Namiki Gohei I's drama "Godairiki Koi no Fûjime" was premiered in May 1794 in Kyôto at the Nishi no Shibai [casting]. Historically-speaking, it can be considered as the premiere of "Godairiki Koi no Fûjime" but Namiki Gohei I's drama "Shima Meguri Uso no Kikigaki", which was staged in February 1794 at the Naka no Shibai, contained most of "Godairiki Koi no Fûjime" scenes in its second part [casting]. "Godairiki Koi no Fûjime" was staged for the first time in Edo, at the Miyakoza in January 1795 [casting]. It was changed to an Edo drama: Katsuma Gengobei became Satsuma Gengobei, Kikuno was renamed Koman and the pleasures district of Kita-Shinchi in Ôsaka was replaced by the kuruwa of Susaki in Edo. It was a successful 120-day long run.

"Godairiki Koi no Fûjime" is made up of 6 or 7 scenes (depending on the production). Kamigata actors always perform the Kamigata version of "Godairiki Koi no Fûjime", which has a slightly different structure.

The hero of the play, Satsuma Gengobei, a samurai to the core, is deeply in love with Koman, a geisha so swept off her feet by his manly spirit that she cuts off her little finger as a pledge of her affections. Resentful of their relationship, the evil samurai, Sasano Sangobei, who at one time had made advances of his own to Koman, tricks her into writing a letter pretending to sever her relationship with Gengobei. Although Gengobei trusts Koman, he becomes convinced she is unfaithful when he notices that the word godairiki which, out of deep feeling for him, she once had written on her shamisen has been rewritten to look like a similar pledge to Sangobei. (The three characters godairiki were a pledge of fidelity when written by a geisha on her shamisen or on sealed edge of a letter sent to a person she loved). Knowing nothing of the trick played on Koman, Gengobei kills her. later, learning of her innocence from a note she has left behind, he kills Sangobei and also recovers the heirloom Sangobei had stolen from their master's household, thus avenging not only the woman he loved but his master's family as well.

Source: Kawatake Toshio in "Kabuki: Baroque Fusion of the Arts"

One possible translation of "Godairiki Koi no Fûjime" in English is "Five Great Powers That Secure Love".
Source: Kabuki Plays On Stage (Volume II: Villainy and Vengeance: 1770-1800), edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter

The actors Ôtani Tomoemon IV, Sawamura Sôjûrô V, Bandô Hikosaburô IV and Onoe Baikô IV playing the roles of Yasuke, Satsuma Gengobei, Sasano Gengobei and Sakuraya Koman in the drama "Godairiki Koi no Fûjime", which was staged in July 1848 at the Kawarazakiza (print made by Utagawa Toyokuni III)

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