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Tsubouchi MemonaJ Theatre Museum ^1"Z' I92°S'
NIHONBASHI
IZUMI KYOKA
TRANSLATED BY M. CODY POULTON
By the Taisho era, the novelist and playwright Izumi Kyoka (1873-1939) was as famous for his stories and plays about the demimonde as for his ghost stories, and the former—works like ^4 Woman s Pedigree (Onna keizu, 1907) and The White Heron (Sbirasagi, 1909)—quickly became staples of the shinpa stage. Shinpa was a transitional and highly melodramatic form of theater that was modern in its subject matter and, later, its use of actresses. But it still retained many of the conventions of kabuki theater: male specialists for female roles (onnagata); the banamichi, a runway going from stage right through the auditorium, which is used for dramatic entrances and exits; andgeza incidental music, to name a few common features. Through the 1890s to 1910s, shinpa adapted, and even stole, a considerable amount of material from Kyoka and other contemporary novelists. By the second decade of the twentieth century, Kyoka himself began writing adaptations of his own fiction and, increasingly, original plays for shinpa, just as its star was falling in critical circles to the more modern, realistic shingeki (new theater).
Nihonbashi began life as a novel about competing geishas in the demimonde of Tokyo's old downtown, or shitamachi, district. In Edo (the old name for Tokyo) days, all roads pretty much led to the "Japan Bridge" of the title, but in Kyokas time it was losing ground to the more upscale districts of Maru-nouchi, Ginza, and Hongo. The story involves two geishas, the elegant Kiyoha and the much less elegant, feistier Oko, and two men, Igarashi Dengo, a rough fish merchant who has abandoned his wife and child and ruined his business over love for Oko, and Katsuragi Shinzo, a neurotic professor of medicine who has fallen for Kiyoha because she reminds him of his elder sister, who
became a emu iibine m pay for tils t-diu Rtlon, OkA reneiift Klytilm's lUCC*" > > ( ■ i
ItCIUI KfttlUragi .iw.iy, In tin si clic Mandated (hi t. i iinviiii nl ill,it Is ,ii',.....|i| It.. i
lii i patron (tliiHUii also means husband I. she throws I)engi> nut, lln si i-m* «linwi|fl Kyoka's gift for portraying strong, passionate, anil (nigii women; OktYn iliml, .»...( against Dcngo provides a eonple of famous uiisrki (showMoppeis). in wild li, In ImImiM
style, the actor poses and the audience shouts its praise. 'I his also marks a diam.tii.......
ing point in the play. 'Hie curious exchange between Oko and her appumin y- I-In (oshaku) Ochise, in which Oko pretends to be Katsuragi and Ochisc heiiimr* (>kn, t#{§| up the mistaken identity that leads to Ochise s death. Vowing revenge mi t »1.,, I i,,., stabs Ochise because she is wearing Oko's scarlet kanoko kimono. Oko then slays I >MtgH with his own sword and takes her own life, by poison, in the anus ol hei beloved I n suragi, who survives but has the blood of more women on his feckless hands, In all «t>| nj self-sacrifice not typical of Oko, she asks Kiyoha to look after him.
First published in September 1914 by Shun'yodo, with beautiful illiisii.iiliin lM Komura Settai, the novel was staged the following March with a script by tin I, 1,1u>P playwright Mayama Seika. A close look at the stage text (daihon) for this Ihsi pi ifn| mance reveals, however, that it was the work of several hands. Kyoka's fiction was 1,111111111 for its lively dialogue and intense dramatic incident, and Seika lifted many of the IlllM verbatim from the novel for his adaptation. Kitamura Rokuro, an actor whom KynJtl highly respected (he played Oko in the first production), also crafted much of the du logue. The text translated here is based on Kyoka's own stage adaptation, which he pull lished in 1917, and is found in the Complete Works ofKyoka. The famous shinj>,i onn.iy.u 1 Hanayagi Shotaro made his debut, as Ochise, in the play's first production. Nihtmb,ishi It now a standard of theshinpa repertoire, and Oko is one of the favorite roles of the leading kabuki onnagata Bando Tamasaburo V. Director Ichikawa Kon's film version, in.nl, 111 1956, features the brilliant shinpa actor Yanagi Eijiro in the role of Dengo.
ACT 3, SCENE 2. THE SECOND FLOOR OF INABA HOUSE
igarashi dengo is wrapped in a paddedjacket tied with a woman's waistband. He has been staring steadily at a fish knife with a wooden scabbard clutched in his hand. He now thrusts the knife into the sleeve of a quilted housecoat rolled up in front of the closet, and leaning back on the bedroll, he throws out his legs, his head hanging down. Then, taking his head in his hands, he glares up at the ceiling. All his actions are abrupt, rough. oko adjusts the cushion in front of the hibachi and sits, half facing dengo. She straightens herself, as if about to say something important. The sound of a hand drum can be heard in the distance.
oko: (iowasli ymil frtiP, whyilnil'l (intl
1)1 Nl.ll: I It'll hill, (,S«(VII )
oko: I ley, stop using my limllipu kt llki ymi'il had breakfast in bed.
