

The official website of Sekkyobushi Wakamatsu Wakadayu is here.

You can download the performance flyer here. (PDF:180KB)

Profile of Wakamatsu Wakadayu III

February 1989
While attending Kokugakuin University, he heard a performance by the second generation Wakamatsu Wakatayu and was so impressed by his art that he decided to become his disciple.

April 1989
He became a disciple of the second generation Wakamatsu Wakatayu.

1990
He took on the name Wakamatsu Minetayu as a sekkyobushi tayu and the shamisen name Kashiwagi Koji. He took to the stage as the second opening act.

1995
He took on the name Wakamatsu Kowakadayu.

1998
He took on the name of Wakamatsu Wakatayu III.

2000
Recognized as a holder of the Tokyo Metropolitan Intangible Cultural Property (Performing Arts) and as a holder of the Itabashi Ward Registered Intangible Cultural Property Setsujoruri.

2002
Appeared at the 2nd Jeonju World Sledding Festival held in Jeonju, South Korea.

October 2004
Wakamatsu Wakadayu holds a solo performance at the Itabashi Ward Folk Performing Arts Museum and participates in the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Arts Festival.
Since then, he has held solo performances at the museum twice a year, totalling 24 performances by 2016.
Independently produced a CD reprint of the first Wakamatsu Wakadayu SP record.

The event will be held at Higashimurayama Hometown History Museum, where I work as a curator.

2007
Received the Saitama Prefecture Cultural Light Award.

July 2012
Appeared in the 1st Tokyo Intangible Culture Festival "Speaking" - Song Competition (Kioi Small Hall).

March 2015
He took early retirement from his job as a local government employee (Higashimurayama city employee) and began working to launch Sekkyobushi in earnest.
Real name: Takao Komine, resident of Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture

▼What is Setsugekkabushi?
Sekkyobushi is a form of storytelling accompanied by shamisen. It originally originated from "Sekkyo," which preached Buddhist doctrine. During the Kamakura period, monks preached the doctrines of the scriptures to the common people, and this became the art of Shodo. During the Muromachi period, a series of stories known as the Five Sekkyo were created, including "Sansho Tayu," "Oguri Hangan," "Ishidomaru," "Kuzu no Ha," and "Shintokumaru." These stories were told by street sekkyo masters.
It became popular after being combined with the shamisen in the early modern period, but then fell into a temporary decline. It was revived in Edo during the Kansei era, and the first Wakamatsu Wakadayu was active throughout the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa periods. After the death of the first, the second Wakamatsu Wakadayu retired from the business, but revived storytelling again in the 1970s. The third Wakamatsu Wakadayu later took up the art, and is still active today. It is also attracting attention as the origin of rokyoku and other forms of entertainment.

- Synopsis of Shintokumaru -
Nobuyoshi, a wealthy man from Takayasu County, Kawachi Province, and his wife had no children. After praying to the Kannon Bodhisattva of Shimizu, they were finally blessed with a boy. Nobuyoshi and his wife named the child Shintokumaru. Shintokumaru trained at Mount Shigisan for three years from the age of nine. At the age of thirteen, he performed a children's dance at Shitennoji Temple, where he was noticed by Otohime, the daughter of the wealthy man, Kageyama, and the two fell in love.
However, his biological mother suddenly died shortly after. In order to have her son Jiro succeed him as head of the family, his stepmother cursed Shintoku and drove 136 nails into the Gion Shrine and other places in the capital. As a result, Shintokumaru became ill and blind.
Nobuyoshi orders his retainer Nakamitsu to abandon Shintokumaru at Shitennoji Temple. Realizing that he has been abandoned, Shintokumaru considers going to Kumano Yunomine for a cure, but gives up. There, he meets Otohime, who has come looking for Shintokumaru. Shintokumaru and Otohime visit Kiyomizu-dera together and pray for a full recovery. Then, Kannon gives him a prophecy and bestows on him a "bird broom."

By the way, can Shintoku Maru return to its original form ...?

– Synopsis of Oguri Hangan Arrow Capture –
Hangan Oguri Masakiyo was tricked by Yokoyama Daizen of Sagami and poisoned to hell, but was returned to the earthly world by the ruling of King Enma. However, he was transformed into a strange form of gaki-ami and could barely walk. With the help of the monk Yugyo of Fujisawa, Oguri was placed on a clay cart and, with the help of his wife, Princess Terute, and many others, was transported to Yunomine in Kumano Hongu, where he was revived by the medicinal properties of the baths. In "The Arrow-Catching Scene," Hangan Masakiyo, who has returned to his original state, visits his birthplace in the guise of a mountain ascetic, just as the first anniversary of his death is being held. He introduces himself to his grieving mother, but his father, Takakura Dainagon, does not listen, and shoots an arrow at Masakiyo, believing that the real Masakiyo must have mastered the "secret art of arrow-catching."

Outline of the event

[Date and Time]
February 18, 2017(soil)From 13:30 (doors open at 13:00)

【venue】
The National Hansen's Disease Museum Video Hall

[Capacity]
120 people (no reservations required, first come first served), free admission

Wakamatsu Wakatayu's preaching performance was held

From 1:30 pm on Saturday, February 18th, a performance of the Sandaime J Soul Brothers was held by Master Wakamatsu Wakamatsu, the third generation of The National Hansen's Disease Museum While the venue is surrounded by the performing arts of a narrative accompanied by a shamisen, the performance is "Oguri Hangan's parent-child face-to-face arrowhead step" and "Judge Oguri's parent-child face-to-face arrowhead step" that Hansen's Disease A performance was held on "Shintoku Maru". Thank you for participating in a large number of customers on the day.