Katsuragawa Renri fence - Katsuragawa Renri fence

Joruri Gidayu-bushi (a Japanese folk drama). Sewamono (a domestic story). Two acts. Written by Suga Sensuke. First performed in October 1776 (An'ei 5) at a side play in Kita-Horie, Osaka. This dramatized the love story of Ohan Choemon, which was inspired by the discovery of the bodies of a young girl and a middle-aged man in the Katsura River in Kyoto, and was created after several previous works, including the Joruri "Sonezaki Moyou" (1761).

Volume 1: On his way back from Totomi, Obiya Choemon stays the night at Ishibe Inn with Ohan, the daughter of the neighboring Shinanoya family, who is returning from a pilgrimage to Ise Shrine, and her entourage. Ohan has fled after being approached by her apprentice, Chokichi, and he hides her, and the two end up making a promise.

Lower volume - [Rokkakudo] Choemon's wife Okinu finds out about her husband's relationship with Ohan, but bribes Chokichi to keep quiet. [Obi-ya] Choemon's stepmother Otose and her stepchild Gibei find out about Ohan's affair and try to drive him away, but Okinu uses Chokichi to punish them instead. However, Choemon loses his sword and Ohan, who is pregnant, runs away from home leaving a note behind, and he is faced with a series of hardships. He finally commits suicide with Ohan in the Katsura River. "Obi-ya," which centers on the love between Choemon, a sensible 40-year-old man, and Ohan, a 14-year-old girl, and also portrays Okinu's chastity in a deeply emotional way, is often performed as a kabuki play. It is sometimes performed with the addition of scenes from "Rokkakudo" and Michiyuki Joruri, a form of travelogue that was born from a later rewritten version of Kyogen.

[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。2段。菅専助(すがせんすけ)作。1776年（安永5）10月、大坂・北堀江市の側(いちのかわ)芝居初演。京都・桂川で娘と中年男の死体があがったという事件をもとに生まれたお半長右衛門(ちょうえもん)の情話を脚色、浄瑠璃『曽根崎(そねざき)模様』（1761）をはじめ、いくつかの先行作を経てつくられた。

上の巻―帯屋長右衛門は遠州からの帰途、隣家信濃屋(しなのや)の娘お半の一行が伊勢詣(いせまい)りから帰るのと石部の宿で泊まり合わせ、丁稚(でっち)長吉に言い寄られて逃げてきたお半をかくまい、思わず契りを結んでしまう。

下の巻―〔六角堂〕長右衛門の女房お絹は夫とお半の関係を知るが、長吉を買収して口止めをする。〔帯屋〕長右衛門の義母おとせとその連れ子儀兵衛は、お半の一件をかぎつけ、長右衛門を追い出そうとするが、お絹は長吉を使って逆に彼らを懲らしめる。しかし、長右衛門は預りの刀紛失のうえ、懐妊したお半が書置を残して家出するという苦境が重なり、ついに桂川でお半と心中する。分別ざかりの四十男長右衛門と十四の小娘お半の恋愛を中心に、お絹の貞節なども情緒深く描いた「帯屋」が歌舞伎(かぶき)でも多く上演。ときに「六角堂」や、後年の書替え狂言から生まれた道行(みちゆき)浄瑠璃の場面を加えて演じられる。

［松井俊諭］

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