The Courier for Hell
Encyclopedia
The Courier for Hell or Courier of Hell (Meido no hikyaku 冥途の飛脚) is a love-suicide
play by Chikamatsu
written in 1711. It follows a similar storyline to some of his other love-suicide plays, including The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
and The Love Suicides at Amijima
. The Courier for Hell was based on real events that took place in Osaka in 1710.
In actuality, the adopted son of the owner, Chubei, has been embezzling customers' money. He has used 50 gold pieces to put a down payment on buying out the contract of Umegawa, a prostitute he is in love with. The narrator informs us that the tissues are used to mop up after sexual activity.
Chubei arrives back from the pleasure quarters and runs into his friend Hachiemon, who is there to demand the money Chubei owes him. Chubei makes excuses, but eventually breaks down and confesses that he spent Hachiemon's money trying to buy out Umegawa's contract. Hachiemon says that he is impressed at the courage it took Chubei to make his confession and forgives the debt. However, as he goes to leave, Chubei's mother comes out and orders Chubei to give Hachiemon his money. Since there is no money to give, Chubei wraps up a jar and gives it to Hachiemon. At his mother's insistence, Chubei has Hachiemon write a note for receipt of the money, though since she is illiterate, the note actually says that he did not receive the money.
After Hachiemon leaves, the couriers arrive from Edo carrying money for numerous customers, including 300 gold pieces for a samurai and about 800 gold pieces for other customers. Chubei decides he will take the money to the samurai right away, but instead finds himself walking towards Umegawa in the pleasure quarters. He argues with himself, trying to decide what to do. The act ends with him deciding to go to see Umegawa.
Hachiemon arrives outside and tells the girls and Umegawa's mistress what is going on with Chubei, and shows them the jar Chubei gave him to fool his mother. He urges them not to accept any more of Chubei's money, for fear that Chubei will ruin himself. Chubei arrives and overhears much of this. His pride is hurt, and despite Hachiemon's and Umegawa's urgings, he breaks the seal on the samurai's money in order to throw the money he owes at Hachiemon. He then uses the rest of the money to buy out Umegawa's contract, and once she understands what has happened, they flee together out of Osaka.
The final scene is considered a dance sequence and requires additional shamisen
players and narrators. Umegawa and Chubei are taken by palanquin out of Osaka and into the mountains. Chubei pays the palanquin bearers and they depart; Umegawa and Chubei continue on foot. Chubei tries to protect Umegawa from the elements as long as he can while it starts snowing in earnest. Eventually the two succumb to the elements and die.
performed a version of the play in 2005, directed by Mr. Shun Ikeda
.
Shinju
Shinju can mean the following things:*Shinjū, Double suicide in Japanese theatre*Shinju , a form of breast bondage*Shinjū , a 1994 fiction book by Laura Joh Rowland...
play by Chikamatsu
Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Chikamatsu Monzaemon was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki...
written in 1711. It follows a similar storyline to some of his other love-suicide plays, including The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
The Love Suicides at Sonezaki is a love-suicide play by Chikamatsu. While not his first one nor his most popular , it is probably the most popular of his "domestic tragedies" or "domestic plays" as Donald Keene characterizes the...
and The Love Suicides at Amijima
The Love Suicides at Amijima
The Love Suicides at Amijima is a domestic play by Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Originally written for the jōruri puppet theatre, it was adapted into kabuki shortly after its premiere. The play is one of Chikamatsu's more famous plays.It was first performed 3 January 1721...
. The Courier for Hell was based on real events that took place in Osaka in 1710.
