The leader of the retainers of the Asano house of the former Akō Domain during the Akō Incident was Ōishi Kuranosule Yoshio who appears in Kana dehon chūshingura under the name Ōboshi Yuranosuke.
However, at the early stages of the play, because the focus is on the confrontation between the two daimyo from the opening through Act 3, Ōboshi does not yet make an appearance. In Act 1 is laid bare the confrontation between Kō no Moronao, the Steward of the Ashikaga Clan, and Momoi Wakasanosuke, who is sent to greet Ashikaga Tadayoshi upon his arrival in Edo. In Act 2, Wakasanosuke reveals to the chief retainer, Kakogawa Honzō, his resolve to strike down Moronao. Then, at the beginning of Act 3, in order to avert calamity, Honzō sends a bribe to Moronao. Moronao then apologizes and Wakasanosuke is not able to strike him down. However, Moronao proceeds to take out his anger by slandering Enya Hangan. After being called a coward, Enya’s patience is exhausted and he draws his weapon to strike Moronao. Enya is, however, restrained by Honzō who is present at the time and stopped before he is able to strike. Moreover, through this act of Honzō’s is born a rift between the Kakogawa House and the House of Ōboshi, the chief retainer of Enya, whose children were betrothed to each other.
It is in Act 4 that Yuranosuke finally makes his appearance. After the incident of the attempted attack on Moronao, Enya has been confined to his residence. Here two Shogunal messengers arrive with the order that Enya is to commit seppuku. Enya attempts to buy time until the arrival of Yuranosuke but is ultimately unable to wait and Yuranouke finally arrives from their domain in Hakushū just as his lord is thrusting the tip of his sword into his belly. Enya’s final words to Yuranosuke are “This short sword I leave to you,” thus communicating his unfulfilled desire to “clear the grudge that I bear” leaving to his retainer the sword with which he committed seppuku. When the funeral for Enya is finished and his retainers must leave the residence, Yuranosuke takes out this short sword left to him by Enya and affirms his resolve to seek revenge.
Acts 5 and 6 depict the tragedy of Hayano Kanpei who feels a sense of responsibility for not being present at the time of the incident who is now living with his lover Okaru in her hometown of Yamazaki. Although Yuranosuke does not make an appearance, we here learn that Yuranosuke is forming a plan to seek revenge using as cover a ledger to collect names to erect a memorial stele for their dead lord. Just as Kanpei is in the act of committing seppuku for suspicion of the murder of his father-in-law, he is cleared and is allowed to join the pact, affixing his name with his own blood.
In Act 7, the scene shifts to the lively Ichiriki Teahouse in Gion. In order to trick his enemy, Yuranosuke has been passing his days in dissipation. Ono Kudayū, a former chief retainer of the Enya Household who has become a spy for Moranao, arrives along with Sagizaka Bannai, Teraoka Heiemon, Senzaki Yagorō to ascertain Yuranosuke’s true feelings but Yuranosukle is in a drunken stupor and is unable to meet with them. Heiemon attempts to pass Yuranosuke a petition to join in revenge but Yuranosuke does not accept it. Rikiya, Yuranosuke’s eldest son, delivers to his father, who pretends to be sleeping, a secret missive from Kaoyo, the widow of their dead master. Here Kudayū arrives to hold a drinking party. Knowing that it is the eve before the anniversary of Yuranosuke’s master’s death, and that he must therefore practice strict abstinence and not eat the flesh of a living creature, Kudayū plies Yuranosuke with octopus and sees that his sword has become rusty, thus becoming confident that Yuranosuke is not planning revenge. To be certain, he hides beneath the veranda. Believing that no one is around, Yuranosuke begins to read the secret missive but Okaru, who is by the window on the second floor, is able to read the letter reflected in her mirror while Kudayū, hiding below the veranda, reads the letter as Yuranosuke allows it to hang down as he reads. When Okaru drops her hairpin, Yuranosuke notices what is happening and decides that he must kill Okaru to silence her, using the pretext of approaching her redeem her contract. Afterwards, Heiemon is reunited with his sister and hears about the secret letter and Yuranosuke’s offer to redeem her contract and understands Yuranosuke’s plan is to kill her. Okaru, who learns of Kanbei and her father’s death, understands that her brother will kill her in Yuranosuke’s stead but, seeing the resolve of brother and sister, Yuranosuke allows Heiemon to join the 47 retainers and has Okaru stab the hiding Kudayū to honor her dead husband, Kanbei.
