抄録
Concerning the tsukushigoto, the ancestor of the modern Ikuta-ryu and Yamadaryu, several fundamental questions remain unanswered in spite of many years of research following the discovery of the last two players of this school. A typical example of such questions is “How does the player sit facing the koto?”.
On this problem two theories have been proposed:
(1) With the right knee drawn up (tatehiza) style, as per Tsukamoto
(2) With both knees placed nearly horizontally (gakuza) style, as per Miyazaki
Through the explanation of “The 12 rules to play the tsukushigoto” written in Tsukushigoto Hiroku Kouketsu, a well-guided book by Matsuzumi Tousen, a new sitting style is deduced, and hereby proposed.
This new style is based on the translation of the Chinese letter “_??_” not as “vertical” but as “horizontally and forward.” Following this newly proposed style, a male player sits squarely facing the koto with his knees bent and with his toes directly beneath the body. Then the left leg is opened to about 70 degrees counterclockwise. The arch of the left foot is then positioned to make contact with the inner side of the calf of the right leg. The weight is placed on the sole of the right foot. A female player sits basically likewise, the only difference being to tuck the toes of the left foot into the back of the right knee.
