Ghost Stories from Yotsuya along the Tokaido Highway

A Kabuki script. A domestic drama. Five acts. Commonly known as "Yotsuya Kaidan." Written by Tsuruya Namboku IV. It was first performed in July 1825 (Bunsei 8) at the Nakamuraza in Edo by Onoe Kikugoro III as Oiwa, Kohei, and Yomoshichi, Ichikawa Danjūrō ​​VII as Iemon, and Matsumoto Koshiro V as Naosuke Gonbei. Other titles include "Iroha Kana Yotsuya Kaidan" and "Katamigusa Yotsuya Kaidan." The play mixes street tales and true stories, such as the tale of the vengeful spirits of the Tamiya family, which has been passed down since around the Kanbun era (1661-1673) in Edo Yotsuya Samoncho, the story of a man and woman whose bodies were nailed to a door because of adultery and then floated down the Kanda River, the story of Naosuke and Gonbei who were executed on the same day for the crime of murdering their master, and the story of the actor Koheiji who was murdered by an adulteress, and is adapted from the author's earlier works and the reader's ideas. At the time of its premiere, it was performed as the second kyogen play in Kanadehon Chushingura, so it is set in the world of Chushingura.

Prologue: Enya's wanderer, Iemon Tani, kills his wife Oiwa's father, Samon Yotsuya, in the rice fields of Asakusa. Naosuke, a medicine seller who is in love with Oiwa's younger sister, Osode, kills Shozaburou Okuda in the same place, mistaken for the wrong person, in an attempt to kill Osode's husband, Yomochi Sato. Act 2 (Iemon's wandering house): Kihei Ito, an executive of Takano Moronao who lives next door to Tamiya, sends a poison to Oiwa in an attempt to make the love of his granddaughter, Oume, who is in love with Iemon, come true. Oiwa's appearance is disfigured as a result, and she dies in rage when the masseur Takuetsu finds out about the situation. Iemon kills Kobotoke Kohei, a servant who stole his former master's secret medicine to cure his illness, nails the bodies of Oiwa and Kohei to the front and back of a wooden door and throws them down the river. He marries Oume, but is haunted by the vengeful spirits of the two and kills both Oume and Kihei. Act 3 (Sunamura Onbobori) - While Iemon is fishing, the familiar wooden door washes up, and the ghosts of Oiwa and Kohei express their grudges. Act 4 (Fukagawa Triangle Mansion) - Osode and Naosuke, who has changed his name to Eel-striped Gonbei, are married in name only, but when she finally gets Naosuke's freedom, wanting him to avenge the deaths of his father, husband and sister, Yomoichi, who was supposed to be dead, comes to visit her. Feeling ashamed, she guides Naosuke and Yomoichi at the same time, and dies at their hands. When Naosuke finds out that Osode is his real sister and that it was his former master's son Shozaburo who killed her in a case of mistaken identity, he commits suicide out of fear of what will come to pass. Finale (Firefly Hunt and Snake Mountain Hermitage) - After being tormented by the ghost of Oiwa, Iemon is killed by Yomoichi.

Not only is it a masterpiece of ghost story kyogen, but it is also a masterpiece that vividly depicts the social conditions of the lower classes and human psychology in the late Edo period, and has immortalized Nanboku's name. The role of Oiwa was passed down as the family art of the Onoe family from the 3rd to the 5th Kikugorou and the 6th Onoe Baiko, and the direction was refined with the steps of "hair combing" in which the protagonist's hair falls out and transforms in "Rantaku," the technique in which the mysterious door-turning turns into a vivid caring denial in "Onbobori," and the device in which a ghost appears in "Hebiyama." After World War II, it has also been performed in new and avant-garde theater.

