【知恵こそ武器】ロック歌舞伎「勧進帳」 Wisdom Is the True Weapon — Rock Kabuki “Kanjinchō”

 　かつて、戦争資料館の館長から聞いたエピソード。招集された市民が軍服を手渡され、着てみると小さく、交換を申し出ると「お前が軍服に合わせろ！」と怒鳴られたそうだ。

　役所、役人というのはそういうものだろう。「勧進帳」（能「安宅」）は、そんな「人を肩に嵌めようとする権力」の計略を知恵で乗り切ろうとする痛快劇である。しかし、その機転と裁量は、ただ一日ぼうっと過ごして育まれるものではなかろう。権力の前で怯え、平伏し、従ってしまうのが常。だからこそ、弁慶のような智勇を兼ね備えた人物に、時代を超えた憧れを抱くのかも知れない。現代で言えば、大谷翔平だろうか。。。

　「弁天小僧　菊之助」　に続くロック歌舞伎の第二弾。「大恩教主の秋の月」の季節ではないが、選挙が近いともあって、制作した「勧進帳」のように、投票用紙に自分の意見を書けば無効になる。「指定の名を」というのが権力側の意向。そこに民意が反映されるのか、、、いつもの疑問である。

　Once, I heard an episode from the director of a war museum.
Citizens who had been drafted were handed military uniforms. When one man tried his on, it was too small. He asked for a different size—and was shouted at:

“Adjust yourself to the uniform!”

　That, in essence, is how bureaucracies and officials tend to work.

　Kanjinchō (from the Noh play Ataka) is a rousing tale about overcoming exactly this kind of power—power that tries to force people to fit its mold—through wit and ingenuity. But such presence of mind and judgment are not cultivated by drifting through one’s days in a daze. Most of the time, when faced with authority, we shrink back, bow our heads, and obey.

　Perhaps that is why we continue, across generations, to admire figures like Benkei—men who embody both wisdom and courage. In today’s world, maybe Shohei Ohtani comes closest to that ideal…

　This is the second installment of my Rock Kabuki series, following Benten Kozō.Though it is not the season of “the autumn moon of the Great Teacher,” I created this work with an election approaching.

　Just like in Kanjinchō, if you write your own opinion on a ballot, it becomes invalid. The authorities insist: “Write only the designated name.” And so I find myself asking, as always—where, exactly, does the will of the people enter into this?