Summary of Peony Lantern
昔々、清水谷で浪人新三郎は、お露と出会い恋に落ちる。 彼は彼女に会いたいと思っていたが、彼女が思い焦がれて亡くなったことを知る。 その後、幽霊のような姿のお露が毎晩彼を訪れる。 下男の友蔵はお露が幽霊だと気づく。 人相見の白翁堂勇斎は新三郎の差し迫った死相が出ていることを信三郎に警告する。 新三郎はお露を追い払うために、魔除けのお札を出入り口に貼るが、幽霊に脅され賄賂を渡された友蔵が、そのお札を取り除いてしまう。 翌日、お露が訪ねてきた新三郎が息絶えているのを発見する。(English) In ancient Shimizudani, Shinzaburo, a ronin, a former samurai who voluntarily left or lost his master, meets and falls for Otsuyu. When he hesitates to visit her, he learns she died of heartbreak. Later, Tomozo, his employee, sees women's ghostly forms visiting Shinzaburo nightly. Tomozo discovers Otsuyu's spectral nature. A fortune teller predicts Shinzaburo's imminent death. Shinzaburo uses amulets to ward off Otsuyu, but Tomozo, bribed by the ghost, removes them. The next day, Shinzaburo is found dead, having been visited by the ghostly Otsuyu.
Summary of Peony Lantern(Botan Doro)
A)
A long time ago, in Shimizudani, Nezu, there was a shy man named Shinzaburo Hagiwara, a ronin(Samurai). One day, Shinzaburo is invited by his friend Shijo Yamamoto to visit Garyubai(plum garden) in Kameido. On their way back, they stop at the villa of Heizaemon Iijima, an acquaintance of Shijo Yamamoto.
Shinzaburo meets a beautiful young lady named Otsuyu and a maid named Oyone-san. And Shinzaburo and Otsuyu fall in love. When Shinzaburo was about to leave, Otsuyu said, "If you don't come back, I'll die."
B)
When Shinzaburo returned, he wanted to see Otsuyu every day, but he was shy and didn't dare to go to him alone.
Previously, Japanese social rules did not permit meeting people in person but without an introducer.
One day, after several months, Shijo Yamamoto finally visited Shinzaburo. Yamamoto tells him that Otsuyu died because he was so in love with him and that Otsuyu died because she loved him very much that she could not eat anything.
After that, Shinzaburo spent his days chanting the nembutsu for "Otsuyu". On the night of the thirteenth day of Obon (in Aug), Shinzaburo was thinking about "Otsuyu" as usual when he heard the clatter of clogs.
C)
He saw "Otsuyu" and "Oyone" walking toward the sound with the peony lanterns. The three of them were happy to see each other again, and the meeting between Shinzaburo and Otsuyu continued the next night and the night after that.
One night, a man called Tomozo, who works for Shinzaburo, notices that two women visit Shinzaburo every night. Suspicious, Tomozo looks into Shinzaburo's house and finds a woman, all skin and bones and nobody from the waist down, clinging to Shinzaburo's neck.
D)
Surprised, Tomozo goes to Shinzaburo's fortune teller, Yusai Hakuoudou. Hakuoudou Yusai goes to Shinzaburo's house and declares that Shinzaburo will surely die soon twenty days.
Shinzaburo went to the village where Otsuyu and Oyone lived and confirmed with the villagers that they were already dead.
Finally, he realised that Otsuyu was a ghost and borrowed a ghost-warding amulet and a statue of Nyorai from the temple priest. Shinzaburo then placed amulets around his house and read the sutra while carrying the statue of Nyorai.
E)
That night, Otsuyu comes to Shinzaburo's house as usual, but he can't enter the house because of the amulet paper. Confused, Otsuyu goes to Tomozo's house and asks him to remove the amulet paper.
At first, Tomozo and his wife Omine are afraid of ghosts.
Tomozou and Omine were earning a salary by taking care of Shinzaburo. So if Shinzaburo dies, they can't live. Omine tells Tomozo to suggest to the ghost that if you can pay 100 ryo, we can peel off the amulet papers.
