Heisei Nakamura-za
Hokaibo

Background
Sumidagawa Gonichi No Omokage is better known by the much simpler title Hokaibo, the name of the rogue who is the play’s central character. Written by Nakawa Shimesuke, it was first produced in Osaka in 1784.

With his shaven head and priestly garb, Hokaibo’s appearance is misleading, because he is actually a thoroughgoing rogue who is entirely uninhibited in his lust, which he seeks to satisfy in a completely direct manner. Hokaibo’s unscrupulous behavior is the source of much laughter in the play. Kanzaburo’s role as Hokaibo received tremendous acclaim when the play was performed at the Heisei Nakamura-za Theater.

Synopsis for Hokaibo
Act I
Scene One: Miyamoto teahouse in Fukagawa
Nowake-hime and her manservant Bunji are searching for her fiancée, Matsuwaka, the young lord of the Yoshida family, which was forced to give up its land because of the loss of a precious scroll, depicting a carp, that had been entrusted to the family’s keeping. Bunji suggests that they inquire at each of the many restaurants in the area, and they enter a restaurant in Edo.

Gonzaemon, proprietor of the Eirakuya pawnshop, arrives with his daughter Okumi and a clerk called Yosuke. Yosuke is actually Matsuwaka, who has disguised himself as a humble clerk in order to locate the carp scroll and restore the honor of his family. Gonzaemon is sympathetic, having been indebted to the Yoshida house in the past, and is anxious to help Matsuwaka. Moreover, his daughter Okumi is in love with Matsuwaka and hopes to marry him.

To help in the search for the carp scroll, Gonzaemon has requested the cooperation of Kanjuro, a dealer in art objects. Having come across a scroll that fits the description exactly, Kanjuro demands 100 gold pieces and Okumi’s hand in marriage. Anxious to obtain the scroll by any means, Gonzaemon agrees, but Okumi, who has fallen in love with Yosuke/Matsuwaka, is reluctant. Gonzaemon takes Okumi aside and explains that, once the scroll is in their possession, there are ways of refusing the marriage later, and he insists that she go through with an engagement party that day.

The ragged Hokaibo enters with a motley group of companions. They are soliciting funds for a temple gong but soon angrily abandon Hokaibo when it becomes apparent that he is trying to appropriate the funds for himself. Seeing Okumi sitting on a bench, Hokaibo sits next to her and bit by bit inches closer. Okumi grows alarmed, and when Hokaibo tries to grab her, Gonzaemon and Yosuke hustle her inside the gate of the restaurant. Hokaibo follows but is intercepted by Yakuro, who exclaims that Hokaibo is just the man he wanted to see. Yakuro wants Hokaibo to find the carp scroll before it is restored to Matsuwaka. Hokaibo tells him not to worry and whispers in his ear. Yakuro seems pleased but warns Hokaibo to take care because Nowake-hime, Matsuwaka’s fiancée, is rumored to have arrived in the neighborhood. After Yakuro leaves, Hokaibo is accosted by Shohachi, chief clerk at the Eirakuya pawnshop, who has been eavesdropping. Shohachi says that he has some business to discuss with Hokaibo, and the two enter the restaurant to discuss the matter in private.

Yosuke accidentally meets Nowake-hime and Bunji. He tells Nowake-hime that the scroll has been located but that he does not have the 100 gold pieces to pay for it. Before they can discuss the matter further, Yosuke is called to another room, and Nowake-hime is forced to part from him.

Okumi takes possession of Yosuke and confesses her love for him, but Yosuke is angry because Okumi has agreed to be engaged to Kanjuro. The two begin to quarrel. Hokaibo, who has been watching, seizes the opportunity to remove the carp scroll from its box and replace it with his ragged subscription banner. As proof of her love for Yosuke, Okumi shows him a love letter from him that she always carries. Yosuke throws the letter over his shoulder, and it is picked up by Hokaibo, who then leaves. As the lovers’ quarrel continues, Kanjuro sneaks in; thinking that the box still contains the real scroll, he takes out Hokaibo’s rolled banner and replaces it with a scroll hanging in the room’s tokonoma alcove.

Yosuke repents his angry words, and the couple make up. As a token of their reconciliation, Yosuke brings out a small figure of Kannon, a family treasure, and pledges his unchanging love before this deity. He then bemoans his lack of 100 gold pieces to pay for the scroll. Shohachi enters and offers to loan him the money. Yosuke, unaware that he is being duped, takes the money, writes a promissory note to Shohachi, and leaves the room.

