FGFJ | 2018 World Malaria Day Event—Kyogen Performance of “Mosquito Sumo”

April 24, 2018
Tokyo

In honor of a visit to Japan by Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, who was in Tokyo the day before World Malaria Day, a reception was arranged with a very special performance. The piece performed was Ka-zumo, or “mosquito sumo,” a Kyogen piece—Japan’s traditional comic theater—that was performed by Motonari Okura and his company. Set in the 14th century, the story depicts a master who wanted to have a sumo wrestler as his servant, but the recruiter found an enchanted mosquito disguised as a sumo wrestler instead. After several bouts against the sumo wrestler, the master realized that it was actually a mosquito, so he started to fan him away. We often think that malaria is a disease that only happens on other continents, but this comical story helps remind us that mosquitos were a familiar threat to people in old Japan.

For more information on this event, please visit the FGFJ Website.