Plot
The Courier for Hell centers around Chubei, an adopted son of a courier located in Osaka, who is in love with the prostitute Umegawa. He begins using customers' money to buy out her contract before another man can do so. Chubei's friend Hachiemon attempts to stop Chubei's behavior by informing her fellow prostitutes and mistress what's going on, but it instead incites Chubei to break the seal on 300 gold pieces belonging to an important samurai, a crime punishable by death. The two escape Osaka together and head towards Chubei's hometown, dying together in the mountains.Act 1
The play opens with a clerk at the Kameya courier house dealing with customers who are irritated because their monetary deliveries are late from the capitol. The clerk apologizes profusely to a young samurai, saying the shipments are delayed because of the rain, and he will have his money soon. Chubei's adopted mother expresses confusion and disappointment over the many delayed payments, and worries over the reputation of their courier house, which had always been outstanding up to this point. She tries to find out from the clerk what is going on, since Chubei is going out quite often. She expresses puzzlement over the fact that Chubei leaves with three packages of tissue and brings none home; "How can he blow his nose so much?"In actuality, the adopted son of the owner, Chubei, has been embezzling customers' money. He has used 50 gold pieces to put a down payment on buying out the contract of Umegawa, a prostitute he is in love with. The narrator informs us that the tissues are used to mop up after sexual activity.
Chubei arrives back from the pleasure quarters and runs into his friend Hachiemon, who is there to demand the money Chubei owes him. Chubei makes excuses, but eventually breaks down and confesses that he spent Hachiemon's money trying to buy out Umegawa's contract. Hachiemon says that he is impressed at the courage it took Chubei to make his confession and forgives the debt. However, as he goes to leave, Chubei's mother comes out and orders Chubei to give Hachiemon his money. Since there is no money to give, Chubei wraps up a jar and gives it to Hachiemon. At his mother's insistence, Chubei has Hachiemon write a note for receipt of the money, though since she is illiterate, the note actually says that he did not receive the money.
After Hachiemon leaves, the couriers arrive from Edo carrying money for numerous customers, including 300 gold pieces for a samurai and about 800 gold pieces for other customers. Chubei decides he will take the money to the samurai right away, but instead finds himself walking towards Umegawa in the pleasure quarters. He argues with himself, trying to decide what to do. The act ends with him deciding to go to see Umegawa.
Act 2
The second act begins in the pleasure quarters; Umegawa has just arrived back and laments to the other girls that she is afraid Chubei's competition will be able to buy her. She finds him boring and would be distressed if he won her contract.Hachiemon arrives outside and tells the girls and Umegawa's mistress what is going on with Chubei, and shows them the jar Chubei gave him to fool his mother. He urges them not to accept any more of Chubei's money, for fear that Chubei will ruin himself. Chubei arrives and overhears much of this. His pride is hurt, and despite Hachiemon's and Umegawa's urgings, he breaks the seal on the samurai's money in order to throw the money he owes at Hachiemon. He then uses the rest of the money to buy out Umegawa's contract, and once she understands what has happened, they flee together out of Osaka.
The final scene is considered a dance sequence and requires additional shamisen
Shamisen
The , also called is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument played with a plectrum called a bachi. The Japanese pronunciation is usually "shamisen" but sometimes "jamisen" when used as a suffix . -Construction:The shamisen is a plucked stringed instrument...
players and narrators. Umegawa and Chubei are taken by palanquin out of Osaka and into the mountains. Chubei pays the palanquin bearers and they depart; Umegawa and Chubei continue on foot. Chubei tries to protect Umegawa from the elements as long as he can while it starts snowing in earnest. Eventually the two succumb to the elements and die.
Performances
The Australian National University's Za KabukiZa Kabuki
Za Kabuki , founded in 1976 at the Australian National University, is the longest running Kabuki troupe outside of Japan. Directed by Mr. Shun Ikeda of the ANU Japan Centre, with a cast and crew consisting mainly of ANU Japanese students, the troupe performs traditional Kabuki plays almost entirely...
performed a version of the play in 2005, directed by Mr. Shun Ikeda
Shun Ikeda
Shun Ikeda from Shinjuku, Tokyo, is a specialist in Japanese language, culture and society, and a senior lecturer at the Australian National University's School of Culture, History and Language...
.