YATSUHASHI PART (2) Lower Stance
Played by Kagotsurube ( Sato no Eizame)
This is a dramatization of the tale of Sano Jirozaemon, a farmer said to have killed 100 men in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters. Today the first talk of the play, which revolves around the fate of Jirozaemon's father, is cut: the usual procedure is to begin witht he scene in Yoshiwara's Nak ago cho in which Jirozaemun falls in love at first sight.
The first cast included Ichikawa Sadanji as Sano Jirozaemon, Nakamura Fukusuke ( Later Nakamura Utaemon V as Einojo. jirozaemon, an ugly pockmarked farmer, falls madly in love with a spectacular courtesan Yatsuhashi, while she is making tour of the quarter. He visits her often until he finally decides to pay her bond and thus release her from her indenture. However, because of her present relationship with Einojo, her lover, Yatsuhashi reviles Jirozaemon before crowd of onlookers. The disgraced farmer restrains himself with an effort. Once he has returned to his country home and thought things over., he comes back to yatuhashi again and kills her with his magic sword. The heart of the entire work is the scene in which the farmer is insulted. Also fascinating is the sequence in which gorgeous courtesan makes her rounds of the flower bedecked Yoshiwara and foolish Jirozaemon falls headlong in love with her after only one glimpse of her smiling face.[/