[Toshiaki Matsui]

"Masakatsu Gunji's annotated commentary on "Shincho Japanese Classics Collection: Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan" (1981, Shinchosha)" "Shigetoshi Kawatake's edited version of "Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan" (Iwanami Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歌舞伎(かぶき)脚本。世話物。5幕。通称「四谷怪談」。4世鶴屋南北(なんぼく)作。1825年（文政8）7月江戸・中村座で、3世尾上(おのえ)菊五郎のお岩・小平(こへい)・与茂七(よもしち)、7世市川団十郎の伊右衛門(いえもん)、5世松本幸四郎の直助権兵衛(なおすけごんべえ)らにより初演。別名題(なだい)『いろは仮名四谷怪談』『形見草(かたみぐさ)四谷怪談』など。江戸四谷左門町に寛文(かんぶん)（1661～73）ごろから伝わる田宮家の怨霊(おんりょう)話や、密通のため戸板に釘(くぎ)付けされた男女の死体が神田川に浮かんだという話、主(しゅ)殺しの罪で同日に処刑された直助と権兵衛の話、姦婦(かんぷ)に謀殺された俳優小平次の話など、巷談(こうだん)と実話を取り混ぜ、読本(よみほん)の『近世怪談霜夜星(しもよのほし)』や作者の旧作から趣向を生かして脚色。初演のとき『仮名手本忠臣蔵』の二番目狂言として上演されたので、「忠臣蔵」の世界で書かれている。

　序幕―塩冶(えんや)家浪人民谷伊右衛門は、妻お岩の父四谷左門を浅草田圃(たんぼ)で殺し、お岩の妹お袖(そで)に横恋慕する薬売り直助は、お袖の夫佐藤与茂七を討とうとして、同じ場所で人違いの奥田庄三郎(しょうざぶろう)を殺す。2幕目（伊右衛門浪宅）―民谷の隣家に住む高師直(こうのもろなお)の重役伊藤喜兵衛は、伊右衛門に懸想した孫娘お梅の恋をかなえようと、お岩に毒薬を贈り、ために容貌(ようぼう)の醜く変わったお岩は按摩(あんま)宅悦(たくえつ)に事情を知らされて憤死。伊右衛門は、旧主の病気を治したさに秘蔵の薬を盗んだ下男小仏(こぼとけ)小平を殺し、お岩と小平の死骸(しがい)を戸板の表裏に釘付けにして川へ流し、お梅と祝言するが、2人の怨霊にたたられ、お梅も喜兵衛も殺してしまう。3幕目（砂村隠亡堀(すなむらおんぼうぼり)）―伊右衛門が釣りをしていると、覚えの戸板が流れ着き、お岩と小平の亡霊がこもごも恨みを述べる。4幕目（深川三角(さんかく)屋敷）―お袖は鰻(うなぎ)かき権兵衛と改名した直助と名目だけの夫婦になっていたが、父・夫・姉の仇(かたき)を討ってもらいたさ、ついに直助の自由になると、死んだはずの与茂七が訪れるので、身を恥じて直助・与茂七と同時に手引きし、2人の手にかかって死ぬ。直助は、お袖が実の妹であり、人違いで殺したのが旧主の子庄三郎だったことを知り、因果におびえて自殺する。大詰（蛍狩(ほたるがり)・蛇山庵室(へびやまあんしつ)）―伊右衛門はお岩の亡霊にさんざん悩まされたすえ、与茂七に討たれる。

　怪談狂言の代表作というばかりでなく、江戸後期の下層社会の世相と人間の心理を鮮やかに描いた傑作で、南北の名を不朽にしたもの。お岩の役は尾上家の家の芸として、3世から5世の菊五郎、6世尾上梅幸(ばいこう)へ継承され、「浪宅」で髪の毛が抜けて変貌する「髪梳(かみす)き」の手順や、「隠亡堀」の怪異な戸板返しが鮮やかな世話だんまりに一変する手法、「蛇山」で幽霊の出没する仕掛けなど、演出が洗練された。第二次世界大戦後は新劇や前衛演劇でも上演されている。

［松井俊諭］

『郡司正勝校注『新潮日本古典集成　東海道四谷怪談』（1981・新潮社）』▽『河竹繁俊校訂『東海道四谷怪談』（岩波文庫）』

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