A pictorial
subject in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 taken from the popular *kabuki 歌舞伎 ghost story, TOUKAIDOU YOTSUYA KAIDAN 東海道四谷怪談 (Ghost Story
at Yotsuya on the Eastern-sea Road) written by Tsuruya Nanboku 鶴屋南北 (1755-1828) in 1825. The action of the play takes place in the world
of *Chuushingura 忠臣蔵 because Yotsuya kaidan was originally performed on the
same bill with the older classic. The plot begins with the disgraced warrior
Tamiya Iemon 民谷伊右衛門 asking the father of his common-law wife Oiwa お岩 to
consent to their marriage. When the father refuses, Iemon kills him. Oiwa
bears a child but its crying drives Iemon to visit their neighbor Kihee
喜兵衛, where he falls in love with the old man's granddaughter Oume お梅. Approving
of the match, Kihee sends poison disguised as medicine to Oiwa who drinks
it and is transformed into a horrifying demon. Returning home Iemon slays
Oiwa and his servant Kohei 小平, claiming that he caught them having an affair.
He ties their dead bodies to a plank and throws them into the river. Later,
after Iemon and his new bride Oume go to bed, Iemon awakens to see the terrifying
face of Oiwa in Oume's place. He cuts off her head only to find the slain
body is really that of Oume. A similar scene is repeated with Iemon slaying
Kohei's apparition to discover it is actually Kihee. Mad with grief, Iemon
wanders to the river where he again imagines he sees the mutilated forms
of Oiwa and Kohei. In later scenes Oiwa's vengeful ghost wrecks further havoc
on Oume's relations and on Iemon.
Yotsuya kaidan provided the subjects for several actor prints *yakusha-e 役者絵 as well as depictions of ghosts and monsters kaiiga 怪異画 included
in the *HYAKU MONOGATARI 百物語 series. Of the several ghoulish scenes frequently illustrated, Katsushika
Hokusai's 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849) image of Oiwa's deformed face appearing on a
smoldering paper lantern offered to her soul and inscribed with the Buddhist
prayer nenbutsu 念仏 (entitled 'Oiwa-san' お岩さん from the HYAKU MONOGATARI series), is one of the most vivid. |
