HÔKAIBÔ
   
Play title Sumidagawa Gonichi no Omokage  In Japanese
Author Nagawa Shimesuke I
History

"Sumidagawa Gonichi no Omokage" was premiered in the 5th lunar month of 1784 at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

Structure

In the "Kabuki Jiten", it is written that "Sumidagawa Gonichi no Omokage" is made up of 4 acts (7 scenes). The revival at the National Theatre in april 1971 was slightly longer, with 5 acts divided into 8 scenes. A standard version of "Sumidagawa Gonichi no Omokage" is made up of 3 acts, divided into 5 scenes:

Act Scene In Japanese In English
I 1 向島大七入口 At the entrance of the Daishichi Restaurant in Mukôjima
  2 向島大七座敷 The zashiki of the Daishichi Restaurant in Mukôjima
  3 向島牛の御前鳥居前 In front of the torii of the Ushi-no-Gozen shrine in Mukôjima
II 1 向島三囲土手 The dote near Mimeguri Shrine in Mukôjima
III 1 隅田川渡船 Near ferry landing beside Sumida river
You need a Japanese Language Kit installed within your system in order to be able to read the characters
 

The last scene is a dance-drama commonly called "Futa Omote", which is sometimes staged independently of the rest of the play.

Key words Dote
Mimeguri Jinja
Mukôjima
Sewamono
Sumidagawa
Sumidagawamono
Sumidagawa (Nô)
Summary

Act I, Scenes 1 and 2: at the Daishichi Restaurant in Mukôjima

Princess Nowake and her manservant Bunji are searching for her fiancée, Matsuwaka, the young lord of the Yoshida family, which was forced to give up its land because of the loss of a precious scroll, depicting a carp, that had been entrusted to the family’s keeping. Bunji suggests that they inquire at each of the many restaurants in the area, and they enter a restaurant in Edo.

Gonzaemon, proprietor of the Eirakuya pawnshop, arrives with his daughter Okumi and a clerk called Yôsuke. Yôsuke is actually Matsuwaka, who has disguised himself as a humble clerk in order to locate the carp scroll and restore the honor of his family. Gonzaemon is sympathetic, having been indebted to the Yoshida house in the past, and is anxious to help Matsuwaka. Moreover, his daughter Okumi is in love with Matsuwaka and hopes to marry him.

To help in the search for the carp scroll, Gonzaemon has requested the cooperation of Yamazakiya Kanjûrô, a dealer in art objects. Having come across a scroll that fits the description exactly, Kanjûrô demands 100 gold pieces and Okumi’s hand in marriage. Anxious to obtain the scroll by any means, Gonzaemon agrees, but Okumi, who has fallen in love with Yôsuke/Matsuwaka, is reluctant. Gonzaemon takes Okumi aside and explains that, once the scroll is in their possession, there are ways of refusing the marriage later, and he insists that she go through with an engagement party that day.

The ragged Hôkaibô enters with a motley group of companions. They are soliciting funds for a temple gong but soon angrily abandon Hôkaibô when it becomes apparent that he is trying to appropriate the funds for himself. Seeing Okumi sitting on a bench, Hôkaibô sits next to her and bit by bit inches closer. Okumi grows alarmed, and when Hôkaibô tries to grab her, Gonzaemon and Yôsuke hustle her inside the gate of the restaurant. Hôkaibô follows but is intercepted by Sawada Yakurô, who exclaims that Hôkaibô is just the man he wanted to see. Yakurô wants Hôkaibô to find the carp scroll before it is restored to Matsuwaka. Hôkaibô tells him not to worry and whispers in his ear. Yakurô seems pleased but warns Hôkaibô to take care because Princess Nowake, Matsuwaka’s fiancée, is rumored to have arrived in the neighborhood. After Yakurô leaves, Hôkaibô is accosted by Shôhachi, chief clerk at the Eirakuya pawnshop, who has been eavesdropping. Shôhachi says that he has some business to discuss with Hôkaibô, and the two enter the restaurant to discuss the matter in private.

Yôsuke accidentally meets Princess Nowake and Bunji. He tells Princess Nowake that the scroll has been located but that he does not have the 100 gold pieces to pay for it. Before they can discuss the matter further, Yôsuke is called to another room, and Princess Nowake is forced to part from him.

