Background Information

This play was written by Namiki Senryu and Miyoshi Shoraku, was first performed in 1749 as a puppet play. It made a big hit, so that it was performed as a kabuki play in 1767. It has five acts, and 'Sanemori Monogatari' is its third act.

Taira-Minamoto War, 1156-1185, is one of the most important civil wars in Japan. Sanemori was a warrior of the Heike clan.

Story

Scene; Kurosuke's Home

Kurosuke is a fisherman who was a retainer of the Genji clan before, and he hides Lady Aoi in his house now. Lady Aoi is a wife of Minaoto-no Yoshikata who is a warrior of the Genji clan. At that time, the Heike family had power and controlled everything completely. Heiji disturbance had happened in 1159. The leader of the Genji clan, Minamono-no Yoshitomo rebelled against the Heike clan. As the result, Yoshitomo was killed at the incident and the Heiji army attacked his younger brother Yoshikata and he killed himself. Yoshikata's wife Lady Aoi had managed to get away then. She is in a delicate condition, and she was waiting a baby at Kurosuke's house now. Kurosuke has a daughter Koyoshi who worked for Yoshikata. Lady Aoi didn't know how Koman did then, and worried about her very much. Kurosuke's wife Koyoshi also is worried about her daughter Koman.

Then Kurosuke come home with his grandson Tarokichi, a small boy. Tarokichi has a strange thing, and he shows it to everyone there. It was a woman's arm gripping a white thing. Kurosuke tried to take the white thing, but the arm didn't hand it off. Then Tarokichi tried, the arm handed it off easily. That white thing was a white flag that was the symbol of the Gengi clan, that was given by the ex-emperor Goshirakawa to Yoshikata. Kurosuke handed the white flag to Lady Aoi. If Yoshikata had left the white flag in a someone's keeping, Lady Aoi thought that that person could have been Koman. So that arm could be Koman.

A village headman came to Kurosuke's home, and he said that the officers of the Heike clan would come there soon. They are searching for Lady Aoi. Kurosuke's nephew Nisouta informed secretly it to the authority in order to get money. Lady Aoi goes to another room soon.

Saito Sanemori and Seno-o Juro Kaneuji come to Kurosuke's house. They both are the warriors of the Heike clan, and Seno-o is a high pressure man. Seno-o demands Kurosuke to take Lady Aoi there. Sanemori says that he will do nothing violently. If the unborn baby was a boy of Lady Aoi, he must be killed. However if it was a girl, it would be no problem. Sanemori said kindly. Kurosuke asked Sanemori to wait until Lady Aoi has a baby here. Seno-o is irritated, and says to rip Lady Aoi's abdomen and make the unborn baby's sex sure.

Koyoshi came to the room holding a thing. She handed it to Sanemori as a baby, and it was a woman's arm. Seno-o was furious. However, Sanemori has an idea and starts talking about that arm. Once upon a time in China, there was a woman who had a fever. She slept holding an iron stick in order to make her body temperature low, she gave birth an iron sphere at last. Lady Aoi was sick often, and she was helped by many lady-in-waitings. So it couldn't have been so strange that Lady Aoi gave birth an iron sphere. 'I might have lived too long to hear such a strange tale.' Seno-o was dumbfounded, and he left there alone furiously.

Then Lady Aoi comes into the room. Sanemori said that he is now one of the warriors of the Heike clan, but that he was a retainer of the Genji clan before. He intends to help Lady Aoi. And Sanemori said that the woman's arm could have been one that he slashed.

Koman was handed the white flag by Yoshikata, she jumped into Biwako lake in order to avoid chasing of the Heike army. Someone of the Heike army threw rope to her and helped, and Sanemori noticed that she had the white flag. Sanemori thought that he should have avoided being taken the white flag by the Heike army, and he slashed Koman's arm with the white flag that she was gripping. As the result, Koman's arm was dropped into the lake, and Koman herself was also dropped into the lake.

Tarokichi heard it, so that he got angry with Sanemori who killed his mother. Then fishers come to Kurosuke's house carrying Koman who has died. That arm keeps temperature, so that Sanemori puts it to Koman's dead body. Koman revived, and she knew that Lady Aoi keeps the white flag. And she has died again and really.

Kurosuke said that he and Koyoshi hadn't had a baby for a long time. At the time, Kurosuke found an abandoned baby. That baby had a short sword that was carved 'Mithumori' and a document that was written that she was a baby of a warrior of the Heike. Kurosuke adapted that baby, and it was Koman. Suddenly Lady Aoi starts suffering then. Koyoshi takes Lady Aoi to the other room.

After a short time, Lady Aoi has a boy baby. Sanemori named him Komao-maru. And he recommended to Lady Aoi to make Tarokichi the first retainer of Komao-maru. However, Lady Aoi doesn't accept it, because Tarokichi is a grandson of someone of the Heike. It seemed likely for Sanemori. He said Tarokichi to achieve a big meritorious deed at the battle against the Heike army after he becomes an adult. And after that, he would become a retainer of Komao-maru.

Seno-o appeared on the scene. He had hidden himself near Kurosuke's house until then. He demands to give the baby to him immediately. And he kicked Koman's dead body. Tarokichi was furious and he tried to slash to Seno-o with the short sword. Seno-o held Tarokichi's hand gripping the sort sword, and stabbed his abdomen with it. Everyone was surprised. Seno-o said that Koman was his real daughter. And he said Tarokichi to do a meritorious deed killing him. Seno-o makes Tarokichi cut his neck with his long sword and kill.

Lady Aoi watched it all, and she said that it was no problem that Tarokichi becomes a retainer of Komao-maru, because Tarokichi had killed Seno-o who was a warrior of the Heike. And Tarokichi became a bushi/warrior of the Genji. However, Tarokichi has to do the vendetta of his mother Koman, because he became a bushi/warrior. It is an unreasonable request that Tarokichi tries to kill Sanemori now. So Sanemori promised that he would be killed after Tarokichi becomes an adult. It would be difficult that Tarokichi finds Sanemori at the battle scene, because Sanemori must become an old man. Sanemori said that he would make himself younger in order that Tarokichi would find him easily. Sanemori called his horse, and he make Tarokichi ride on it together. After Sanemori took Tarokichi off a horse, he left there.

The End. (2003,12,6)