This play that was written by Kawatake Shinshichi in 1888 premiered in Tokyo. That was based on a real incident that happened in 1696, was well known as ‘One Hundred murders at Yoshiwara’, but it doesn’t mean that a murderer killed a hundred people. Only a courtesan Yatsuhashi was murdered then. Kabukiza Theater presented ‘Kago Tsurube Sato-no Eizame’ in April. Tamasaburou performed Yatsuhashi, and Kanzaburo who succeeded to the name in March performed Jirozaemon this time.

It isn’t wrong to say that this is one of the stereotype melodramas. After a courtesan Yatduhashi turns down an unsophisticated man Jirozaemon terribly, he kills her. Like that betrayal was not only matter then. Audiences accept it as a current problem of themselves, and the scene of carnage as the result of the love affair gives strong impression to them.  

Prostitution and theft are said as the oldest jobs of human. And there is nothing as miserable as the life of a woman who sells her body. Yoshiwara was the biggest red light district in Japan, and many girls who were sold by their parent, or decided to come themselves for parent, or were kidnapped gathered there. As girls came from each different area, they were demanded to speak in Yoshiwara language. They lost home, virgin, and moreover dialect.

When Yatsuhashi walks, talks, smiles and wears luxurious clothes, they all impress that she is a courtesan of Yoshiwara to audiences strongly. Stupid rules to play at Yoshiwara and a lot of useless procedure destroy her human feelings gradually. It meant they were dying gradually. Audiences forget she is a human, because her beauty dazzles them like Jirozaemon. Courtesans of Yoshiwara are symbolized into Yatsuhashi, and all of them are prostitutes instead of a human being. It seems that they can’t live outside Yoshiwara.

Yatsuhasi have a lover, Einojo who is a lordless samurai, and he lives by her assistance. Einojo was jealous against Jirozaemon, because he tried doing redemption of Yatsuhashi, and Einojo demanded to refuse him completely to prove her love. Yatsuhashi said that it was too hard to be a prostitute without a lover. It could have been true for prostitutes, but it sounded too sad. And Einojo didn’t deserve Yatsuhashi’s serious love.

When Yatsuhashi smiled, Jirozaemon, a silk merchant, fell in love at the first sight. Jirozaemon thought that he was ugly and unsophisticated, so he was glad that Yatsuhashi didn’t care it. It wasn’t love, but he thought that it was the only one love in his life. So Yatsuhashi’s betrayal hurt him deeply, and he left from Yoshiwara after that. When Jirozaemon visited to Yoshiwara again four months later, he was living as like a ghost.

Japanese swords appear on many kabuki plays, and they kill people directly or indirectly. Especially Muramasa’s sword was called a weird sword that had a mysterious episode. Jirozaemon’s sword wasn’t an exception, because it was made by Muramasa. Its title ‘Kago Tsurube’ is a Japanese sword’s name, which means that its edge doesn’t keep even water on it the same as a well bucket that made from bamboo. It’s never sheathed without human’s blood. Also in this case, Jirozaemon slashed Yatsuhashi by Kago Tsurube the same as its episode. When Yatsuhashi betrayed JIrozaemon, it wasn’t wrong to say that he died then, and he died again when he killed her.

Revenge means nothing, even if it was at good case or bad case. It is a common awareness that revenge makes a drama to be interesting, but it is too painful. Yatsuhashi and Jirozaemon made a mistake when they estimated themselves. Sometimes lover and family would not be a person who has enough confidence. If someone didn't have a friend he could trust, it must mean a terrible suffering. This play shows the worst result of the relationship between Yatsuhashi and Jirozaemon. (2005,4,2)