Princess Hachikazuki

(♪) In Japanese “hachi” means bowl, and “kazuki” means wearing. The heroine of this story is, therefore, the princess “who wore a bowl on her head.” But why should a princess be wearing a bowl on her head? Listen to the story and you will find out.

(♪) Lord and Lady Sanetaka, who were of the nobility, had no child to succeed them. So they gathered a large entourage of family and retainers and made a pilgrimage to Hase Temple to petition the bodhisattva of mercy to give them an heir. Attendant: “We’ve been praying to the bodhisattva for seven days now.”

(♪) Undoubtedly because Lord and Lady Sanetaka had faith in the bodhisattva, it was not long before a sweet baby princess was born. Her parents were overjoyed, and everyone in the household and beyond came, one after another, to congratulate them. Visitors: “Our felicitations! What a fine thing it is that you now have a beautiful child to succeed you. Surely you were blessed by the Hase goddess of mercy.” A stream of gifts arrived at the house.

(♪) When the princess was thirteen years old her mother became sick, and in her last breath she summoned her daughter to her bedside. She brought her jewels out of her treasure box and put them all on her daughter’s head. She then placed a big bowl over them, covering the princess’s head. Mother’s Poem: “Deeply I pray/ to the Bodhisattva of Mercy/ The cover has been placed/ as I vowed.”
With that one last fervent prayer, the lady passed away. After the death of his wife, Lord Sanetaka tried to take the bowl off his daughter’s head, but he could not. It was stuck fast. That is how the princess came to be called the Princess Who Wore a Bowl on Her Head.

Right-side:

(♪) Before long Lord Sanetaka married again and soon his new wife bore him a daughter. Now Princess Hachikazuki, as the heiress, was an obstacle to her stepmother’s ambitions. The lady began speaking ill of her stepdaughter. She deceived the princess’s father and he beat his own daughter painfully. In that way the stepmother succeeded in driving the princess away.

Left-side:

(♪) Not knowing where to go, the princess threw herself into the river, leaving only this poem behind: “I give myself/ over to the willow strands/ at the riverbank/ and pray that the gods will help me.” After a while a fisherman spotted a bowl floating down the river. He picked it up and discovered the princess under the bowl. Frightened, the fisherman left her on the bank of the river.

Right-side:

(♪) The princess recovered and started to walk, and as she went children by the way saw her with the bowl on her head. They laughed and pointed and shouted.

Left-side:

(♪) It so happened that a high-ranking samurai, Lord Chujo, was passing by with some of his attendants. Seeing this strange apparition of a girl wearing a bowl on her head, he thought it might be interesting to employ her at his house. Attendant 1: “Of course, we should by all means take her home.” Attendant 2: “I wonder why our master wishes to take in this rather odd creature...”

(♪) The princess was brought to the lord’s mansion. One day when she was making the fire for the bath, Prince Saisho, the fourth son of the lord, happened to pass by and fell in love with her. When he confessed his love for her, she said that she loved him, too.

(♪) So far, we have seen Princess Hachikazuki, driven out of her home by her cruel stepmother, throw herself into the river, from which she was saved by a fisherman. She became a maid-in-waiting in the household of Lord Chujo, who encountered her after her rescue. It so happened that the lord’s fourth son Saisho fell in love with her. This was the story in part one. Now, what is going to transpire from here?

(♪) The young lord Saisho gave to the princess a boxwood pillow and a bamboo flute in testimony of his fidelity. They exchanged poems expressing their affection for each other. Princess’s Poem: “You came/ with boxwood pillow and flute/ I bind myself/ to you forever.” Saisho’s Poem: “For thousands of years/ I will be with you/ With bamboo flute and boxwood pillow/ this pledge will never end.”

Right-side:

(♪) Lord Chujo and his wife learned about the pledge between Saisho and Princess Hachikazuki and set about doing something to separate them. They planned a ladies’ competition. It was to be a contest to decide who among the wives of the lords was the most beautiful, refined, cultured, and had the most outstanding kimono and possessions. Lord’s Wife: “Nurse, tell the princess with the bowl on her head she might as well give up.” Nurse: “She can’t possibly decide to stay here when she hears about the contest.”

Left-side:

(♪) Princess Hachikazuki and Lord Saisho were deeply discouraged to hear about the ladies’ competition. The princess had nothing. How could she compete? So they planned to leave and go away together. But then, what do you think happened! At that point, the bowl on the princess’s head popped right off, clonk, and out fell all the priceless treasures it had kept hidden there for so long. The couple were overjoyed. Prince: “Now we don’t have to run away. You are as fit to compete as all the others!”

(♪) Thanks to the treasures from the bowl, the princess had no trouble getting herself ready for the competition. She wore a beautiful kimono and was attended by servants carrying a gold sword, a gold goblet, a gold citrus, and many rolls of Chinese silk lace. The crowd of onlookers, who had been waiting for the chance to deride the ridiculous figure of a princess with a bowl on her head, gasped and cried out with stunned astonishment when they saw her exquisite, matchless beauty. Prince: “There’s no need for such an uproar. Princess Hachikazuki is a natural to win any competition among ladies.” Women: “It’s true—among all the lords’ wives, she is definitely the winner. Without question.”

(♪) After Princess Hachikazuki won the competition, Lord Chujo and his wife accepted her as their daughter-in-law. Moreover, his father designated Lord Saisho to be his heir. In their resentment the three sisters-in-law challenged the princess to play the lute before an audience, hoping to shame her. But this time, too, Princess Hachikazuki played faultlessly. Next they taunted her into reciting her poetry in front of everyone, but she performed perfectly in that, as well. The best laid plans of the sisters-in-law all failed.

(♪) Time passed and the princess had two children. She and her husband took them to Hase Temple to express their gratitude to the bodhisattva of mercy. Then, at Hase Temple, she thought she saw someone familiar and quite unexpected. Princess Hachikazuki: “That priest looks so much like my father...” Her father had indeed become a Buddhist priest but he had brought with him many of his former retainers. The princess felt great nostalgia seeing her dear father again.

(♪) Upon finding his daughter, Lord Sanetaka also met his son-in-law and his two grandchildren. None of them ever doubted that it was all the work of the Hase bodhisattva of mercy. A happy ending for all.