KAIDAN BOTAN DŌRŌ

['The Ghost Story of the Peony Lantern']

CAST :

Omine, Tomozō's wife

Bandō Tamasaburō

Tomozō

Kataoka Ainosuke

Hagiwara Shinzaburō

Kitamura Rokurō

Okuni

Kawai Yukinojō

Oroku

Nakamura Kamenojō

Oyone, a nursemaid

Kamimura Kichiya

STORY :

One of the most famous ghost stories in Japan, this play portrays the ghost of a beautiful young girl who visits the man she loves every night. Her way is lit by a lantern decorated with peonies. "Karannn… koronnnn…", the clatter of her wooden clogs announces her appearance. The story, originally from China, became a Japanese classic when it was transformed into a long Rakugo story by San'yūtei Enchō (1839 - 1900).
Otsuyu the daughter of a samurai family falls in love with a young samurai named Shinzaburō, but falls sick and dies longing for him. Her ghost begins to visit him nightly, the way led by the ghost of her nursemaid carrying a lantern decorated with peonies. Shinzaburō welcomes these meetings, not realizing she is dead. However, a priest sees the signs of death and protects Shinzaburō with holy amulets and a powerful Buddhist statue. Trying to take the amulets away, the ghosts bribe Shinzaburō's greedy servant Tomozō and his wife Omine. Once the amulets are taken away, Shinzaburō is killed by the ghosts. Tomozō and Omine run away with the money, but the money doesn't bring them happiness. Tomozō gets involved with Okuni, a waitress of the restaurant Sasaya, and visits it frequently to see her. Omine learns this and questions him closely. The lantern decorated with peonies flies to them from nowhere as they quarrel. This version of the story is not just a tale of ghosts, but shows human treachery, greed and the revolving ironies of fate.