Chikamatsu Monzaemon's Kaoyo Utakaruta (1714) is considered a topical joruri play incorporating the Ejima Affair. This study considers the play as a dramatization involving Ikushima Shingoro, a popular kabuki actor responsible for the Ejima Affair, and Yamashita Kyoemon, a leading kabuki actor in Kamigata (Kyoto-Osaka area), who distinguished himself in Takiguchi (1676) and then contemplated retirement.
This play follows the previous play in which the lovers Takiguchi and Yokobue wandered separately, committing their crime of meeting in secret. However, their love scene recalls those played by Nakamura Shichisaburo in Kyo (1697-1699). Takiguchi's father Katsuyori rebukes his son's immorality. Such rebuke scenes have similarities to scenes played by Kyoemon, who co-starred with Shichisaburo in Kyo. Kyoemon's farewell performance in Edo, planned for Shichisaburo's memorial service, could not occur due to the Ejima Affair. Therefore, this scene could be interpreted as Shingoro, Shichisaburo's successor, being rebuked by Kyoemon. However, in the utakaruta scene, the use of Sutokuin's poetry, “I will be with you in the future even if broken,” hints at a plea to pardon Shingoro, who was exiled to Miyake Island.
In Act Three's climax, Chikamatsu gives the kubijikken scene (the identification of severed heads) a new twist, using buckets with lids, and highlights Katsuyori's inspection of the stand-ins for the heads in the buckets. Therefore, this play must have been dedicated to Kyoemon, who retired hoping for Shingoro's pardon.
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