Kabuki Plus
Oiran procession
An oiran is the highest-ranking courtesan in Yoshiwara. In order to employ an oiran, a client had to make an appointment through a teahouse rather than directly through an agent. The oiran will then go to the teahouse with geisha trainees (kamuro) and younger geisha (shinzo) in a virtual procession. Major patrons are welcomed to the teahouse by the oiran, who then take them to the pleasure house. In this show, the procession proceeds along the main streets of Yoshiwara with cherry blossoms in full bloom. Beautiful women like Nanakoshi and Kokonoe walk from the hanamichi and spread across the stage. Then Yatsuhashi finally makes her appearance from center stage like a flower among them, a staging that emphasizes her great beauty.
Breakup tales
notable!This play is one of Kabuki’s four great enkirimono (breakup plays) along with Ise Ondo, Gosho Gorozo and Chijimiya Shinsuke. The genre has a standard template. It opens with the first encounter, continues with the breakup, and ends with a revenge murder. In many cases, the woman does not actually want to cut off relations but is forced to do so by circumstances. She pretends to turn against the man, hoping eventually to reveal her true feelings. However, the man takes her words literally and kills her in anger. The tragic ending comes when their two hearts fail to align. This is the typical storyline in the breakup genre.
Famous dialogue in breakup scene
The dialogue in the breakup scene is a highlight of the show. Yatsuhashi feels sorry for Jirozaemon but must break off with him due to circumstances, while Jirozaemon confesses his bitterness. Y: “I’ve been wanting to tell the teahouse to refuse you for a long time, but kept putting it off because you are a client of Tachibanaya, which looks after me. Then it got to the point where you asked to buy me out. I never wanted to be bought out and decline your proposal. Please do not come see me again. . . I’m not from such a respectable class, but I’m the top in Yoshiwara, and when I say no, it means no even if you complain and offer me a million ryo.” J: “Oiran, that is cruel. You change pillows every night working as a courtesan. I didn’t know you had changed your mind, as if today’s flower were better than yesterday’s, but I had resolved to present an official buyout proposal tonight. I couldn’t sleep a wink last night and could hardly wait for the long autumn night to end. When I saw the dew on the chrysanthemums and confirmed it was real, I came here immediately. And now, unexpectedly, you turn me down. I can understand you refusing me since I’m nothing but a country bumpkin, but why didn’t you tell me from the start? I come to Yoshiwara every time I’m in Edo. I was known as the guy from Sano, and when I went upstairs, all your fellow courtesans and young geisha recognized me. How can I just give up and meekly go back? Surely you can reflect on all this and understand how I feel.” Love in Yoshiwara is a well-known game of lies, but Jiroemon’s innocent cry that this is “cruel” conveys his unbearable sorrow.
Magic sword Kagotsurube
notable!Jirozaemon’s treasured Kagotsurube is a sword created by a master craftsman. It is nicknamed Kagotsurube, meaning literally “meshed basket”, because it is so sharp that even water will not stick to it. As long as the sword is sheathed, there is no trouble. Once it is removed, however, it cannot be returned until it has tasted blood. Earlier scenes depict how this sword got into the hands of a country merchant like Jirozaemon. A samurai on a journey is attacked by gangsters and rescued by Jirozaemon. He stays with Jirozaemon but dies of illness. He grants Jirozaemon his family’s treasured sword as a keepsake. In the original script, Jirozaemon kills many others after murdering Yatsuhashi, before being captured.
Kagotsurube
A kagotsurube is a kind of water basket, described with illustrations in The History of Yoshiwara by Ichikawa Kodayu (1902-1976). They served as emergency items for fires and were often hung in front of large houses and shops. They were made of bamboo and paper in the shape of a basket. Unlike regular water buckets, which become loose when dry, kagotsurube did not have to be filled constantly with water. The bamboo was knitted together like fishnet, and thick paper was glued onto the surface and coated with lacquer. The frame, bottom and handles were made of wood. They were made by specialist basket craftsmen. Kodayu writes, “The phrase that ‘water is not kept in kagotsurube’ somehow became ‘water cannot be kept in kagotsurube’, which was given to the name of the sword.”
