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Ikkyu-sanEmperor Gokomatsu’s son Sengikumaru has been separated from his mother, and he lives a life of religious training at Ankokuji Temple as a young Buddhist monk named Ikkyu. Ikkyu has a strong sense of justice, and uses his natural wit to solve various problems and incidents that occur around him in an enjoyable manner.When Ikkyu faces a problem and uses his wit to solve it, he sits cross-legged, licks both his index fingers, used those fingers to draw a circle on his temporal region, and then starts Zen meditation. When he does this, what always happens is a wooden block starts to go “tap, tap” and then a bell rings when Ikkyu gets a good idea. Although the fight between the Northern and Southern Courts over control of the country have created a complicated situation, Ikkyu, along with Shinemon Ninagawa, his supervisor and Jisha-bugyo (commissioner), the little girl Sayo who lives in the rear of the temple, and the monks of the temple, comically solves various problems in a town far away from such worldly power struggles.No matter what the problem is, Ikkyu always says “Be calm, be calm. Have a break, have a break” in each episode, which gained popularity among family viewers.Although Ikkyu is always cheerful and a very witty person, he sometimes behaves in a way that shows that he is still a child. For example, tears come to his eyes when he thinks about his mother, Iyo no Tsubone.A total of 296 episodes were broadcast from 1975 to 1982. In the final episode, Ikkyu, though reluctant to part with the head monk and other monks of Ankokuji Temple, embarks on a journey to become a respectable monk.This anime features anecdotes from the childhood of the Japanese Zen monk Ikkyu Soujun and was very popular. |
