Shintokumaru and Other Tales and Essays

What makes a noble birth a divine appearance? Why are festival masks painted anew each year? How might a hungry ghost return to human life? Orikuchi Shinobu pursues these questions through ritual, theater, and the changing meanings of souls.

At the center stands Shintokumaru, a young dengaku performer whose memories of his vanished father mingle with his master’s attachment and his own longing for another life. The complete author’s addendum explains this fictional reconstruction of a traditional legend. Surrounding essays explore newborn baths, sympathetic minor characters onstage, the Doll Festival, and Snow Festival masks in a mountain village. Two longer studies follow the distinction between spirit and soul, and the story of Gakiami’s resurrection.

This complete new English translation retains all seven works in their supplied order, with quoted poems, ritual language, and explanatory notes. The author’s historical hypotheses and uncertain readings remain visible, allowing readers to follow both the stories and his distinctive way of interpreting them. AI-assisted translation.