Brine

“Matsukaze: Brine is Not Just Salt Water”

Matsukaze is a Noh performance with a great amount of interpretation. Noh plays derive from a Buddhist background that helped set the atmosphere of the play. Throughout the performance of Matsukaze, the imagery of “brine” is used. In basic language the word brine means, water that is statured with natural salts or statured with salt. Brine is also used to preserve foods, pre-treat the roads before a winter storm, and as medical treatment worldwide (Brine). Brine comes from the ocean water which surrounds the Bay of Suma, where the play takes place. Fishermen and women have been a part of the Japanese culture for centuries. They would go out into the ocean’s salt water to collect fish to eat. During the time period of Matsukaze, fishing was extremely popular. The role of the fisherman and fisher women in Japanese culture has help influence the main characters of the play. Within the performance of Matsukaze, brine not only represents sea water but it also represents the setting of the Japanese landscape, exile, the significance of the pine tree, and tears of grief.

The sea is significant to the Japanese in many ways. Fish and fishing in Japanese society makes them one of the leading fishing nations in the world. Japan has more than two thousand fishing ports along the island. Over 400,000 people engaged in fishing and over twelve million tons of fish are caught annually (Kalland 1). A large number of Japanese make a living off of marketing and processing fish and whale. The average Japanese person consumes sixty-five to seventy kilograms of fish yearly (Kalland 1). In their culture, most of their food comes from the sea. Sea life such as mollusk and seaweed has symbolic value.

The Japanese was encouraged to consume fish instead of meet due to the introduction of Buddhism. Fish is considered a food staple for the Japanese. The country of Japan is broken down into three fishing categories (Kalland,...