Shohachi tries to make love to Okumi, and Okumi leaves the room to escape his advances. Shohachi chases after her but bumps into Hokaibo, who tells him that Gonzaemon is calling for him. After Shohachi leaves, Okumi returns and Hokaibo professes to be in love with her, producing a love letter that he has written. Okumi throws down the letter and escapes, as Hokaibo chases her.

Jinzaburo, an antique dealer, appears. As a former servant of the Yoshida house, Jinzaburo had acted as Yosuke’s guarantor in sending him to the Eirakuya pawnshop as a clerk. Jinzaburo picks up Hokaibo’s love letter to Okumi. Hearing voices, he pockets the letter and hides himself.

Meanwhile, Gonzaemon and Shohachi enter with Kanjuro, who is complaining that Okumi is having an affair with Yosuke. Hokaibo arrives, dragging Okumi and Yosuke with him. He says that he has caught the two flirting. Shohachi calls Yosuke an infamous fellow and demands the return of the money that he just loaned to him. He takes the packet of money from Yosuke by force, but instead of gold pieces, there are only cheap coins in the packet. Shohachi hints that Yosuke must have substituted the coins for the gold and begins to beat Yosuke, with the willing help of Hokaibo.

Jinzaburo, who has been silently watching, reveals himself and tries to protect Yosuke, while reprimanding Shohachi. Hokaibo takes out the letter written by Yosuke that he had picked up earlier and tries to use it as proof of Yosuke and Okumi’s immoral relationship. But Jinzaburo surreptitiously substitutes the letter written by Hokaibo that he just found. With Hokaibo’s hearty approval, Jinzaburo starts to read the letter aloud. As Hokaibo gradually becomes aware that the letter is his own, he tries to stop Jinzaburo but without success. Hokaibo is completely discredited and makes a humiliating exit.

Shohachi, still not ready to concede defeat, confronts Jinzaburo and demands that, as Yosuke’s guarantor, he pay back the loan of 100 gold coins. At a signal from Jinzaburo, an apprentice uses a candle to burn the promissory note in Shohachi’s hand. Jinzaburo says that there is now no evidence of the loan, but Shohachi says that his burned hand is the evidence. Gonzaemon asks Jinzaburo to take custody of Yosuke until the matter of the 100 gold coins is settled and leaves the room with Kanjuro. As Jinzaburo and Yosuke leave the restaurant, Jinzaburo vows to make the culprits pay for their wrongdoings. Shohachi, who is hiding under a bench outside the restaurant, overhears him.

Scene Two: Behind the Hachimangu Shrine
Hokaibo is hoping to meet Okumi who returns home by the same road. Shohachi comes along accompanied by carriers with an empty palanquin. Shohachi has a secret plan to kidnap Okumi and sends the carriers away to wait until he needs them. At the sound of someone approaching, Hokaibo hides himself.

Okumi enters, and Shohachi binds her and forces her into the palanquin. He then goes off to call the carriers. In the meantime, Hokaibo comes out of hiding and tries to steal Okumi. As he gets Okumi out of the palanquin, however, Ichibei comes by carrying a huge covered basket on his back.

When Ichibei and Hokaibo collide, Ichibei loses consciousness and falls to the ground. Hokaibo puts Okumi into the basket that Ichibei had been carrying and puts the unconscious Ichibei into the palanquin. Hokaibo tries to shoulder the basket, but when he hears voices approaching, he leaves the basket and hides. Shohachi returns. He has been unable to locate the carriers and tries to carry the palanquin by himself.

Kanjuro enters the scene with Yosuke. In a show of petty revenge, he tears to shreds the scroll in his possession, which both he and Yosuke still believe to be the precious carp scroll. Yosuke unexpectedly draws his short sword. Hokaibo gets involved and, in the ensuing fight in the dark, mistakenly cuts down Kanjuro, thinking he is Yosuke. Yosuke tries to kill himself but is stopped by Jinzaburo, who is passing by. Jinzaburo inspects the torn scroll and discovers that it is a substitute. He consoles Yosuke and advises him to bide his time, pointing out that, once the scroll is recovered, Yosuke will be Lord Yoshida.

