Kabuki Plus
Edo Period courier business
notable!Courier businesses in the Edo Period handled financial transfers as well as postal services. The government reportedly gave permission for the first private delivery service in 1663. The transfer system established to avoid the risk of transporting physical cash was superior for the day. Chubei would now be considered a post office manager. There were three regular transfers each month between the Edo and Kyoto/Osaka regions.
Revised Bunraku adaptation Keisei Koi Bikyaku
The original puppet play Meido no Hikyaku (Courier to Hell) was adapted by Ki no Kaion in 1713 as Keisei Sandogasa (The Courtesan and the Courier’s Straw Hat). Suga Sensuke and Wakatake Fuemi then joined these two works to form the puppet play Keisei Koi Bikyaku (The Courtesan’s Love for the Courtier), staged in Osaka in 1773. The popular “Ninokuchi Village” scene is based on this last work.
Revised Kabuki adaptation Koi no Tayori Yamato Orai
The Bunraku piece Keisei Koi Bikyaku was adapted into Kabuki as Koi no Tayori Yamato Orai (The Love Letter and the Journey to Yamato). This was staged in 1796, eighty-five years after the premiere of the original Meido no Hikyaku. The title is now pronounced Koi Bikyaku Yamato Orai. The characters were made stereotypical Kabuki roles: Chubei is the iconic wagoto gentleman, and Hachiemon the enemy who tries to take Umegawa for himself. In addition, the Kabuki featured new characters such as Oen, Jiemon and Chubei’s fiancée Osuwa, and the acting style and direction are typical Kabuki. The scene “Breaking the Seal”, set in the Shinmachi Izutsuya pleasure house, features a women named Oen who is protective of the couple. Initially Chubei is portrayed comically in the relaxed gentleman role. When the stage spins, we see Chubei and Umegawa interacting intimately in the back of the teahouse. When the stage reverts to the original shop, Chubei has a lively comical dialogue with Hachiemon, leading eventually to the “Breaking the Seal” highlight. Kyoto/Osaka-based acting families each have unique acting styles for this role.
“Dropping the Overcoat”
In the Kabuki version, the end of the “Awajicho” scene is performed as an independent scene. Chubei has made his way to a bridge near the Shinmachi pleasure district. While he is debating whether to move forward, his overcoat gradually slips from his shoulders. This exhibits a man who loses his senses because of love. The scene is known as “Dropping the Overcoat”.
Active or passive cutting of the seal?
notable!In the original puppet play, Chubei intentionally breaks the seal, but this is more ambiguous in the Kabuki adaptation. Hachiemon taunts Chubei, loudly slamming his coins against a brazier. Chubei responds by smashing his client’s money bundle against a brazier, and by accident the seal is broken. He realizes his error immediately but it is too late, and he then wildly breaks the seal on the rest of the money. In other words, the incident is presented as a coincidence, making the audience more sympathetic to Chubei.
Ninokuchi in the snow
notable!The “Ninokuchi Village” scene in the original puppet play is set in rainy weather. The Kabuki version is set in the snow, where Umegawa, wearing a black kimono with lavishly decorated hem, and Chubei enter carrying a grass mat woven from linen and straw. The contrast between the courtesan’s celebratory clothing and humble mat is typical of Kabuki, which emphasizes visual beauty. The interchange between Magoemon and Umegawa and between the blindfolded Magoemon and his son are presented differently than the puppet version.
“I hate my son for stealing, but despise the person who captures him”
Magoemon, treated kindly by Umegawa, gradually realizes her true identity and pours out his heart to her. He says, “I hate my son for stealing, but despise even more the person who captures him.” His struggle between his duty to his son’s adopted mother and his love for his child is an emotional highlight.
Umegawa’s lament
Umegawa’s climactic moment is the speech expressing her sorrow upon her escape with Chubei: “We spent three days, five days, eventually 20 days in lodgings in Nara and the teahouse in Miwa, and used 40 ryo, leaving us with almost nothing.” After this speech, Umegawa blindfolds Magaemon to allow him to make the final goodbye with his fugitive son Chubei.
Adaptations in other genres
The Kabuki play was turned into a movie in 1959, staged in a modern version in 1963, restaged by the noted director Yukio Ninagawa in 1979, and musicalized by the all-female Takarazuka dance troupe in 1979. The story of a fatal love journey moves audiences of all generations.
