2007年は天狗の年！

2007年は天狗の年でした！ 2007年に、大杉ミュージカルシアター（石川県小松市）は、「よくばり天狗Ⅲ：天狗惑星の大冒険」という創作ミュージカルを上演いたしました。パブリック・アート・プロジェクトとして、「宇宙天狗舞台衣装デザインコンテスト」を行い、たくさんの方々からご応募いただき、上位３名のデザインを衣装として作成し本番で着用しました。

2007 was the Year of the Tengu!

In 2007 Osugi Musical Theatre of Komatsu, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan put on an original musical called The Greedy Goblin III: Adventures on the Tengu Planet. People from all over the world contributed to and participated in our production. The Public Art Project began with our Space Tengu Costume Design Contest.

(Deadline was June 1 2007. Guidelines here. Winning costumes are here. ) Tengu Display info here.

October 2008 - The Tengu Project continues.

-Last year we sent two tengus around the globe. This year the two of them and their souvenirs, diaries, photos, etc are on a touring exhibition of Komatsu elementary schools.

-OMT has produced a picture card theatre version of our first Yokubari Tengu show. To share it around the world, we have had it translated into 17 languages so far. Check back on these pages for links to various languages!

The Tengu statue in Osugi

We have sent two tiny Tengu on trips around the world!

NEW !! Some traditional tengu stories from Japan in English are here!

A 15 cm statuette which will be a core of our public art project.

Winking tengu courtesy of Tengu Natto.

What is a Tengu?

Tengu are minor kami (Gods) or yokai (goblins, monsters) found in Japanese folklore. Tengus are popular subjects of Japanese art, theater, and literature, and come in two basic varieties. Karasu (crow) tengus have the body of a man, but with a beak and wings. Yamabushi (mountain hermit) tengus are tall beings with red faces and extremely long noses. They often carry a staff, a small mallet, or a magical fan, and sometimes have wings or a feathered cloak. Tengus are almost always portrayed in the dress of Buddhist monks or priests. See our gallery pages for various yamabushi tengu images.

Why a Tengu ?

In our village of Osugi there is a statue of a Tengu, made by Kurakichi Okura in the 1970's. This statue is the inspiration for our tengu musicals and projects. We first produced Yokubari Tengu (The Greedy Goblin) in 1997, a "new legend" about how he turned to stone. In 2004, we put on Yokubari Tengu II: I'm Back! This year the saga continues with Yokubari Tengu III: Adventures on the Tengu Planet.