Okumi takes possession of Yôsuke and confesses her love for him, but Yôsuke is angry because Okumi has agreed to be engaged to Kanjûrô. The two begin to quarrel. Hôkaibô, who has been watching, seizes the opportunity to remove the carp scroll from its box and replace it with his ragged subscription banner. As proof of her love for Yôsuke, Okumi shows him a love letter from him that she always carries. Yôsuke throws the letter over his shoulder, and it is picked up by Hôkaibô, who then leaves. As the lovers’ quarrel continues, Kanjûrô sneaks in; thinking that the box still contains the real scroll, he takes out Hôkaibô’s rolled banner and replaces it with a scroll hanging in the room’s tokonoma alcove.

Yôsuke repents his angry words, and the couple make up. As a token of their reconciliation, Yôsuke brings out a small figure of Kannon, a family treasure, and pledges his unchanging love before this deity. He then bemoans his lack of 100 gold pieces to pay for the scroll. Shôhachi enters and offers to loan him the money. Yôsuke, unaware that he is being duped, takes the money, writes a promissory note to Shôhachi, and leaves the room.

Shôhachi tries to make love to Okumi, and Okumi leaves the room to escape his advances. Shôhachi chases after her but bumps into Hôkaibô, who tells him that Eirakuya Gonzaemon is calling for him. After Shôhachi leaves, Okumi returns and Hôkaibô professes to be in love with her, producing a love letter that he has written. Okumi throws down the letter and escapes, as Hôkaibô chases her.

Jinzaburô, an antique dealer, appears. As a former servant of the Yoshida house, Jinzaburô had acted as Yôsuke’s guarantor in sending him to the Eirakuya pawnshop as a clerk. Jinzaburô picks up Hôkaibô’s love letter to Okumi. Hearing voices, he pockets the letter and hides himself.

Meanwhile, Gonzaemon and Shôhachi enter with Kanjûrô, who is complaining that Okumi is having an affair with Yôsuke. Hôkaibô arrives, dragging Okumi and Yôsuke with him. He says that he has caught the two flirting. Shôhachi calls Yôsuke an infamous fellow and demands the return of the money that he just loaned to him. He takes the packet of money from Yôsuke by force, but instead of gold pieces, there are only cheap coins in the packet. Shôhachi hints that Yôsuke must have substituted the coins for the gold and begins to beat Yôsuke, with the willing help of Hôkaibô.

Jinzaburô, who has been silently watching, reveals himself and tries to protect Yôsuke, while reprimanding Shôhachi. Hôkaibô takes out the letter written by Yôsuke that he had picked up earlier and tries to use it as proof of Yôsuke and Okumi’s immoral relationship. But Jinzaburô surreptitiously substitutes the letter written by Hôkaibô that he just found. With Hôkaibô’s hearty approval, Jinzaburô starts to read the letter aloud. As Hôkaibô gradually becomes aware that the letter is his own, he tries to stop Jinzaburô but without success. Hôkaibô is completely discredited and makes a humiliating exit.

Shôhachi, still not ready to concede defeat, confronts Jinzaburô and demands that, as Yôsuke’s guarantor, he pay back the loan of 100 gold coins. At a signal from Jinzaburô, an apprentice uses a candle to burn the promissory note in Shôhachi’s hand. Jinzaburô says that there is now no evidence of the loan, but Shôhachi says that his burned hand is the evidence. Gonzaemon asks Jinzaburô to take custody of Yôsuke until the matter of the 100 gold coins is settled and leaves the room with Kanjûrô. As Jinzaburô and Yôsuke leave the restaurant, Jinzaburô vows to make the culprits pay for their wrongdoings. Shôhachi, who is hiding under a bench outside the restaurant, overhears him.

Act I, Scene 3: In front of the torii of the Ushi-no-Gozen shrine in Mukôjima

Hôkaibô is hoping to meet Okumi who returns home by the same road. Shôhachi comes along accompanied by carriers with an empty palanquin. Shôhachi has a secret plan to kidnap Okumi and sends the carriers away to wait until he needs them. At the sound of someone approaching, Hôkaibô hides himself.

Okumi enters, and Shôhachi binds her and forces her into the palanquin. He then goes off to call the carriers. In the meantime, Hôkaibô comes out of hiding and tries to steal Okumi. As he gets Okumi out of the palanquin, however, Ichibê comes by carrying a huge covered basket on his back.

