Kabuki Review by Sekidobashi Sakura

Nezumi Kozo, Noda version

Story

August 2003 in Kabukiza Theater

★essay　★English-top　★Japanese-top

Background Information

'Nezumi Kozo' who lived in the 17th century was a famous thief in Japan. He was arrested and executed, but people applauded him at that time. Kawatake Mokuami wrote about him into a Kabuki play as a Robin Hood figure in 1857, and it made a big hit. However, this play is different from its original, because Noda Hideki wrote and directed as a new stage play. So please think that this play is one of the variations of 'Nezumi Kozo'.

Story

Scene-1; On New Year's Day,
Inside a playhouse, and a coffin maker's shop

Suddenly a thief Nezumi Kozo is running the side stage road to the stage, and many pursuers chase and surround him. Nezumi Kozo is cornered, but he seems not to care of it. Finally he managed to get away, and people who saw it applauded him. And I and the other audiences noticed that it was a play inside a playhouse.

On New Year's Day, the play 'Nezumi Kozo' is shown with a good popularity. People are exchanging the New Year greetings, and are chatting about its hero, a thief Nezumi Kozo, outside a playhouse, after they watched it. A detective Seikichi says that he will catch a big thief like Nezumi Kozo someday. A coffin shop owner, Santa says to people to die sooner instead of the New Year greetings. And he says to children not to die soon, but die after they grow up, because a big coffin is expensive more than a small one. He is well known as a stingy person. Then Yokichi comes there, and gives a lucky charm to people, and gives money to children as 'otoshidama', a New Year's gift cash. He is well known as a very good person. Santa says that he must die if he gave money to someone. He is really a stingy man.

A strange procession, a mixture of a wedding procession and a funeral procession, comes to the coffin shop. Santa finds that Henmi Seizaemon's wife Oran accompanies the procession. Santa is a younger brother of Seizaemon. Oran says to Santa that Seizaemon has died. Seizaemon and Oran have a daughter, Oshina, and she intended to marry today. Oran thought that it would be cheap to make a wedding procession and a funeral procession together. Oshina and Seizaemon's dead body were carried by the same palanquin together. And Oran says to Santa to make a coffin of Seizaemon with no money. Oran is also a stingy person. Santa refused it at the beginning of course, but he accepted it because Oran said that there was Seizaemon's will. Seizaemon was a wealthy merchant.

All relatives of Seizaemon gathered to the coffin shop of Santa. A chief manager of the Henmiya shop, Totaro starts reading aloud a will of Seizaemon. That will was written that all of the inheritance would be given to Yokichi. Yokichi isn't a relative of Seizaemon, but Seizaemon thanked for his kindness very much. Everyone is surprised very much. Oran asks Yokichi if he is married, and Yokichi answers no. Then Oshina changes her mind soon, and asks Yokichi to make her his wife. Although Oshina's fiance was wealthy living in the lord Inaba's residence, he was an ugly man, so that it was very easy for her to change a fiance. Oshina is also a stingy person. However, Yokichi refused it, and left there as soon as possible. Oshina and Oran decide to hurry to her fiance's house in order to marry with him.

Santa couldn't abandon to get the inheritance of Seizaemon. And he decides to get the inheritance before it would be given to Yokichi. He thinks that there is no problem to get the inheritance, because his elder brother's money is his money. Santa takes Seizaemon's dead body from a palanquin into his house, and he comes into a coffin instead of Seizaemon. Santa thought that he would be carried to Seizaemon's house in a coffin. Totaro comes there bringing a beautiful cloth, and makes it cover a coffin that Santa is in. Then palanquin bearers carried a coffin to the lord Inaba's residence instead of a palanquin that Oshina was in.

Scene-2; Before the storage in Lord Inaba's residence and on its roof

A coffin was carried to the lord Inaba's residence. After palanquin bearers went away, Santa left from the coffin. He finds a storehouse, and takes a chest for gold coins from it. Then Oran, Oshina, Totaro, and Yokichi arrived there, and Oshina went to her new home with her ugly fiance. After Oran left there, Totaro and Yokichi started talking. Yokichi and Totaro had been plotting plans for 7years; Yokichi's sake was money, and Totaro's sake was the Henmiya store. And both of the sakes were achieved. They are laughing, and leave there.

Santa appeared on the scene, and is surprised very much. As the result, he lost a chance to get away. A security guard, Yosobei finds Santa who has a chest for gold coins. Santa disguised himself into Nezumi Kozo that he watched at the theater, and Yosobei believed it. Yosobei is a very old man, and he has a son who is missing for 7years. He now lives with a grandson, Santa. If Yosobei didn't catch Nezumi Kozo, he is sure that Nezumi Kozo throws the gold coins from a roof to people, especially his grandson Santa. However, if Yosobei made a thief get away, his lord would think that he lost his loyalty. So Yosobei asks Santa to kill him. Santa refused it, and got away.

When Santa gets away on the roof, a ghost of Seizaemon and the other many ghosts appear. Although Seizaemon has died only a day, he knew that inferno was very terrible, horrible, and unbelievable already. And Seizaemon says that Santa would be in the same situation as him. However, if Santa threw the money that he stole at the result, he could avoid it. So Seizaemon recommends, almost demands, to Santa to throw the gold coins to people from a roof. Santa refused it, and says that he must die if he gave money to people. Seizaemon and the other ghosts attack Santa, and he slips on a roof. And the gold coins fall from a roof. People are surprised, and pick them up. Santa was disappointed very much, and he made his mind up to get back the money as Nezumi Kozo after this.

