Tsutomu KAWAMOTO
Humanities Division
Reference and Special Collections Department

This is a translation of the article of the same title in the NDL monthly Bulletin No. 581
(August 2009).

Kaidan-banashi (lit. horror story telling) swept through Rakugo (comic story telling) circles in Edo (present-day Tokyo) between the end of the Bunka era (1804-1818), where the popular culture fully bloomed, and the Tempo Reforms (1841-1843) in which the Shogunate tried to assert a tighter rein on public morals (See Picture1).
The trend was set by the 1st Shozo Hayashiya (1781-1842) whose name became a hereditary name for Rakugo performers (the present one is the 9th). Shozo initially called his form Bakemono-banashi (lit. monster story telling), though Kaidan-banashi had become the regular name by the middle of the Tempo era (1830-1844).

Picture 01: Balloon says "uninterrupted flow of audiences from 10 a.m. to the evening regardless of weather." Billboard says "The original Bakemono-banashi with big props and gimmicks." (Shozo Hayashiya, [illustrated by Sadahide Gountei], Hyakka-sen, Yohachi Nishimuraya, 1834. NDL call no.: KD831-182)

The work in the title is one of Shozo's best known repertoire pieces. The National Diet Library (NDL) also holds another woodblock print version of the same title (call number: 207-854). Both of them were initially owned by Sohachi Ono who operated a book rental service in Nagoya. The Imperial Library (a predecessor of the NDL) purchased them through Seikichi Aoyama, a prominent bookshop owner, on May 19, 1899. The General Library of the University of Tokyo and Sanko Library possess the copies of the same print, though the one in the NDL boast better printing and preservation status.

The story is set in Kamakura during the Entoku era (1489-1492). The lord of the land, Katsuyoshi Imadegawa, commits maladministration through the influence of his favorite concubine, Eginu. Kishinojo Katsura, Imadegawa's loyal vassal, attempts to remove Eginu by manipulating her through seduction and, failing in the attempt, commits seppuku. Now, a twist of fate promptly reincarnates Kishinojo as Hanjiro Shinanoya who grows up to be a libertine. Twenty years after the fateful event, Hanjiro marries Ocho, who has a shop selling obi (girdle), a woman 20 years above his age (actually Eginu) for money despite his relationship with courtesan Hamasaki in the licensed quarter Hamada-ya. Hanjiro murders Ocho and tries unsuccessfully to elope with Hamasaki.

Picture 02: Hanjiro murders Ocho, a crime appropriately committed in a cemetery. A struggle, a dagger, and a gush of blood.

Picture 03: The ghost of Ocho paying surprise visit to Hanjiro and his lover Hamasaki at Hamada-ya. Her husband/murderer is not amused and prepares to throw a wooden pillow at her.

The vengeful ghost of Ocho tracks down the fleeing lovers and devours Hamasaki and their new-born baby. Hanjiro is saved by Kokuhon, a traveling priest who happens along. On Kokuhon's advice, he repents, renames himself Kishinojo Katsura II, is forgiven for his crime and enrolled as Lord Imadegawa's vassal. A Happy Ending.

Picture 04: Ocho, now a vengeful ghost, has just bitten off the left arm of Hanjiro's baby. Hanjiro tries to protect Hamasaki with a drawn sword.

Obiya Ocho Sanze Monogatari is based on the joruri gidayu-bushi (traditional Japanese ballad drama) work Katsura-gawa renri no shigarami (first performed in 1776, a story of lovers' suicide by Ohan, 14-year-old daughter of Shinanoya, and Nagaemon, 40-year-something obi shop owner) with reversed genders of characters and an added karma element. Shozo Hayashiya notes in the preface that "Nagaemon's role is taken by a woman with Kishino the geiko (apprentice geisha) as supporting cast" implying that he borrowed heavily from Katsura-gawa enishi no adanami (first performed at Ichimura-za in 1814) in which the ghost of Kishino possesses Ohan.

Shozo was apprenticed to the 1st Karaku Sanshotei in 1806. At first, he used stage-name Rakuga Sanshotei, which he subsequently changed to Karyu, Shozo, Shozo Hayashiya (written in two ways). He shaved his head and became a priest in 1835 acquiring the title of Shozobo and Rinsen, but his priesthood proved short-lived. His last years were unhappy as regulations tightened and story-telling with fancy sound effects was forbidden. There is a swan song anecdote from his funeral; when he was cremated, fireworks embedded in his coffin went off, allowing him to literally go out with a bang.

Shozo's rakugo was easy to understand, worldly and rich with puns; he was good at smooth and flowing story telling. He acquired his own rakugo theatre in Ryogoku in 1817 and the business went on the right track thanks to Kaidan-banashi making full use of sound machines, trick effects and puppets. In particular, a large puppet of Ocho produced by Mekichi Izumi the puppet-maker astonished audiences.

A graphic description like "... mirror-like eyes, gaping mouth stretching from ear to ear revealing the back teeth ... flickering tongue, audibly munches down the newborn's limb" (pp.28-29) tells us of elaborate productions involving large-scale effects.

Shozo also had a talent for painting, was fond of kyoka (lit. mad poem: a comical form of the Japanese traditional poem waka) and gidayu, and excelled in devising gimmicks. He participated in devising special effects for Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (by Tsuruya Nanboku IV, first performed at Nakamura-za in 1825). Truly, he was a driving force behind the Kaidan craze of the period.

The copy in the NDL's possession is a self-bound volume which had originally been purchased by Shozo from the printer to be distributed at his theatre as a freebie. It vividly conveys to us the atmosphere of then-popular Kaidan-banashi.

Shozo Hayashiya (illustrated by Kunisada Utagawa), Obiya Ocho Sanze Monogatari
Zen-se ha Kishinojo Katsura, Kono-yo ha Hanjiro Shinanoya (lit. Former Kishinojo Katsura, Now Hanjiro Shinanoya) from the Yohachi Nishimuraya 1825 collection
NDL call no.: 207-969

• Reference:
  • Shinji Nobuhiro, Rakugo wa ikani-shite keisei sareta ka, Heibon-sha, 1986
    NDL call no.: KD831-182

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