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Kanadehon Chtshingura

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Kanadehon Chtshingura CHAPTER FIVE Kanadehon Chtshingura MonB rHeN fusr e ThLB op Fnuoel Loverrv Modern lmages of Chúshingura Í7 anadehon Chashinqura 1The TreasrLry of Loyal Relain- .N.rr1 i, so deeply ro"uen into the cullrrral fabric o[ lapan llrat until quite recently there was hardly anyone who didn't lrrow the story. Based on a historical vendetta known as the Akrj Incident that occurred in r7oz, the play has spawned spin- r'lT works in many other genres, including a stoýelling series lrrlled Gishi Meimei Den (Biographies of Loyal Retainers)1 tlurt was popular in the second half of the eighteenth century. 'l'lrcse and other variants often developed subsidiary storylines tlrat had very little to do with the original play. After the Russo-Japanese War of r9o4-o5, the popular aníwa-bushi narrative singer Tochuken Kumoemon2 scored ir lrit with úte song Gishiden (Legend of the Loyal Retainers). 'I his entertainer had the backing of a right-wing group called llrc Black Ocean Society, which tinged his Chtishingura slrlry with ultra'nationalistic ideals of loyalty and patríotism. lrr tl-re lead up to World War II, thís nationalistic flavor had t.volved to the point where the story was featured prominently irr government-mandated textbooks for elementary schools. It 65 ChúshinlurL MoRE TEAN Jusr A Thrs o! FeuoAl LovAr,Ty extolled as the "revenge of loyal retainers that lifted our irrrllrropology focused on carnival practices, Maruya brilliantly hearts," providing an "antidote" to a complacency that had r.lrrcidated the secÍet to Chúshíngurd's enduring populariý. supposedly set in during the Genroku era because of pro- On a practical level, Chashingura inspired such a vast longed peace. For Japanese of a certain age today, this is the rrnrnber of films and television programs because it's so rich in decisive image evoked by CňasAingura' ;xrlcntial plots, with 47 loyal retainers to choose from in addi- As a poshvar corrective, the play was banned by the Occu_ lirrrl to peripheral chaláctels. All kinds of stories can be told pation authorities immediately after World War II, and it irrvirtually endless variations, featuring characters who are so wasn't until 1947 that it was revived on the kabuki stage. The rrcll known that little expositíon is needed. It's little wonder ban was lifted on cinema in 1952, after which movie com- llrrrt the play has proven so attractive to producers. panies competed to produce Chashíngura films on a yearly basis, resulting in many variants.l Kanadehon Chashingura as Domestic Drama of all the movies and television plográms created on the Chashingura theme after World War II, perhaps the most lrr r7or, Asano Naganori, lord of the Ako domain, drew his widely watched was the NHK Taiga Drama series AŘÓ RÓsňi smrrcl in the Corridor of the Pines in Edo Castle and wounded (Forty-Seven Ronin) broadcast in 1964, the year of the Tokyo Kila Yoshinaka, a senior shogunal official.7 As a result of this olympics.a Televísion was quickly permeating ]apanese irfraction the Asano clan was abolished and Naganori him- households at the time, and this series became extiemely sclf was forced to commit ritual suicide. The next year, íormer popular, perhaps in part because programming was still quite rclainers ofthe dead lord, led by Oishi Kuranosuke, broke into limited. I believe that the high rate of economic growth being Kir.a's mansion and murdered him in revenge. This incident experíenced at the time was a contributing factor to the showt lrccame known as Chashingura solely because of the popular success. Audiences no doubt felt that although the Japanese srrccess of the play Kanadehon Chtshingura.E may be weak as individuals, by working together- just like Initially produced as a puppet play in 1748, Kanadehon the heroes oíthe TV series-the nation could recover from ()lúshíngura later achieved great success as a kabuki play. the devastating wartime defeat ar-rd overcome adversiý. This Although there were many earlier plays that dealt with the romanticized inage oÍ Chashingura has been an inspiration sarre material, the popularity of this version was unprec- for the Japanese people ever since. cdented. To clarify the reasons behind this, I'll begin by In the r98os, when fapan became internationally recog- providing a broad overview of the plot. I believe this tale is nized as an economic powerhouse,t author Maruya Saiichi6 cusier to understand if we view it as a tapestry of three or four published his much-talked_aboú Chashingura to wa Nanika interwoven domestic dramas. (What Is Chnshingura?), probably out of a perceived need The first drama, obviously, is the tragedy of the Asano to discuss the tale in a way that was divorced from right-wing clan. To avoid shogunal censorship, the incident was set in the sentiments of loyalty and patriotism. Incorporating ethnolog- past, with the protagonist Asano Naganori cast as En'ya Han- ical theories of ancestor worship and discourse from culfural glr.r,e a historical figure who lived in the fourteenth century. 