"Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan" that was written by Tsuruya Nanboku premiered in 1825 as an episode of “Kadadehon Chushingura” It made a big hit, so he wrote another episode of “Chushingura” again, it’s this play “Kamikakete Sango Tasetsu,” and performed in the same year. 

Both are the works of the fourth Tsuruya Nanboku who has established reputation in unrefined eroticism, and a ghastly slaughter scene. Although Tsuruya Nanboku means the fourth now, that name was an actor’s name until the third generation. A playwright married a daughter of the third Truruya Nanboku, and he inherited the name, the fourth Tsuruya Nanboku as a playwright.

The story of “Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu” is the following; 

Although Fuwa Kazuemon was a retainer of the lord Enya, he was fired because of the responsibility for the incident that the government-founds 300ryo was robbed, and he changed name to Satsuma Gengobei. After that the lord Enys caused the bloodshed incident, and committed ritual suicide, hara-kiri as the result. Gengobei would like to commit the vendetta of the lord Enya, so he tried to compensate 300ryo, but he managed to make 200ryo, and he needs 100ryo still now. However, with one side, Gengobei goes to the red-light district often to see a geisha, Koman. 

Koman has a husband, Sasanoya Sangoro who is a boatman. Sangoro was disinherited by his father Tokuemon when he was very young, but Tokuemon asked him to make money 100ryo for the ex-master. Sangoro accepted it in order to be allowed to come home. As Sangoro heard that Gengobei got 100ryo from his uncle, Sangoro and Koman obtained the money from Gengobei by the plot. At that midnight, Gengobei attacked the house in which Sangoro and the others were hiding, and he killed five persons, nevertheless Sangoro and Koman managed to run away. After that, Hachiemon who is Gengobei’s servant was arrested instead of Gengobei as a murderer because of loyalty. 

Koman has an elder brother Yasuke, and Sangoro knows that Yasuke robbed the government-founds 300ryo from the Enya mansion, so Sangoro killed Yasuke for the loyalty against his father’s ex-master Fuwa Kazuemon. After Sangoro left, Gengobei visited there and made Koman kill her baby and killed her finally.

Gengobei met Tokuemon who was an ex-manservant of the Fuwa family, and received 100ryo from him. He found that the money was the same as 100ryo that he was taken by Sangoro. Sangoro was a son of Tokuemon, and he didn’t know who the ex-master was, because he had been disinherited, moreover Gengobei changed his name from Fuwa Kazuemon. Just after Sangoro knew it, he did harakiri as his apology. Gengobei return to Fuwa Kazuemon, and departed to do the vendetta of the lord Enya. Irrational.

Although kabuki has developed as a popular entertainment from the beginning, its direction tends to be sophisticated as traditional performing arts recently, and the eroticism is imagined tacitly. However, in Namboku Tsuruya's work, decadent customs of the Edo period is directed quite clearly still now. Sangoro and Koman, Gengobei and Koman, those relationships show a diagram of a prostitute and a guest or a pimp at that time clearly. Their sexual acts are shown on the stage frankly, and it makes audiences shy. It might be a suitable way to show so-called karma that is between a man and a woman impressively more than sublimated a sexual act to beauty.

At the beginning, Koman has another name called ‘Dakki’ who was a mistress of the king Chuoh the 31st king of the ancient dynasty Inn in China. Chuoh was the last king of Inn, and Dakki was well known as a beauty that made Chuoh do the stupid sumptuous feast that became the origin of a word of ‘shuchinikurin.’ Although Dakki was just a beauty at the beginning, she was possessed by the supernatural creature of the fox which was living for 1000 years, and she transformed herself into a witch. This play said that Dakki is another name of Koman.  

Koman has tattoo ‘gotairiki’ on her arm, and it is abbreviation of Gotairiki-Bodhisattva. At the Edo period, women wrote the word as the letter seal, it meant that the letter must not be opened except an addressee. Also women wrote it on a samisen, an ornamental hairpin, or a tobacco pouch as an oath word that meant that their love against a lover must not change. 

Koman showed her tattoo ‘gotairiki’ to Gengobei as a symbol of her love. But Sangoro remade her tattoo to ‘sango taisetsu’ later. That meant that Sangoro was important, so Gengobei was furious when he saw it. Gengobei forced Koman to kill her baby as the result. This play is Namboku Tsuruya's work, so a slaughter scene cannot be avoided. Although there was a mass murder that has five victims, it was the most impulsive scene that Koman killed her baby. After she killed her baby, Gengobei killed her and cut her head off.

After Gengobei committed a mass murder, five victims, he hid himself in Aizenin. Aizomein is a temple deified Aizome-myooh that is god of eroticism. The esoteric Buddhism should be fearful! And Tsuruya Nanboku inlayed his eroticism everywhere on the stage like those examples. Tokizou performed as Koman this time, and he did it well. Koman became a geisha for her husband Sangoro, and she squeezed money from men.  Although she didn’t like to do it, she couldn’t be disappointed to such a situation. Koman is not only a lovely woman but also severe. Koman’s sex appeal comes from her shoulder. And Sangoro, Nizaemon performed this time, hugged Koman from behind. That scene was lascivious and erotic very much. It seemed that Gengobei, Kichiemon performed this time, had no way to enter between Sangoro and Koman. 

Now, the dreary tragedy often seen is caused in Namboku Tsuruya's works by the person with a common character. Oiwa in "Tokaido Yotsuya Kaida", Sakura-hime in "Sakura-hime Azuma Bunsyo", and Gengobei in "Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu", they all are the characters of the realistic-drama of commoners, but they cannot sweep away the impression which cannot get used to the world’s vision. Although they live in the corruption era of the Edo period, they are caught by the moral which belongs to the historical drama. As the result, they caused the tragedy themselves. 

Tsuruya Nanboku is well known as an author of the erotic and grotesque works, and “Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu” is on of his works surely, but it shows the thought of the loyalty in Bushido consistently. Gengobei in real Fuwa Kazuemon is an ex-retainer of the lord Enya. And Gengobei’s servant, Hachiemon is arrested as a substitute murderer of his master. Sangoro took the money 100ryo from Gengobei and gave it to Kazuemon who is Gengobei. That confusion was caused because Sangoro didn’t know who his father’s ex-master was. Loyalty doesn’t need its own face. Each one makes an effort busily for his loyalty, and a crime is concealed and justified. All these loyalty are converged to the Uchiiri finally.

"Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan" made a big hit, and one of its reasons was the great reputation of “Kanadehon Chushingura.” Both successes were brought by the 47 lord-less retainers of Ako. They committed the vendetta of the lord Ako, and finally they died with ritual suicide. It was an impulsive incident at that time, and people recalled the word ‘loyalty’ that they had forgotten. Of course Tsuruya Nanboku had to write a hit drama as a playwright, but I think that he would have wanted to show that the actual condition of the loyalty was irrational in this play to the audiences and even society at that time. (2005,6,4)