Thinking to dispose of Kanjuro’s body, Jinzaburo opens the basket lying nearby. To his surprise, he finds Okumi imprisoned inside. They release her and place the body in the basket. Jinzaburo, Yosuke, and Okumi hurriedly leave together.

Act II
Scene: River bank near Mimeguri Shrine in Mukojima
It is a late night with roaring thunder and a strange sky. Gonzaemon, Yosuke, Okumi, and Nowake-hime enter. With no clue as to the whereabouts of the scroll, Yosuke is prepared to die and tells Nowake-hime that he wants her to go back to her home. Nowake-hime, however, says that she will go to the ends of the earth with Yosuke. When Okumi says that Yosuke “has me by his side,” the two women battle for Yosuke’s love.

An extremely large bolt of lightning strikes suddenly. With a big yawn, Hokaibo appears from a haystack, as if he has been awakened by the lightning. Seeing the four passers-by, Hokaibo starts to forcefully coax and threaten them into handing Okumi to him. Of course neither Gonzaemon nor Okumi agree, but nobody can move from fear of the violent thunder.

Hokaibo grabs Yosuke’s short sword and cuts Gonzaemon. He then hits and stuns Okumi and Nowake-hime and ties Yosuke to a haystack. Hokaibo suddenly turns to Gonzaemon and finishes him off. Next, he approaches Nowake-hime and tells her that she had better forget Yosuke and marry him, since Yosuke is in love with Okumi. Nowake-hime pushes him away in disgust, and he cuts her down, saying that he had been hired by Yosuke to kill her because she stood in the way of his marriage to Okumi. Nowake-hime believes him and dies cursing Yosuke. Hokaibo hides her body in the bushes.

He now turns his attention to Okumi. First, to prevent any interference, he digs a hole to serve as a trap. Jinzaburo comes running. After untying Yosuke, Jinzaburo is on the point of killing Hokaibo when Hokaibo reveals the carp scroll and threatens to tear it up unless Jinzaburo leaves him alone. Jinzaburo promises not to interfere with him anymore and pleads with Hokaibo to give him the scroll. Hokaibo taunts him, retreating step by step until he unwittingly falls into his own trap.

As Hokaibo is trying to scramble out of the hole, Jinzaburo takes the scroll from his hand. Jinzaburo advises Yosuke and Okumi to leave for Sumida River now that the scroll has been retrieved. As they depart, the ghost of Nowake-hime appears. Jinzaburo unrolls the carp scroll, and the phantom vanishes. When Hokaibo finally crawls out of the hole, Jinzaburo kills him. As he tries to hurry after Okumi and Yosuke, the ghost of Hokaibo appears and pulls him back.

Act III
Scene: Near ferry landing beside Sumida River
Osaku, a ferrywoman on the Sumida River and Jinzaburo’s wife, is waiting for Yosuke and Okumi, who have been entrusted to her by Jinzaburo. The pair arrives disguised as herb sellers, carrying baskets of grass herbs. The three lament the sad fate of luckless Nowake-hime, murdered by Hokaibo. Yosuke takes out a silken wrapping that had belonged to Nowake-hime and burns it in order to speed the soul of the departed on its way.

Suddenly, the ghosts of Nowake-hime and Hokaibo rise from the smoke and disappear. Then the ghost of Hokaibo emerges in the form of Okumi so that Yosuke and Osaku cannot tell which is the ghost and which is the true Okumi. Osaku tries to clarify the matter by having the two Okumis relate and dance certain past incidents from Okumi’s life that only the real Okumi would know.

First, the false Okumi performs a hand-gesture dance, followed by the real Okumi, who dances her first meeting with Yosuke and her falling in love with him. The ghost then performs the celebrated double-character dance, speaking to Yosuke in the voice of Nowake-hime and then to Okumi in the voice of Hokaibo.

Finally, the ghost grabs Yosuke and Okumi by their sleeves and, alternately using the voice and form of a man and a woman, talks to each of them about its feelings of hatred. Osaku realizes that the ghost is the vengeful spirit of both Nowake-hime and Hokaibo and, having heard that the carp scroll has great power, uses it to drive away the ghost, who leaves writhing in pain.

Hokaibo
North American Premiere
Tuesday, July 17 at 7:30
Wednesday, July 18 at 2:00 & 7:30
Thursday, July 19 at 7:30
Friday, July 20 at 7:30
Saturday, July 21 at 2:00 & 7:30
Sunday, July 22 at 2:00 & 7:30
Avery Fisher Hall