Sakurahime Azuma Text - Sakurahime Azuma Text

Kabuki script. Historical domestic drama. 7 acts. Written by Tsuruya Namboku IV. First performed in March 1817 (Bunka 14) at Kawarasakiza in Edo, with Iwai Hanshiro V as Sakurahime and Ichikawa Danjūrō ​​VII as Seigen and Gonsuke (double roles). The play features the villain Tsurigane Gonsuke in two worlds: "Seigen Sakurahime" and "Sumidagawa". The heroine's unusual circumstances of falling from princess to prostitute are said to be modeled after a prostitute who called herself the princess of the Middle Counselor in Shinagawa at the time. Sakurahime, the daughter of the Yoshida family, is strongly attracted to Tsurigane Gonsuke, a thief who had seduced her, and when their secret rendezvous is discovered by an evil minister, she is exposed along with Seigen, a monk from Kiyomizu-dera who takes the blame. Seigen, who had once killed his accomplice Shiragikumaru in a double suicide attempt, falls madly in love with Sakurahime, who bears the mark of his former partner, and after a period of exile, he reunites with her in a hermitage in Iwabuchi, where he forces her into a double suicide, but is accidentally killed. The princess is sold to Gonsuke and becomes a prostitute known as Furin Princess at the Kozukahara brothel, but while she is tormented by the ghost of Seigen, she learns that Gonsuke is none other than Shinobu Sota, the enemy of her parents and brother, and kills him.

The play vividly depicts the love and lust of the entanglements between Princess Sakura, Seigen, and Gonsuke, centering on the author's unique talent, such as having Princess Furin use a mixture of elegant language and the vulgar language of a prostitute. After being discontinued since its premiere, it was revived in the Showa era, and in recent years, Bando Tamasaburo V has become a specialist in this style, and it has also been featured in avant-garde theater.

[Toshiaki Matsui]

"Tsuruya Nanboku Complete Works 6" (1971, Sanichi Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌舞伎(かぶき)脚本。時代世話物。7幕。4世鶴屋南北(つるやなんぼく)作。1817年（文化14）3月江戸・河原崎座(かわらさきざ)で、5世岩井半四郎の桜姫、7世市川団十郎の清玄(せいげん)と権助(ごんすけ)（二役）らによって初演。「清玄桜姫」「隅田川(すみだがわ)」の二つの世界に悪党釣鐘権助を配したもの。姫から女郎に堕(お)ちる異常な境遇のヒロインは、当時の品川に中納言(ちゅうなごん)の姫と自称した女郎がいたのをモデルにしたという。吉田家の息女桜姫は、自分を手籠(てご)めにした夜盗釣鐘権助に強くひかれ、再度の密会を佞臣(ねいしん)にみつけられて、罪をかぶった清水寺(きよみずでら)の僧清玄とともに晒(さら)し者にされる。かつて衆道の相手白菊丸を心中未遂で殺した清玄は、その生まれ変わりのしるしをもつ桜姫を激しく恋し、流浪のすえに岩淵(いわぶち)の庵室(あんしつ)で姫と再会すると無理心中を迫り、誤って殺される。姫は権助に売られて小塚原(こづかっぱら)の遊廓(ゆうかく)で風鈴(ふうりん)お姫とよばれる女郎になるが、清玄の亡霊に悩まされるうち、権助こそ親と弟の敵(かたき)信夫(しのぶ)の惣太(そうた)と知って、これを討つ。

　風鈴お姫に、みやびなことばと女郎の卑しいことばをまぜこぜに使わせるなど、作者独特の才気を中心に、桜姫、清玄、権助の絡み合いで、愛欲の姿を鮮やかに描いた作。初演以後絶えていたのを、昭和になって復活、近年は5世坂東(ばんどう)玉三郎が得意とし、また前衛劇などでも取り上げている。

［松井俊諭］

『『鶴屋南北全集6』（1971・三一書房）』

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