The five great powers of love - Godairikikoi no fujime

Kabuki script. Domestic drama. Three acts. Written by Namiki Gohei. First performed in Kyoto Nishi no Shiba in May 1794 (Kansei 6). It is a dramatization of the incident in 1737 (Genbun 2) in Sonezaki, Osaka, in which Satsuma samurai Hayada Hachiemon killed five people, including bathhouse hostess Kikuno, in a fit of lust. In the original script for the first performance, the protagonists were named Katsuma Gengobei and Kikuno, but when it was performed in Edo the following year, the world of "Satsuma songs" was adopted, the heroine was changed to Koman, and the setting was changed from Sonezaki to Fukagawa, and this became the norm in Edo thereafter. Gengobei, who is investigating the loss of his master's treasured sword, becomes a ronin when Koman, a geisha in Fukagawa, asks him to pretend to be her lover as a way to avoid an unpleasant customer, Sasano Sangobei. However, he and Koman fall in love and start a family. However, in order to take back the treasured sword from the thief Sangobei, Koman pretends to be attracted to him, which makes Gengobei dislike her. In anger, Gengobei kills the woman, but he soon finds out her true intentions and gets the treasured sword. Godairiki is a spell that women of the time would write on the seal of a love letter to wish for the letter to arrive safely at the recipient's place. In this work, Koman writes "Godairiki" on the shamisen as a pledge of unchanging love, and Sangobei rewrites it to "Sango taisetsu." The play is a typical example of sewa-kyogen, ranging from "severing ties" to "murder," but it excels in its modern portrayal of the characters' psychology. Among the rewrites, Gohei's own "Kakinaoshite Sango Taisetsu" and Tsuruya Namboku IV's "Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu" are well-known.

[Toshiaki Matsui]

"Godairyoku Koihito" edited by Matsuzaki Jin (Kodansha Academic Library)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌舞伎(かぶき)脚本。世話物。3幕。並木五瓶(ごへい)作。1794年（寛政6）5月京都・西の芝居初演。1737年（元文2）大坂・曽根崎(そねざき)で薩摩(さつま)侍早田八右衛門(はちえもん)が痴情により湯女(ゆな)菊野ら5人を殺した事件を脚色。初演台本では主人公の名が勝間(かつま)源五兵衛と菊野であったが、翌年江戸で上演したとき、「薩摩歌」の世界を取り入れてヒロインを小万とし、場面も曽根崎から深川に改め、以後江戸ではこれが例になった。紛失した主家の宝刀を詮議(せんぎ)する源五兵衛は、深川の芸者小万が嫌な客笹野(ささの)三五兵衛を避ける方便に、頼まれて恋人のふりをしたことから浪人になるが、小万とは真実恋仲になり所帯をもつ。しかし、小万は宝刀を盗賊三五兵衛から奪い返そうと、彼になびくとみせて源五兵衛に愛想づかし。怒った源五兵衛は女を殺すが、やがて女の真意は知れ、宝刀も手に入る。五大力とは、当時の女が恋文の封じ目に書いて無事先方に着くよう願ったまじないであるが、この作では小万が変らぬ心の誓いに三味線へ五大力と書き、それが三五兵衛によって三五大切(さんごたいせつ)と書き直される趣向。世話狂言の類型である「縁切り」から「殺し」に至る作劇であるが、登場人物の心理の近代的な描写が優れる。書き換え作では五瓶自身の『略三五大切(かきなおしてさんごたいせつ)』、4世鶴屋南北(つるやなんぼく)の『盟(かみかけて)三五大切』が有名。

［松井俊諭］

『松崎仁校注『五大力恋緘』（講談社学術文庫）』

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