Nonomiya (play)

• Author: Komparu Zenchiku (attr.)
• Japanese: 野宮 (Nonomiya)

Nonomiya is a Noh play attributed to Komparu Zenchiku and taking place at Nonomiya Shrine in Arashiyama, in northwestern Kyoto.

The story centers on Lady Rokujô, a fictional character from the Tale of Genji, who recalls a time that Prince Genji visited her at Nonomiya Shrine after the end of their affair; Rokujô is at the shrine because her daughter, an Imperial princess, is serving as a shrine maiden there as part of a process of purification preparing herself to go to Ise Shrine. During the play Rokujô also recalls an incident, particularly humiliating for her, in which she and her carriages were forced aside so that Genji's wife, Lady Aoi (or Aoi no Ue), could have a better view of the Kamo Festival. In the Genji, and in the Noh play Aoi no Ue, this slight led to Rokujô's enmity growing so strong that her living spirit, unbidden, attacked and killed Lady Aoi.

References

• Shelley Fenno Quinn, Developing Zeami, University of Hawaii Press (2005), 125.