DI'ngo: Hch lull, Who'd yim he inlklng Annul now?
OKO: Oh, you really si air inc. Y1111 weir listening, weren't you?
dunuo: You'd make a man ileal with thai racket. You thought 1 couldn't hear what win
going on downstairs? You've got a voice like a gunshot. oko: Yeah. I thought that seeing as how you've got such a thick skull, you'd be hard ol
hearing, too. But please go wash your face. There's something else I have to say, if you
don'r mind.
dengo: You want to tell me you're sorry cause I found out you've had it off with another man? Hey, Oko? (Sits up.) I don't have to wash my face to hear that, surely. II it was all just a dream, it'd be one thing, but if you're asking me to wake up and wash my face for this news, you've got another thing coming to you.
oko: You think I'm just going to lie back and take it?
dengo: If you don't, I hope you're ready for the consequences. You're really asking for it, you know.
oko (Resignedly): Go ahead, I'm ready for anything----
dengo: What I'm saying is, if you don't shut up, I'm not going to leave you in one piece,
Bitch! You want to get yourself killed? oko: I don't know if I've been killed or coddled, spoken my mind or given a piece of
somebody else's. Have I loved and been wronged, have I gone through hell? Sometimes
I've wanted to spend the rest of my life with him; other times I've just wanted to die.
I don't know anymore. Don't ask. Just get out, go home. I've got a good man now. dengo (Rises abruptly): What? Go home? oko : Yeah, for good. I'm not lettingyou in here again. dengo : You must be crazy, Oko.
oko : Don't "Oko" me. —You call me crazy? I am not. I've never felt so sane as I do right now.. .. The good doctor's diagnosis is that I'm madly in love. Madly in love, you hear? Not crazy. I'll stake my life on it. I'll be kind to strangers—you don't have to wash your face. Listen: Oko of Inaba House has got herself a husband. Mr. Katsuragi is his name. You and I are through.
dengo (Suddenly goes limp): What? A husband? That's all right by me if it s just a husband we're talking about. I got a big heart, so I'll overlook that. I'll be a good boy, or my name ain't Igarashi Dengo.
oko (Looks away and sighs): I've said all I can, so just be a good boy and get out. Right now. Stay away and there won't be any more trouble around here.
dengo : Nah. If that "husband" of yours shows up, what's wrong with my being here ? If he drops by without warning, why, I'll just throw this quilt over me and stow away in the clothes closet. That's one of my favorite games from 'way back.
oko: Be my guest. But if you do, we'll be overrun with roaches. So forget your bedroom pranks and just get yourself straight down the stairs and out the door.
ni'.NUOi Oko, 11y saying thai again,
okO: I told you, stop1 ailing mc"(>ko."   All itght, I'll    it asulii it « fun III
be overrun with roaches il yon don't dengo: What Jo you cake nic lor? Just what do you take me lof r
oko: A seal in a bearskin, that's what I take you lor.    Listen, you nl.tk. .1 >..... •
on a boatload of lumber, and you left Hokkaido ami swam into that hat lint 1 and set yourself up in the seafood business for a time, Your lishy lunch got ton 4 lit. pass into the best bars on the embankment, didn't they? And ohm yttml '•*•*• •'«« Kiyoha, well, the sky was the limit for you! Like some mole wlm'.l I.mud iln »ltt§4 of an angel. No doubt you tugged on her sleeve and she t tigged l>a. I- > 11. t I > • i. >. , it knew it, your eyes rolled and you fell head over heels for her. What a laugh I     II in
somebody Kiyoha threw over, I thought to myself, who i .ties il In '•. ,i i.....pill u |
even acockxoach? I'll sew him into the hem of my skirts and wave him In hi i Uti |nti to spite her. And when it happened to be a seal in a bearskin, lolkt. oiiltlni lit If ItiH notice. Every tongue in town was wagging. The fact I ended up with yttll llltllf Wf^H of the seven wonders of the quarter. Better yet, one of the wondeis ol tin wn»M i You remember, don't you? When I listened to your story, it certainly waslt I lot I
Nor for the money, no... I did it just to get even with Kiyoha. When the Hint*.....
and I get tired of you, I'll call it off, I said. And you made a solemn promise llml It wtf all right by you, didn't you? You've got no grounds for complaint, I'm Hud "f ytt$| so let's call it quits. Go on, get out! Go home this minute. And don't evi i mum. Im, k From now on, the two of us don't even know each other. You understand ? dengo (Rubbing bis eyes, silently glares at oko. Finally bursts out laughing): I lah, hah, h«M Crazy dame! Hah, hah, hah! What an outburst! I don't have anything to add i" ilm that's for sure. A regular little fireball, you are. I love it! Hah, hah, hah! Von it hi i nit
when you're mad. (Again he leans back on the bedding, his head hanging don <u,,i»dil».....
