Hagoromo: The Feather Robe at Miho no Matsubara

This is the location of the legend behind the Noh play Hagoromo. The story says a celestial being flew over the beach and was overcome by the beauty of its white sands, green pines and sparkling water. Today a seven-kilometre seashore lined with pine trees still runs along Suruga Bay. Its sand is now uniformly black, and the pine groves joined the World Heritage List in 2013 as part of the Fujisan Cultural Site.

訪問のヒント: A public seashore on the Miho Peninsula in Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka.

In the play a fisherman finds the magical feather-mantle of a tennin hanging on a bough. She demands it back, since she cannot return to Heaven without it. In the legend the fisherman, Hakuryo, refuses until she performs a heavenly dance for him. An old pine dating back 650 years is called Hagoromo no Matsu, though the first pine is said to have sunk into the sea in the 1707 eruption and later pines replaced it.

場所の精度: The pine has been replaced over time, so the pin only marks the Hagoromo pine area on the beach.

訪問のヒント: The Hagoromo pine stands by the beach; today's tree replaced earlier ones.

Once she has her robe back, the tennin dances. The Chorus explains the dance as symbolic of the changes of the moon. In the finale she disappears like a mountain slowly hidden in mist. The Japanese summary of the play says she rises like the full moon toward the peak of Mount Fuji and vanishes into the haze. From the beach, Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, can be seen across Suruga Bay.

場所の精度: The play gives no exact spot for her ascent, so the pin marks Mount Fuji itself.

Miho Shrine is known for its link to the Hagoromo pine, and it is said to preserve a piece of the angel's plumage. A pine-lined path runs between the shrine and the pine. On 1 November the shrine's most important festival includes a priestess dance called the Hagoromo dance, performed on the shrine's dance stage.

訪問のヒント: Walk the pine-lined path between the shrine and the Hagoromo pine.

The French ballet dancer Giuglaris loved the story of Hagoromo but never saw the Noh performance or visited Miho. Her dying wish was: "Bury my hair near the Hagoromo pine tree at Mihonomatsubara beach." Above the beach, overlooking the pine and the sea, a monument to her stands with a lock of her hair beneath it. Each October the Hagoromo Festival stages the Noh play by firelight nearby.

場所の精度: Sources place the monument above the beach near the pine without an exact address, so the pin is approximate.

訪問のヒント: The Hagoromo Festival is held on the second weekend of October, with the Noh play by firelight.