In Sanuki, current Kagawa prefecture, a sword polisher killed a samurai because his wife and that samurai had affair, and he was chased as a target of the vendetta and was killed finally in 1827. Kimura Kinka wrote this play that was based on that vendetta, and it premiered in 1925. Although Kabuki doesn't have a director usually, Noda Hideki who is a popular director remade it with his way and it premiered in 2001, and it made a big hit with wonderful reputation, and I watched it at the time. He setup it just after the vendetta of the forty seven retainers of Ako that happened in 1702. People were excited to the vendetta at that time, so Hirai brothers’ vendetta became more reasonable than its original play. This was its second performance, but it seemed very fresh the same as the first time.

In this play, a sword polisher Tatsuji made a trick in order to surprise a chief retainer Hirai Ichiroemon of the lord Awadu., and Hirai who was surprised died by apoplexy suddenly. Tatsuji thought that the trick killed Hirai, so he ran away. When Hirai died, there were some retainers with him, and they testified that Tatsuji killed Hirai, because samurai should never die with apoplexy. As the result, Hirai’s two sons started chasing Tatsuji as a target of their father’s vendetta.

Two years later, Hirai brothers caught Tatsuji at Dogo Hot Spring, but Tatsuji didn’t intend to fight against the brothers.  If the brothers killed Tatsuji, he said that it wouldn’t be a vendetta, but was a murder actually, because he wasn’t good at fighting by a sword. Tatsuji was crying, and insisted that he wanted to be alive. As Hirai brothers heard it, they hesitated to kill him, but finally they killed him.

Knzaburo performed as Tatsuji; Somegoro and Kantaro performed as Hirai brothers. It was the best that actors seemed to enjoy themselves on the stage. It's great!

As I always write and say, revenge means nothing. It isn’t wrong to say that revenge is a new murder, and revenge produced new revenge. The bereaved family became the target of revenge, after they accomplished their revenge. Revenge of revenge was forbidden by law also at that time, but the bereaved family in the samurai society was always expected to do the vendetta.

"Reflexious Sur La Guillotine" is an essay about the abolition of capital punishment that was written by Albert Camus, well known as an irrational novelist. Its absolute persuasive power is based on the author's high culture and high humanity, and the firm belief. It is very sorry that the death penalty continues in Japan, and I always think that it should be abolished. Although it is clear not to become a criminal deterrent, the death penalty continuation is told as a necessary factor of the society in Japan. And President Bush believes that the strong military forces keep peace of the world. The author said that the death penalty was so-called a first-class premeditated murder by law. Camus said that the essence of the death penalty was the mathematical retaliation by law. And the vendetta is the same as the death penalty essentially.

The non-reason of revenge is suggested in this play consistently. Tatsuji who became the target of revenge unexpectedly runs from place to place and it seems humorous, but he was a condemned criminal basically. And Hirai brothers became to concern with revenge unexpectedly, but a sense of the evanescence of life drifted gradually in their revenge journey. They felt that their suffering was based on the revenge journey itself rather than Tatsuji. Cornered persons were the brothers not Tatusji.

Tatsuji insisted to the brothers that it was a murder instead of a vendetta, and it was right. Hirai brothers recognized it, but there was no way to come home except killing Tatsuji. It was unreasonable, but was natural as samurai at that time. They killed Tatsuji as the only way to become free, and it wasn’t the vendetta of their father anymore. Another suffering of Hirai brothers was started then, and they wouldn’t forget their murder until they die.

Sometimes people say that the innocent was murdered, but I think that everyone needs to recognize that nobody should be killed even if the victim was guilty or not guilty. Tatsuji wasn't an innocent. And after Hirai brothers killed Tatsuji, they weren't innocence anymore.

Meiji government forbade revenge legally in 1873. (2005.5.4)