out his legs. Belying his words, he shakes his legs as if to fan theflames of agony In hl\ Wft j ; oko (Sharply): I told you, get out! . . . This is the Inaba House, Oko's plate Nil, it
belongs to Mr. Katsuragi. It's his ... second residence. dengo: I don't give a damn if it's a whorehouse. If I'm in the way, I'll just crawl Inioth*
closet. Hah, hah, hah! (Laughs mirthlessly.) oko: What's the point of losing my temper? You're a cockroach, not a man. Jul! I to what I have to say. If I'm a real geisha, it doesn't make a damn bit of dlllel whether I've got a patron, a client, or even a guy on the side. But from this d.i\ I
rd, by the grace of the gods, I'm Katsuragi's wife. (Sits up.) I won't have th« I of another man hanging over my house for three blocks around. Do you really ililliit some animal in a housecoat, like some oversexed badger figurine, is the sot i ol dung I'd decorate my bedroom with? (Bolts up.) Look! There's this filthy oaf slinking up my tatami! I don't need your kind in my place. Get out of my way! Just clear oll'l (Sheyanks on the quilt that dengo is leaning against. The knife with its wooden urfli bardfalls out with a clatter, dengo leaps up, fixing his eyes on it.)
wn
ward
OKO [DrHw* Imk a *ttp)\ Hey, Did ymi have tlitnim yi.u last night I
DINGOl It'* lot you. bltCII I got I wliid ol Katsuragi, yuti see, and I've made up my
mind. If youilon'i dint up, It'll he thk I Indnsiaml )(l)raws the knfe from iH sheath,)
I low about It?
(Kicking up her skirts, OKO makes for the stairwell. mNV.O reaches out and pulls her hack by her obi, oko fills on her haunches, shaking loose the trapdoor over the stairwell, which slams shut. Barred from escape by her own hands, she quietly returns to her seat, Dumbfounded, dengo stands bolt upright.)
oko: Kill me. Go ahead and run me through.
dengo: Whore! (Draws back a step.)
oko: Kill me! Do it! Run me through! That's what a knife is for, isn't it? Cut mc, slash me, right to the bone, a stroke for every letter in Katsuragi's name. How many does that make? (Countson herfingers.) "K" for "kill." "A" for "assassin." "T" for "torture," ... Who knows how many strokes it takes? But I'll take it! I'll take it as long as I draw breath. I'll watch you engrave his name on my heart. I'll show you how a woman dies! Go on, stab me. (Edgingup to him.)
dengo: Uh ... (Retreating.)
oko: If the blade can't cut, I'll take off my kimono. (Laying her hands on the waistband.) Is my skin too thick? Shall I take that off, too? How about it, eh, hairy bear? Shall I
scrape off my scales for you?
(dengo still retreats inch by inch and, as if unaware of his own actions, raises the trapdoor to his shoulders and tumbles down the stairs, oko turns around in the direction of the noise, then looks about her. Seeing the cherry blossoms arranged in the alcove and adjusting her dress, she takes a sprig in her hand and steadily gazes at it, smiling faintly.) oko (To the flowers): There's not a breath of wind, but little cherry blossom, you tremble so.
ochise (Dashingin, embraces oko): Oko! oko : Well now. Your lessons over for the day?
ochise: Why, you talk as if nothing happened! Oko, I hadn't the faintest idea what to do. We were all huddled together at the bottom of the stairs, at our wit's end.... Well, thank goodness you're through with your bear friend, hm?
oko: Just forget about it. I've got something to show you instead. (From the carefully folded clothes in her dresser, she takes out an undergarment It has a dappled kanoko design on a scarlet and pale blue ground.) Once—I can't remember when—I met Kiyoha on the way back from Ichikoku Bridge, and she was wearing one just like this. With her black hair and pure white skin it was a little on the flashy side, but it suited her. She cut a real figure, she did. Quite the coquette, I can tell you. Oh, I wanted so much to wear something like that myself, but I'd never have looked good in it unless it was maybe a dinner party and I had a dance to perform. So I thought I'd give it to you, and I placed an order at the tailor's to make up one in a hurry. They brought it over last night. You'll look just right in it. Go ahead, try it on.
m
IM  Itiii Okrt, yniiil Wiimr Ii Mir.
OKÔi You're my kid liiiei, ami'l your Ml^lil as will lir. (in iilip.ul, put Ii nil tivrl Ntp (iikO h,i\ o( nisi u.intl, puh il im, ami Hilm u/> Iw iip/wnimr, 01 nisľ, blinhlHi li,i/i/ii/v. ttttnth before the mirror.)
O Kôl It looks good on you. (She says, ,inil then lo/la/nes onto ocmsi'i /(i/>.) OkA—
OCIIISI'.! . . . ř
okú: Call me Katiuragi. (Laughs.) ociiisi.: 1 Id ho ho. Madame Kamuagi.
OKÔ: You make me sound like a prostitute____No, Mister Kaiswagi.
ociiisi'.: Mr. Kacsuragi____
oko (Impersonating katsuragi, embraces ociiisií): Yes? Or, railu-r (More ginjfly), yeah?... Okö! Let me spoil you, girl.
CURTAIl