Finally, they promise to remove the amulet paper because they receive money from Otsuyu. The next day, Tomozo and Omine take advantage of Shinzaburo's chance and replace the Nyorai statue with a stone.
F)
That night, when Otsuyu arrives with money, Tomozo removes all the amulet paper from Shinzaburo's house. And when the amulet paper is gone, "Otsuyu" happily enters Shinzaburo's house.
At dawn, Tomozo, who feels guilty about guiding ghosts, takes Yusai Hakudou and Omine to see how Shinzaburo's house is. When they cautiously entered Shinzaburo's house, which didn't answer, they found Shinzaburo dead inside, clutching the emptiness with a terrible look on his face. He had a skull around his neck.
Synopsis of Peony Lantern(Botan Doro) – Commentary in Modern Language – Classical Ghost Stories
https://kyofu.takeshobo.co.jp/news/column/koten-kaidan/1837/
Add info No1)
Thirty hours in two and a half hours - the gracefulness of Shinosuke's "Kwaidan Peony Lantern."
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/culture/nagaieye/20210811-OYT8T50018/
Thirty hours in two and a half hours - the grace of Shinosuke's 'Kwaidan Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)'.
A)
1)
Rakugo, Storytelling, Rokyoku, various arts - a writer's eye
On 3 August, in the heat of summer, I saw <Shinosuke Rakugo in Shimokitazawa 2021 "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro) "> at the Honda Theatre in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo.
Almost every year since 2006, they have performed a show with the same content ("Peony Lantern (Botan Doro) ") at the same theatre.
2)
The use of the word "challenge" makes sense. Every time, just before the performance starts, I stand in the corner of the theatre lobby and say: "OK, I'm going to look at it properly. I'm going to listen to it ideally."
It is a performance that should be watched with that level of preparation. That's why we, in the audience, are the undisputed challengers.
However, this performance is no ordinary Rakugo show. In the words of performer Shinosuke Tatekawa, this is what happens.
B)
3)
"Peony Lantern (Botan Doro), ENCHO's representative work and a large feature, will take about 30 hours to perform. But yesterday, it took 2 hours and 35 minutes."
In other words, Shinosuke condensed the 30 hours into two and a half hours and established it as a Rakugo, and he wanted to present it properly to the entire audience. This is no longer the Rakugo performance we are used to. It should be called an excellent Rakugo event.
Even more astonishing is that Shinosuke has been taking on this exhilarating and reckless challenge for more than ten years without ever getting tired or weary. I can't help but marvel at a Rakugo storyteller named Shinosuke.
C)
4)
Zuidan, Rakugo, occasional digression
How will Shinosuke perform the long piece "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)"?
The performance consists of two parts. First, the first part should be called "Cultural Centre Rakugo".
The best way to capture "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)" is to sort and classify the many characters and draw a correlation diagram in your head.
5)
Shinosuke placed a substantial magnetic board (which seems to have been made by the staff of the TV show "Gatten!", which Shinosuke has been hosting for a long time) in the centre of the stage. We are going to tell the story of "Kousuke's story".
Sometimes it sounds like Rakugo, sometimes, it sounds like a story, and the whole atmosphere is like listening to a famous lecture in a cultural centre.
6)
He is an enemy of his master, Heizaemon Iijima, and the main character, Kosuke, inquiring about the whereabouts of his mother, Orie, encounters a man being chased by someone near Shinobazu Pond. The first half ended with Shinosuke's words, "Please remember this point".
One and a half hours flew by. Was I able to get the 15-hour story, half of the whole story, into my head then? To answer, "Of course", we focused with determination.
7)
And the second part. From here, it is "Rakugo", sitting on a cushion on the Koza.
Taiko doctor, such as a fake doctor, a doctor who only listens, Shijo Yamamoto visits the home of Shinzaburo Hagiwara, a young ronin who lives in Shimizudani, Nezu, and invites him out with the words: "Reading all the time is poisonous for your body. Kameido's plums are wonderful".
