- Fig. 3.3. A gathering of guild members at a Myōonkō ceremony, from an illustrated travel guidebook typical of the late Tokugawa period. This illustration shows a local guild group at Nanatsudera (a temple) conducting the ritual of Myōonkō (also called Bentenkō) to honor the patron deity of music. The text says that the rite was held on the fifteenth day of the tenth month. The blind musicians are sitting on the floor around a central space in an L-shaped configuration. The arrangement is determined by the men’s ranks. Left: Three men with their heads shaven are low-ranked members (this is clear from their lack of headgear; the higher the rank, the more elaborate the dress code). Right: The blind musician playing the biwa appears to be a senior guild member, presumably playing Heike music, the music of choice at ceremonies. Scrolls showing venerated blind musicians hang in the background. Sighted onlookers have been invited to the venue to observe the rite—the participation of sighted people as audience members was probably common. From Okada Kei et al., Illustrated Gazetteer of the Famous Places of Owari (Japanese title: Owari meisho zue), edited by Wakayama Zenzaburō (Nagoya: Nagoya Onkokai, 1933). National Diet Library Digital Collections.
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