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Women's fighting of 'Chushingura'

This drama was written based to the real incident in 1701. It has passed 300 years already, after the incident happened. But its reputation has been good enough still now.

And the reputation made the incident into a lot of novels, stage plays, TV-dramas, and movies. They have the same theme, that is lord-less retainers' long-cherished ambition, the vendetta of their former lord. But there must have been many women around lord-less retainers.

Women used to be told as an episode of one of the side stories of 'Chushingura'. A woman appears on the story of 'Chushingura' in order to make one of lord-less retainers being in a pincer movement between love and his ambition. At the result she makes his premature death, although he would die at the vendetta.

There was an old mother who killed herself, because she didn't want her son who was one of the lord-less retainers to be worried about herself. There was a wife who sold herself as a prostitute in order to give funds for the vendetta to her husband who was one of the lord-less retainers. There was a girl who had married to one of the lord-less retainer, although she knew she must become a widow soon. There was a prostitute who had done double suicide with one of the lord-less retainers.

The women, they all lamented that that incident had happened. Konami, a daughter of Kakogawa Honzo, was one of them.

Konami is a fiancee of Rikiya who is a son of Yuranosuke. As Kakogawa Honzo had related to that incident negatively, the marriage became difficult matter.

Of course she know that her marriage has a problem, although she is just an innocent girl. But she doesn't have any sense of crisis, that her marriage would be a pathetic matter. She isn't worried about her marriage, because she doesn't think anything except that she must become a bride of Rikiya.

When Konami was refused as a bride of Rikiya by his mother, Oishi, she made her mind up to die. But, as soon as she gets a permission of the marriage, Konami is just delighted very much.

Oishi refused Konami, because Oishi didn't want Konami to be a very younger widow. Rikiya has to join the lord-less retainers in order to do the vendetta, and it means his death. He has gone the next morning of his wedding.

Konami doesn't think why she would become a widow, why she would become a pathetic bride. And she doesn't think where her husband have to go after they are married.

Konami looks to have been worrying about their honeymoon only. If it was a direction to show to audiences that Konami was young, it could be success. How did Rikiya think about his young bride who had a pathetic destiny?

Rikiya doesn't show his mind on the stage of this act-9. Yuranosuke has been very busy to plan the vendetta, and his son Rikiya also has spent busy nervous days. I think Rikiya wouldn't have thought about Konami even a bit. But his mind must have been confused when Konami had come to his house.

After the lord-less retainers made a raid on the mansion for the revenge of their former lord, shogunate government ordered them to do suicide, harakiri.

As Oishi lost both of her husband and son at the vendetta, her tragedy has been told on novels, dramas, and movies often. It was Oishi's fight. Tonase who is Honzo's wife, Konami's step-mother, her tragedy is as big as Oishi.

Tonase's husband Honzo is killed by her step-daughter Konami's fiance Rikiya, and she witnesses all of that murder. And she has to accept that the murder is never accused forever.

Tonase might have thought that Enya Hangan's retainers even had better thank for her husband Honzo, because Honzo had stopped Enya Hangan not to become a murderer. But Tonase restrains her passions to ask Oishi the marriage of her step-daughter Konami and Rikiya. She has fought at her own fight.

The incident made Enya Hangan's retainers become the lord-less retainers, and made the lord-less retainers do suicide at the result. But it isn't enough to say that it is all.

The incident spread its hands to give a big tragedy to the women who are around the lord-less retainers. Act-9 has shown me that the women had their own fight certainly.

Did Rikiya make love with Konami at the wedding night?