66 67 'I}LE MoRE THAN JUsT Á oF FEUDAL LoYALIY llis story is tolcl in Volume zr of the Taiheiki (Chronicle of ( lrlrrld Pacification) in an episode títled En'ya Hangan Zanshi lrrl KoÍo (The Slander and Death of En'ya Hangan). In that r.1risrlde, the shogunal official Ko no MoronÓl0 lusts after Han- lirrrr's beautiful wife ard asks Yoshicla Kenko, the famous author rtl 'l'surezuregusa (Essays in ldleness) to write her a love let- k r on his behall When his advances are rebuffed, the furious l\'lrlronÓ humiliates Hangan by slandering him in front of the 2 rlrogun. This outrageous incident provides the starting point E9=:. lu Chrtshingura. l'á lll the opening scene, the smitten MoronÓ tries to give llrrrgan's wife Kaoyo a love letter but is foiled by Hangan's r,rrrrade Wakasanosuke of the Mononoi clan. Resentful, l\loronr mercilessly insults Wakasanosuke, who, infuriated, rrrrr's to kill MoronÓ the next day at the s}rogunal palace' He rIrllrcs his intentions with his o]d retainer Kakogawa HonzÓ, ru lro expresses false support for the plan by cutting a limb off E! .r pine tree and urging his hot-tempered young lorcl to like- r isc cut his enemy down without hesitation. In fact, however, .!= = 'l i! lltllrzo goes to the palace and bribes MolonÓ to make peace n:; I !.! ! rr ilh Wakasanosuke. 'P = i3q I lonzÓ's ruse wolks. When MoronÓ next meBts Wakasa- _:É losLrke, he '9! 'Ě' apologizes so profusely that Wakasarosuke cannot žž1 lrring himself to draw his sword, thus avoiding further trou- lllc' Honzó, who secretly Watches the exchange, breathes a riglr of relief. But immediately afterwards Hangan appears .o :l rrrrd rrnwittingly gets embroiled in the conflict when he deliv- l) lls a letter from his wife. The letter, written in response to N'lrrlonÓ's unwelcome advances, contains a classical poem g € llrirt reads, "My night kimono already feels heavy. How then j^1 could I add another layer not my own?" Kaoyo's roundabout rcjection further enrages MoronÓ, who had ignobly prostrated lrirrrself before Wakasanosuke just norrents before. The brunt 68 ó9 Kanadehon Chashingura MoRE THAN JUST Á TALE oF FEUDAL LoYALTY of MoronÓ's fury falls on Hangan, who has no ídea what is happening or why. MoronÓ mercilessly browbeats and humil- iates him to the point where he is driven to drawing his sword. At that moment, HonzÓ emerges from hiding and restrains Hangan. Hangan is forced to commit ritual suicide without the sat- isfaction of striking down hís enemy. Just befole he dies, he entrusts his blood-stained short sword to his senior retainer Óboshi Yuranosuke, (the character based on the real_life Óishi Kuranosuke) who has just arrived from their home domain. Lamen|ing the death oí her husband. Kaoyo becomes a nun and surrenders Hangan's castle. The young retainers in her service are spoiling for a fight, but Yuranosuke restrains them for the time being while secretly vowing to avenge their lord's death. Klrrrpei (left) mistakes SadakurÓ (right) for a boar and shoots him with a rrrrrsket (from Chushingura woodblock print series by Utagaýa This, then, is the tragedy that befalls the En'ya family. Ás Kanadehon hrrnisada l). Photo courtesy ofTsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museun. described in the Taiheiki souÍce text, the underlying cause is the sexual harassment that Morono inf icts on Hangan's beau- tiful wife. We must not forget, however, that the loyalty of the Moronó occurred. His failure to come to his lord's aid in his old retainer Kakogawa HonzÓ to the Momonoi clan was the liure ofneed was considered a capital offense. fuhamed ofhis direct, albeit inadvertent, source of the En'ya clan's demise tlcreliction of duty, Kanpei decides to commit ritual suicide and created the thirst for revenge. If Honzo had allowed Han- lrut is talked out of it by Okaru. She convinces him to flee gan to kill MoronÓ, no vendetta would have been needed. rvith her to her parents'house and live as a hunter. Always Álso, it was the bribe that HonzÓ paid MoronÓ to protect his llttxious to redeem himself, Kanpei wants to joín Hangan's lord Wakasanosuke that brought MoronÓ's wrath down upon olher retainers when he learns of their plot to mount a ven- Hangan in the first place. tlctta against MoronÓ. The avengers need money to fund theír plan, so okaru's Ilther Teraoka Yoichibe sells Okaru into prostitution and The Tragedy of the Teraoka Family <lonates the money to the cause. The Teraokas were origi- The first farnily affected by the En'ya clan's demise is that rrally farmers; although the oldest son Heiemon is ostensibly of Teraoka Heiemon, whose younger sister Okaru is in love rr retainer serving the En'ya clan, he is only a lowly foot sol- with Hayano Kanpei, an En'ya retainer.
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