Woman Killing Oil Hell - Woman Killing Oil Hell

Joruri Gidayubushi (a type of Japanese drama with a gidayu-bushi narration). Sewamono (a domestic drama). Three acts. Written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. First performed in July 1721 (6th year of the Kyoho era) at the Takemotoza Theater in Osaka. An dramatization of an incident that occurred in May of the same year. Yohei, the second son of Kawachiya, an oil merchant in Tenma, Osaka, takes advantage of the generosity of his stepfather Tokubei, who was a former store manager, to live a life of debauchery. After a big fight over a woman at Tokuan Embankment on a pilgrimage to Nozaki, Tokubei and his wife, at their wives' end, demand money and inherit the family estate, and become violent. At their wives' end, Tokubei and his wife disown Yohei, but still love their son and entrust his pocket money to Okichi, the wife of a fellow merchant in the town, Toshimaya. Yohei is touched by his parents' mercy, but he is forced to repay a large sum of money that he has borrowed due to his father's false trial, so he asks O-Kichi for help, but when she refuses, he loses his senses again, kills O-Kichi, steals her money, and is arrested for the 35th day vigil. The play ceased to be performed during the Edo period, but in the Meiji period it was highly praised for its modern portrayal of the protagonist, the subtleties of the obligations and human feelings of the stepfather, biological mother, and O-Kichi surrounding him, and the gruesome power of the slippery murder of O-Kichi, and was revived by Jitsukawa Enjaku II at the end of the Meiji period. Since then, it has been performed frequently, and after World War II it was revived in Bunraku puppet theater with a new rhythm.

[Toshiaki Matsui]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

浄瑠璃義太夫節(じょうるりぎだゆうぶし)。世話物。3段。近松門左衛門作。1721年（享保6）7月大坂・竹本座初演。同年5月に起こった事件を脚色。大坂・天満(てんま)の油商河内屋(かわちや)の次男与兵衛は、番頭上がりの継父徳兵衛の寛容に乗じて放蕩(ほうとう)を尽くし、野崎詣(まい)りの徳庵(とくあん)堤で女をめぐって大げんかをしたすえ、徳兵衛に金と家督を強要して暴力を振るう。思い余った徳兵衛夫婦は与兵衛を勘当するが、それでも息子かわいさ、町内の同業豊島屋(てしまや)の女房お吉(きち)に小遣いを託す。与兵衛は親の慈悲に感動したものの、彼は父の偽判(にせはん)で大金を借り返済を迫られていたので、お吉に融通を頼むが、断られるとふたたび分別を失い、お吉を殺して金を奪い、その三十五日の逮夜(たいや)に召し捕られる。江戸時代には上演が絶えていたが、明治になると主人公の近代的な性格描写や、これをめぐる継父、実母、お吉らの義理と人情の機微、また油に滑るお吉殺しの凄惨(せいさん)な迫力などが高く評価され、明治末年に2世実川延若(じつかわえんじゃく)が復活上演。以来、しばしば演じられるようになり、第二次世界大戦後は文楽人形浄瑠璃でも新しい節付けによって復活上演されている。

［松井俊諭］

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