Takasago “Takasago” is written on this panel of a futon cover. This place name symbolizes the legend depicted on the adjacent piece and represents the wish for a long and happy married life.

Takasago This panel represents the Noh play “The Old Couple of Takasago” and symbolizes the wish for a long and happy married life. In the play Jo, an old man with a rake (on the right), and Uba, his aged wife with a broom (on the left), sweep pine needles on the shore of Takasago (in what is now called Hyogo Prefecture). They reveal to a passing priest that they had had a long and loving marriage and that their spirits had become the two entwined pine trees on the shore. Uba became the smaller red pine that leaned against the black pine tree of Jo’s spirit. This scene is common on wedding textiles and represents the blessing of a couple growing old together in perfect harmony.

Copyright 2006 Jeffrey Krauss and Ann Marie Moeller