Miidera (play)

Driven mad by the loss of her young son, possibly abducted as a boy prostitute,^[1] the heroine is urged in a dream to seek him at Miidera temple.^[2] There the woman is much impressed by the temple bell, and recounts a long list of episodes involving temple bells.^[3]

When she finally draws attention to herself by striking the bell, she is recognised by and reunited with her son^[4] - the aesthete Oswald Valentine Sickert considering that "The sounding of the bell is the hinge of everything, a thing of great sentiment".^[5]

An early haiku quotes the play: "Hey there, wait a moment / before you strike the bell /at the cherry blossoms".^[6]

• Kagema
• Kannon
• Nāga