YŪREI KASHIYA

['Ghost Rental House']

CAST :

Yaroku, a barrel maker

Bandō Minosuke

Someji, the ghost of a geisha

Nakamura Kotarō

Okane, Yaroku’s wife

Bandō Shingo

Tetsuzō, a fishmonger

Nakamura Fukunosuke

Matazō, the ghost of a rag-and-bone man

Nakamura Kankurō

Heisaku, a landlord

Bandō Yajūrō

STORY :

This play was adapted from a novel by Yamamoto Shūgorō. Yaroku is a skilled barrel maker, but he drinks too much and does not work. His wife Okane and the landlord Heisaku admonish him for this, but he turns a deaf ear to what they say, so that Okane returns to her parents' home. The ghost of the geisha Someji visits him and offers to marry him. He is puzzled, but feels flattered to be loved by the good-looking Someji. They begin to live together like a husband and wife. They begin to rent out a 'ghost' to those who want to avenge themselves. While they do a great business, the ghost of the rag-and-bone man Matazō whom Someji invited appears and…

U NO TONOSAMA

['The Cormorant Lord']

CAST :

Tarōkaja

Matsumoto Kōshirō

A feudal lord

Ichikawa Somegorō

Ayame, a lady-in-waiting

Ichikawa Komazō

STORY :

This is a humorous dance drama concerning cormorant fishing in summer in Nagara river. A lord enjoys dancing with his ladies-in-waiting to stave off the summer heat. As the heat will not let up, he summons his servant Tarōkaja and tells him to talk about cormorant fishing in his home village to distract him from the weather. When the lord asks him to demonstrate the act of cormorant fishing, Tarōkaja coaches his master in the role of the cormorant as a way of getting back at him for being pushed about.

TSUYU KOSODE MUKASHI HACHIJŌ
Kamiyui Shinza

['Shinza, the barber']

CAST :

Shinza, the barber

Nakamura Kankurō

Yatagorō Genshichi

Matsumoto Kōshirō

Chūshichi, a sales clerk

Nakamura Shichinosuke

Katsu Yakko, Shinza's apprentice

Bandō Minosuke

Okuma

Nakamura Tsurumatsu

Zenpachi, a cart driver

Kataoka Kamezō

Kagaya Tōbē

Ichikawa Chūsha

Chōbē, the landlord

Bandō Yajūrō

Otsune, a widow

Nakamura Senjaku

STORY :

Shinza is a barber who goes from door to door. However, he kidnaps Okuma, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy household, and even resists the efforts of Yatagorō Genshichi, the most prestigious strongman in town, to get her release. Then Shinza's landlord Chōbē visits Shinza's place to settle the matter. Chōbē has negotiated with the family and they have agreed to pay thirty gold coins for Okuma's return. Shinza is delighted and sends Okuma home. Shinza asks about the money but Chōbē tricks him out of half the money in a hilarious exchange. However, Genshichi cannot let the insult to his reputation go unpunished. The play ends as the two fight it out, presumably a fight to the death.

IRO MOMIJI TSUGIKI NO FUTSUTSUKA
Benikan

['The Traveling Performer, Beniya Kanbē']

CAST :

Benikan

Nakamura Hashinosuke

Osuzu, a seller of singing insects

Bandō Shingo

Asokichi, a seller of morning glory plants

Nakamura Fukunosuke

Komazō, a carpenter

Nakamura Utanosuke

Shinkichi, a lion dancer

Nakamura Kantarō

Otaka, a townsgirl

Ichikawa Somegorō

Tomekichi, a seller of butterflies

Nakamura Toranosuke

Oshizu, a seller of round fans

Nakamura Kotarō

Ginbē, the village headman

Bandō Minosuke

STORY :

A group of peddlers, including the butterfly peddler Tomekichi, the young town girl Otaka, the morning-glory peddler Asokichi, the village headman Ginbē, the fan peddler Oshizu and the insect peddler Osuzu have gathered together and are wondering how to have some fun. The knickknack peddler Beniya Kanbē (shortened to Benikan) appears and performs for them at their request. He dances, taking the parts of several characters at one time as he enacts famous roles from a play. This dance is full of fun, traditional customs and a sense of the season.

KITSUNEBANA
Ha mo Mizu ni Anoyo no Michiyuki

['The Equinox Flower' or 'Journey to the Other World without Viewing Leaves']

CAST :

Chūzenji Jūsai

Matsumoto Kōshirō

Haginosuke / Oyō

Nakamura Shichinosuke

Kōzuki Kenmotsu

Nakamura Kankurō

STORY :

This play is set in the Edo period. Oyō, a maid working in the mansion of Kōzuki Kenmotsu, the commissioner of buildings, is so afraid of the man who often appears before her eyes that she has taken to her bed, seemingly suffering from a fatal disease. The man, named Haginosuke, dresses in kimono dyed crimson with a design of spider lilies (equinox flowers), and such is the eerie beauty of his face that he seems like a man who should not exist in this world. Meanwhile, Kenmotsu, upon learning of the young man's appearance, becomes wary, suspecting that this commotion might be related to his own past misdeeds. To unravel the ghostly situation filled with numerous mysteries, Chūzenji Jūsai, the guard of Musashi Seimei Shrine who lives by exorcising evil spirits, is invited to Kenmotsu's mansion.