When Ichibê and Hôkaibô collide, Ichibê loses consciousness and falls to the ground. Hôkaibô puts Okumi into the basket that Ichibê had been carrying and puts the unconscious Ichibê into the palanquin. Hôkaibô tries to shoulder the basket, but when he hears voices approaching, he leaves the basket and hides. Shôhachi returns. He has been unable to locate the carriers and tries to carry the palanquin by himself.

Kanjûrô enters the scene with Yôsuke. In a show of petty revenge, he tears to shreds the scroll in his possession, which both he and Yôsuke still believe to be the precious carp scroll. Yôsuke unexpectedly draws his short sword. Hôkaibô gets involved and, in the ensuing fight in the dark, mistakenly cuts down Kanjûrô, thinking he is Yôsuke. Yôsuke tries to kill himself but is stopped by Jinzaburô, who is passing by. Jinzaburô inspects the torn scroll and discovers that it is a substitute. He consoles Yôsuke and advises him to bide his time, pointing out that, once the scroll is recovered, Yôsuke will be Lord Yoshida.

Thinking to dispose of Kanjûrô’s body, Jinzaburô opens the basket lying nearby. To his surprise, he finds Okumi imprisoned inside. They release her and place the body in the basket. Jinzaburô, Yôsuke, and Okumi hurriedly leave together.

Act II, Scene 1: the dote near Mimeguri Shrine in Mukôjima

It is a late night with roaring thunder and a strange sky. Gonzaemon, Yôsuke, Okumi, and Princess Nowake enter. With no clue as to the whereabouts of the scroll, Yôsuke is prepared to die and tells Princess Nowake that he wants her to go back to her home. Princess Nowake, however, says that she will go to the ends of the earth with Yôsuke. When Okumi says that Yôsuke “has me by his side,” the two women battle for Yôsuke’s love.

An extremely large bolt of lightning strikes suddenly. With a big yawn, Hôkaibô appears from a haystack, as if he has been awakened by the lightning. Seeing the four passers-by, Hôkaibô starts to forcefully coax and threaten them into handing Okumi to him. Of course neither Gonzaemon nor Okumi agree, but nobody can move from fear of the violent thunder.

Hôkaibô grabs Yôsuke’s short sword and cuts Gonzaemon. He then hits and stuns Okumi and Princess Nowake and ties Yôsuke to a haystack. Hôkaibô suddenly turns to Gonzaemon and finishes him off. Next, he approaches Princess Nowake and tells her that she had better forget Yôsuke and marry him, since Yôsuke is in love with Okumi. Princess Nowake pushes him away in disgust, and he cuts her down, saying that he had been hired by Yôsuke to kill her because she stood in the way of his marriage to Okumi. Princess Nowake believes him and dies cursing Yôsuke. Hôkaibô hides her body in the bushes.

He now turns his attention to Okumi. First, to prevent any interference, he digs a hole to serve as a trap. Jinzaburô comes running. After untying Yôsuke, Jinzaburô is on the point of killing Hôkaibô when Hôkaibô reveals the carp scroll and threatens to tear it up unless Jinzaburô leaves him alone. Jinzaburô promises not to interfere with him anymore and pleads with Hôkaibô to give him the scroll. Hôkaibô taunts him, retreating step by step until he unwittingly falls into his own trap.

As Hôkaibô is trying to scramble out of the hole, Jinzaburô takes the scroll from his hand. Jinzaburô advises Yôsuke and Okumi to leave for Sumida River now that the scroll has been retrieved. As they depart, the ghost of Princess Nowake appears. Jinzaburô unrolls the carp scroll, and the phantom vanishes. When Hôkaibô finally crawls out of the hole, Jinzaburô kills him. As he tries to hurry after Okumi and Yôsuke, the ghost of Hôkaibô appears and pulls him back.

Act III, Scene 1: Near ferry landing beside Sumida River

--> "Futa Omote"

Source: Lincoln Center

The actors Ogawa Kichitarô III (left print/standing), Nakamura Utaemon III (left print/seated), Seki Sanjûrô II (central print/left), Asao Kunigorô III (central print/right), Nakamura Sankô I (right print/seated) and Nakamura Tamanosuke I (right print/standing) playing the roles of Hôkaibô, Yôsuke, Dôguya Jinza, the bantô Shôhachi, Okumi and the decchi Santarô in the drama "Sumidagawa Gonichi no Omokage", which was staged in the 4th lunar month of 1827 in Ôsaka at the Kita-Horie Ichi-no-Gawa Shibai (print made by Shunshosai Hokuchô)

Courtesy of Rolf Degener Gallery

 
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