"One Heart, Two Rivers, White Path"

Japanese: 《一心二河白道》 - いっしんにがびゃくどう

The cast includes Sakurahime, later Furinohime, played by Iwai Hanshiro V, Jikyu, later Seigen, Tsurigane Gonsuke, who is actually Nobuo, and Inanotani Hanbei, played by Ichikawa Danjūrō VII, Chigo Shiragikumaru and Inanotani Hanjūrō, played by Iwai Matsunosuke, Kohina and Katsushika no Ojū, played by Segawa Kikunojō V, Iruma Akugoro and Zangetsu, played by Otani Oniji, and Takuchoura, played by Soryo Jinroku. The subject matter is a mix of the world of Seigen Sakurahime from Itsushin Nigabyakudō and the family feud of the Yoshida family from Sumida-gawa, and is based on the story of a prostitute who claimed to be the daughter of Hino Chunagon from Kyoto at the time (1807) in a brothel in Shinagawa, who became famous, but was later found to be a fake and banished. The story begins with the scene at Enoshima Wakagafuchi, in which Jikkyū and the young boy Shiragikumaru of Kenchō-ji commit double suicide, with Jikkyū surviving, and then 17 years later, the prologue is the scene at Shin-Shimizu, in which Shiragikumaru, who has been reborn as Sakurahime, the daughter of the Yoshida family, is reunited with Jikkyū, who has become Seigen of Shin-Shimizu. With Seigen's ten repetitions, the princess's right hand, which was closed at birth, opens, and the pieces of the incense box of the oath appear.

From "The Complete Story of Princess Sakura" by Akebono Soushi

...The story begins when Nobune, the wife of Washio Yoshiharu of Tanba Province, brutally murders her favorite concubine, Gyokuto, and the grudge of Gyokuto haunts Nobune in various ways, and then her daughter, Sakurahime, is also loved by Seigen, who was born from Gyokuto's corpse and grew up to become a monk at Kiyomizu Temple, and continues to haunt her as a lustful ghost.The story is a complex and tangled web of characters, including the two Sakurahime and tales of necrophilia, including the sisters Suzumushi and Matsumushi, who are inspired by this, the vengeful thief Gamamaru, and the loyal retainer Mida Jiro, all of whom are involved.The story creates a beautiful and bizarre world of bewitching beauty and mystery, including the two Sakurahime and tales of necrophilia. It was directly inspired by Kanzen Sakurahime-den (Oe Bunpo, 1765), but also drew on Chikamatsu Monzaemon's Itsushin Nigabyakudou (1698), the legend of the dark blue demon that attacked Empress Somedono, and the legend of Sakurahime, the daughter of Ichinomori Choja, who died in difficult childbirth, making it a monumental work that established the basic pattern of Edo fantasy novels. His rival Kyokutei Bakin also highly praised this work.

From "Princess Seigen Sakura"

...The most representative example is "Kiyomizu Seigen Rokudō Meguri" by Takeda Jizo and Namiki Osuke, which premiered in July 1762 (Hōreki 12) at the Osaka Sanmasu Daigoroza (Naka no Shibai). The performance of Seigen by Nakamura Utaemon I was so intense that it became the Nakamura family's art and established the image of Seigen obsessed with love. In the old days, there was the Tosa Jōruri "Itsushin Nigabyakudō" and the kabuki play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, which premiered in 1698 (Genroku 11), depicted Seigen as being madly in love with both women and men, as the title suggests. In this vein, Tsuruya Nanboku's "Sakurahime Azuma Bunsho" is based on the legend of Kogafuchi in Enoshima and is structured as a karmic tale in which Sakurahime is the reincarnation of the young Shiragiku, Seigen's sworn friend.

From [Tsuuchi Jihei (Tsuuchi Jibei)]

…He went down to Edo with his father and succeeded Jihei at the end of the Genroku period. In 1710 (7th year of the Hoei period) he had a big hit with Isshin Nikawa Shirado at the Edo Nakamuraza Theatre, and continued to work as a playwright until the end of the Horeki period (1751-64). His style of playwriting, which was based on taste and mixed the era and themes, had a great influence on the Kyogen style of Edo. …

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "One Heart, Two Rivers, the White Path" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…配役は，桜姫のちに風鈴お姫を5世岩井半四郎，自休のちに清玄･釣鐘権助実は信夫の惣太･稲野谷半兵衛を7世市川団十郎，稚児白菊丸･稲野谷半十郎を岩井松之助，小雛･葛飾のお十を5世瀬川菊之丞，入間悪五郎･残月を大谷鬼次，局長浦を惣領甚六。題材は，《一心二河白道（いつしんにがびやくどう）》の〈清玄桜姫〉の世界と〈隅田川〉の吉田家のお家騒動を綯交（ないま）ぜ，これに当時(1807年)，品川の遊女屋に，京の日野中納言の息女と称する遊女がいて評判になり，のちに偽物とわかり追放されたという巷間の話題を仕組んだもの。あらすじは，建長寺の自休と稚児白菊丸が心中し，自休が生き残る〈江の島稚児ヶ淵の場〉を発端に，17年後に，吉田家の息女桜姫と生まれ変わっていた白菊丸と，新清水の清玄となった自休とが再会する〈新清水の場〉を序幕とし，清玄の十念で，生まれつき開かなかった姫の右手が開き，誓いの香箱の片々が出る。…

【桜姫全伝曙草紙】より

…丹波国鷲尾義治の正妻野分の方が，寵妾玉琴を惨殺したことに端を発し，玉琴の怨念がさまざまな形で野分の方にたたり，その娘桜姫にも，玉琴の死体から生まれ成長して清水寺僧となった清玄が恋慕し，愛欲の死霊となってまつわりつづけるという物語を主筋とし，これに発心する鈴虫･松虫姉妹，復讐する怪盗蝦蟇丸（がままる），忠臣弥陀二郎などがからむといった錯綜した複雑な趣向で，二人桜姫や屍姦譚をふくんだ妖美で怪奇な世界がつくられている。《勧善桜姫伝》(大江文坡著，1765)を直接の粉本とするが，他に近松門左衛門の《一心二河白道（いつしんにがびやくどう）》(1698)や，染殿后を襲った紺青鬼（こんせいき）伝説，市森長者の娘桜姫難産死の伝説などを構想上に生かし，江戸伝奇小説の基本的パターンを作った記念碑的な作品である。ライバルの曲亭馬琴もこの作を高く評価した。…

【清玄桜姫物】より

…代表的なものに1762年(宝暦12)7月大坂三枡大五郎座(中の芝居)で初演された竹田治蔵･並木翁輔作の《清水清玄六道巡（きよみずせいげんろくどうめぐり）》があり，初世中村歌右衛門の扮した清玄はものすごく，中村家の家の芸となるとともに，恋に執着する清玄像を確立した。古くは土佐浄瑠璃の《一心二河白道（いつしんにがびやくどう）》があり，同じ外題で1698年(元禄11)に初演された近松門左衛門作の歌舞伎では，外題の示すとおり，女色男色の二道に狂う清玄が描かれた。この系統の鶴屋南北作《桜姫東文章》は，江の島の児ヶ淵伝説に基づいて，桜姫を清玄の念友であった稚児白菊の生れ変りとする因果譚の構成をとる。…