Scene-3; In Edo, tenement house

At the year end, people are chatting about Nezumi Kozo who didn't throw gold coins to people in charity after that, although he stole money from daimyo's mansions. Seikichi who is a detective comes there and says that he caught Nezumi Kozo. But it was a fake again. Although he has wished to catch Nezumi Kozo, he sometimes caught fakes recently. Then a strange person came there, and he introduced himself as Ooka Tadasuke, the lord of Echizen who is a town magistrate. In real, he is Santa. The fake Ooka says to people that Nezumi Kozo could be Yokichi. But people don't believe it, because Yokichi is still well known as a good person. Tadasuke is well known as a very warm town magistrate, but a little boy kicks him suddenly. That boy is little Santa who is a grandson of Yosobei. Little Santa demands to Tadasuke to get back Yosobei. Yosobei was arrested, because he was suspected as he could have helped Nezumi Kozo. Tadasuke, Santa in real, is surprised very much, and tries to give money to little Santa, but he couldn't. And little Santa goes away.

Then Otaka comes there, and Totaro and Oran meet her unintentionally. Otaka is a widow for 7years, and is well known as a virtuous woman. 7days after Seizaemon died, Oran remarried with Totaro. Otaka says that Nezumi Kozo stole money from her residence twice, twice, and twice. Oran's residence has never been stolen, so that she is very irritated hearing it. A doctor, Yozen comes there, and says that he will bring medicines to Otaka's residence later, but she says that she will go out at the time. Santa was disguised himself into a doctor Yozen, and he decided to steal money from Otaka's residence again later.

Scene-4; House of Magistrate Ooka Tadasuke's mistress

Santa went into Otaka's residence secretly, and he found a chest of gold coins in a closet. Suddenly Otaka comes home with Yokichi, so that Santa hides himself into a closet. Otaka and Yokichi are lovers for 7years secretly. Yokichi asked Otaka to keep a chest for gold coins. And they talk about their son whom they abandoned. Yokichi is a son of Yosobei, and their son is little Santa.

Ooka Tadasuke visits there. Also Otaka is a mistress of Tadasuke. Otaka and Yokichi are surprised, and Otaka hides Yokichi into the same closet that Santa is in already. Santa goes from a closet instead of Yokichi, and disguises himself into a housemaid of Otaka. Tadasuke is in a bad mood recently because of Nezumi Kozo. He always wants to be the best reputation person in Edo. But people seem to think that Nezumi Kozo is the best recently. Tadasuke intends to make Nezumi Kozo free, after Nezumi Kozo is arrested. But there is a problem. Although Tadasuke knew that Yosobei was innocent, he ordered to execute Yosobei, and he was killed already. Tadasuke has regretted it very much.

Then Riyo who is a wife of Tadasuke visits there. Tadasuke tried to hide himself into a closet, there was Yokichi already. And everyone appears on the scene together. Tadasuke says a lie that he asked Yokichi and Otaka to catch Nezumi Kozo who was disguised into a housemaid. However, Santa says to Riyo as a house maid that Otaka is a mistress of Tadasuke and a lover of Yokichi at the same time. And Santa gets away carrying a chest for gold coins.

As soon as Santa left from Otaka's residence, a detective Seikichi and pursuers chased him. Santa meets little Santa on the way to home running away. Little Santa makes his hands open to sky and waits falling gold coins. Santa is going to give a piece of coin to him, but little Santa doesn't receive it. Little Santa says that many gold coins would fall from the sky soon. Detective Seikichi and pursuers find Santa, and Santa loses a chance to get away. Santa was arrested. When Santa was taken away, he shouted to little Santa that gold coins would fall the next night. It was December 23.

Scene-5; Case tried by Magistrate Ooka. The scene of court trial.
From all houses in Edo to the roof

People know the news that Nezumi Kozo has been arrested, so that a big crowd of spectators gathered to the court. There are a defendant Santa, and witnesses Yokichi and Otaka in the court. A town magistrate Ooka Tadasuke whispered to Santa secretly to think that a court was a stage, and to do a play as Nezumi Kozo. The case trial has started. Two witnesses, Yokichi and Otaka, testified that they had waited Nezumi Kozo at Otaka's residence in order to arrest him, and Tadasuke asked them to do it. Yokichi is well known as a very good person, and Otaka also is well known as a virtuous woman, so that people believe their testimony. At the beginning Santa accepted their testimonies, but he found a thing that he couldn't accept suddenly, because Yokichi said that he had no child. Santa says the fact that their testimonies are lies. He couldn't forgive Yokichi who denied little Santa. Everyone was surprised, but didn't believe Santa. And Tadasuke proposed to Santa that if he accepted everything, he would be free. Santa understood it, and he confessed as Nezumi Kozo.

After the trial has finished, Tadasuke gave a short sword to a detective Seikichi. Although Santa became free, Seikichi slashed him. However, Santa managed to get away, and he is on a roof now. Santa thinks that he couldn't achieve a promise to make gold coins fall. And he died. At the night, December 24, people and little Santa saw many gold coins falling from sky. (2003,8,14)

The End

★essay　★English-top　★Japanese-top　★page-top