This leads into Acts 8 and 9. These acts depict the journey of Kakogawa Honzō’s wife Tonase and daughter Konami to Yamashina. Originally, Konami was betrothed to Yuranosuke’s son Rikiya but after Honzō’s role in restraining Hangan from drawing his sword, the wedding came into jeopardy. Regardless, Konami continued in her love for Rikiya and in an attempt to help her daughter fulfil her wish, Tonase accompanies her to Yamashina.
Act 9 is set at the Ōboshi residence in Yamashina in the snow. Yuranosuke’s wife Oishi icily declines the betrothal. Forlorn, Tonase and Konami resolve to take their lives but just as Tonase draws her sword, a mendicant monk appears and plays “The Nesting of the Cranes.” Here, Oishi calls out “Stop!”. Once again, Tonase raises her sword but once again the sound of “The Nestling of the Cranes” begins and once again Oishi calls out “Stop!”. Oishi relents and says that she will permit the marriage of Rikiya and Konami if, as a gift, she is presented with Honzō’s head in return. Here we learn that the mendicant monk is actually Honzō in disguise. Honzō proceeds to reveal himself and to provoke her by admonishing Yuranosuke and Rikiya for their indolence until he is stabbed by Rikiya’s spear. Yuranosuke now emerges and surmises that Honzō had intentionally provoked them so that he would be killed by the hands of his son-in-law. Honzō apologizes that what he had done on behalf of the Momoi House had made him an enemy and as a wedding present gives Yuranosuke a diagram of Moronao’s residence. Yuranosuke reveals the determination that he and Rikiya have to die in the act of revenge and the feud between the two families ends. Yuranosuke dons the discarded costume of the mendicant monk and leaves for Sakai to prepare for the attack.
Act 10 is set in the shop of Amakawaya Gihei, a merchant in Sakai. Having been asked by Yuranosuke to provision the arms for the assault, Gihei has, in order to maintain secrecy, given leave to his employees and sent his wife, Osono, back to stay with her father Ryōchiku. Gihei is living with his young child Yoshimatsu and his apprentice Igo. In order not to arouse the suspicion of Ryōchiku, who is in league with Kudayū, Gihei has even given Osono a letter of divorce. A large group of police (who are in fact Yuranosuke’s comrades in disguise) barge in to Gihei’s shop and question him about the provisioning of arms but he refuses to talk. Yuranosuke appears from hiding within a chest and apologizes to Gihei for doubting his resolve. Osono returns to beg that Gihei take her back but he refuses. When Osono begins to leave, a masked man (another of Yuranosuke’s comrades) appears and steals the letter of divorce and cuts Osono’s hair. Gihei comes out at the commotion and Yuranosuke also appears explaining that with her hair shorn in the fashion of a nun Osono cannot be sent elsewhere as a bride and he returns the letter of divorce and the shorn hair to Gihei that the two may be reunited. The retainers set out for Kamakura, having chosen as their codewords “ama” and “kawa.”
Act 11. Here we arrive at the ending of the great narrative that began with Enya drawing his sword and then traversed hardship and sacrifice and the conflict between human emotion and the sense of duty and loyalty to the lord. Amid falling snow, the 46 retainers (47 including the spirit of Kanpei) led by Yuranosuke attack Moronao’s residence and carry out their revenge. This is the story of Kana dehon chūshingura, focused on the acts in which Yuranosuke appears. He is depicted as a broadminded man of deep thoughtfulness who leads the former retainers of Enya with fierce determination.
Here are introduced a number of works that depict scenes featuring Yuranosuke with a focus on narrative pictures.
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