When we hear the words "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)", the first thing that comes to mind is the opening of the ghost story love story "Otsuyu and Shinzaburo".
8)
The remaining 15 hours must be completed in an hour and a half, so there shouldn't be any room for detours, but Shinosuke does show some bizarre derailments here and there.
After the halfway point, when the place name "Murakami in Echigo" appears, the story continues from the local speciality "salted salmon" to the piece he ate at the house of his master, Danshi Tatekawa, during the opening act.
9)
"In Toyama, my hometown, it's called Shinmaki salmon, but in Murakami, it's called salted salmon. My master and I ate the salted salmon sent by a politician from here, piece by piece. He said, "You can eat whatever you want for dinner. I wonder if "whatever you like" includes salted salmon in the fridge. I can't control my desire to eat a piece...".
D)
10)
Ten years of "forgetting and discovering
With this kind of digression, Shinosuke carefully describes the fall into evil of Tomozo and Omine, who are said to be the true protagonists of "Botan Doro".
Tomozo, who killed his wife Omine and went to Edo to kill Shijo Yamamoto, who was supposed to be his partner, meets Kosuke on his way to escape after being pursued by Torikata(Police).
"I won't let you say you've forgotten."
11)
It's been one hour since the second part began. Kosuke and Tomozo, the protagonists of two stories that were thought to have nothing to do with each other, met and, for the first time, "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)" became one story.
After reaching the grand outcome, just like the original, Yukadan's blues song "My heart hurts" is played in the venue, and with Shinosuke's unique ending, the actual act ends.
This year, I also experienced a full-length "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)" performance. I was tired, but I never slept. Impressions immediately after listening to it are banal.
12)
Why go to a long, detailed, tiring Rakugo event with the same content every year? I have my reasons.
Due to the nature of my work, I cannot live without knowing The Peony Lantern (Botan Doro). I've read the original many times, written about it and explained it publicly.
So The Peony Lantern (Botan Doro) is all in my head. That's what I think, but sometimes I'm worried I'm missing something or misunderstanding something.
13)
At times like that, I look at Shinosuke's "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)" and confirm "that" in my head. There are various discoveries and reflections, but what makes me think more than anything is that I am reminded of things I forget every year.
"Everyone, please come again. It's OK. By this time next year, I'll have completely forgotten (the story). I'm the same. I reread the shorthand book from scratch every year and make discoveries."
Yes, oblivion and discovery are the real pleasures of "Shinosuke Rakugo".
*By the way, the Last "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)" lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes on the day I saw it (13 August 2023).
Kokontei Shinsho "Historical Masterpieces Ghost Stories Peony Lanterns Two Selections of Rakugo Masterpieces Otsuyu Shinzaburo"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV7WPO8roG0
Honda Theater Produce Shinosuke Rakugo in Shimokitazawa "Botan Lantern Final"
"Shinosuke Rakugo in Shimokitazawa 2022 <<Regular Peony Lantern>>" Honda Theater
https://note.com/sankeirakugo/n/n97fc8d77f19a
Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%89%A1%E4%B8%B9%E7%81%AF%E7%B1%A0
"Yokai / Tokusatsu Film Festival" Screening Announcement "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)" Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY3uYMe3Iw4
Minamiza August 2023 Bando Tamasaburo Special Performance "Kwaidan Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)
"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbQrjuHpYgE
Complete book ghost story peony lantern PR video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xek1Dnd48Y
Movie Kaidan Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)
Synopsis-1968
https://moviewalker.jp/mv22262/
Movie Kaidan Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)
-1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93fsktpUs78
[Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)] Commentary on classic Rakugo ghost stories, synopsis, and modelled literature
The sound of wooden clogs echoing, "Karan-kroon, Karan-kroon."A maid with a lantern painted with peonies and a beautiful woman walking up behind her. "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)" is a ghost story that says the two were ghosts. This time, we will introduce the story of "Peony Lantern (Botan Doro)", the unknown classic literature that became the model, and the land related to the story.
https://wa-gokoro.jp/traditional-culture/Japanese-ghost-story/872/