Pathway to Japanese Literature

Characters

Madman Yoshitaro Katsushima, 24 years old

His younger brother — Suetaro, a seventeen-year-old middle school student.

His father — Gisuke

His mother — Oyoshi

Neighbor — Tosaku

Servant — Kichiji, 20 years old

A woman who purports to be a shrine maiden — around fifty years old.

Time

Meiji 30s Era (1897–1906)

Place

An island belonging to Sanuki in the Seto Inland Sea

Stage: The backyard of the Katsushima residence—one of the most prominent wealthy families on this small island.
The interior of the house was blocked from view by a woven bamboo fence.
Only the high roofs etched against the deep green southern sky of early summer.
To the left, the sea glimmered into view.
The eldest son of this house, Yoshitaro, squatted atop the roof visible straight ahead, gazing out to sea.
A father’s voice could be heard from inside the house.

Gisuke (unseen): “Yoshi’s up on the roof again.”
“It’s blazing down like this, but I’m getting heatstroke here.”

(Stepping onto the engawa) “Kichiji!”
“Isn’t Kichiji here?”

Kichiji (appearing from the right): “Yes? Did you need something?”

Gisuke: “Can you get Yoshitaro down?
On such a hot day with no hat—he’ll get heatstroke like this.
Where does he even climb up from?
You did put wire around the storehouse like I told you before, right?”

Kichiji: “Oh, I’ve already taken care of that properly.”

Gisuke (emerging through the bamboo gate while looking up at the roof): “Sitting on tiles hot as burning stones—doesn’t that hurt at all?
Yoshitaro!
Come down right now!
You’ll die of heatstroke staying up there!”

“Young Master!”
“You must come down!”
“Staying up there will poison your health!”

Gisuke: “Yoshi! Can’t ya come down already?”
“What’re ya doin’ in a place like this?”
“Hurry up and come down already, Yoshi!”

Yoshitaro (still unfazed): “What?”

Gisuke: “What d’ya mean ‘what’? Hurry up and come down already! With the sun blazin’ down on ya like this, you’ll get heatstroke! Now come down this instant! If ya don’t come down right now, I’ll poke ya with a pole from below!”

Yoshitaro (whining like a child): “No way! There’s somethin’ amazin’ happenin’ up here! Konpira’s tengu Shōnenbō-san’s dancin’ in the clouds! They’re wearin’ scarlet robes and dancin’ with the celestial lords! They’re tellin’ me, ‘Come here! Come here!’”

Gisuke: “Don’t spout such foolish nonsense! It’s the fox possessin’ you that’s doin’ the trickin’, I tell ya! Won’t ya come down already!”

Yoshitaro (bursting with mad delight): “They’re putting on such a wondrous show!”
“I want to go too...”
“Wait for me—I’m coming too!”

Gisuke: “Keep spouting that nonsense and you’ll come crashing down again like before!”
“First a madman, now a cripple too—nothing but trouble for your parents!”
“Get down already, you fool!”

Kichiji: “Master, getting angry won’t work on the Young Master.”
“Should I fetch some fried tofu he likes instead?”
“Show him that and he’ll come right down.”

“Just use a pole to poke him down—I don’t care one bit!”

“How can you do something so cruel? The Young Master doesn’t understand anything. It’s all the doing of what possesses him.”

“What if we put spikes around the roof? Then he couldn’t climb up no matter how hard he tried.”

“No measure you take will affect the Young Master. He scales Hondenji Temple’s great roof without footholds—this low roof here is child’s play to him. Since the possessing force makes him climb, nothing you do will stop it.”

Gisuke: “Maybe so.”
“That brat’ll be the death of me.”
“Even if he’s a madman, it’d be fine if he just stayed quiet inside. But climbin’ high places like he’s advertisin’ his madness to the world?”
“When they talk about ‘the Katsushima tengu madman,’ Suetaro says even Takamatsu’s heard the rumors.”

Kichiji: “Islanders say a fox possesses him, but I can’t square that.”
“Never heard of foxes climbin’ trees, I tell ya.”

Gisuke: “I’ve been thinkin’ the same thing myself.”
“Got a different notion brewin’ in my head.”
“When Yoshi was born, I took this rare foreign-made breech-loader and wiped out every last monkey on this island.”
“That monkey’s what’s possessin’ him.”

Kichiji: “That must be it.”
“No other way he’d climb trees like that otherwise.”
“Footholds or none—he’ll scale any surface, I tell ya.”
“Even a top-notch ladder man like Sakku can’t match our Young Master.”

Gisuke (with a bitter laugh): “Don’t be spoutin’ such foolish nonsense.”
“Try bein’ the parent of a son who does nothin’ but climb roofs.”
“Both Oyoshi and me—we’re constantly frettin’ over that fool.”
(raising his voice again) “Yoshitaro!”
“Hurry up and come down already!”
“Yoshitaro!”
“Won’t ya come down already!”

When he was up on the roof, he couldn't hear people's voices at all—it was as if he were completely lost in his own world.
Because he kept climbing up and causing trouble, we cut down all the trees around the house, but there was nothing we could do about the roof.

Kichiji: “When I was little, there used to be a tall ginkgo tree before the main gate.”

Gisuke: “Hmm, that tree?”
“That tree became the island’s landmark, I tell ya.”
“There was this time Yoshitaro climbed to its very top—plopped himself right on a branch fourteen, fifteen ken up in the air, didn’t he?”
“Just when Oyoshi and I’d given up hope, certain he’d meet his end, down he slid again—left the whole lot of us speechless with shock, I tell ya.”

Kichiji: “Heh heh.”
“That’s no human feat.”

Gisuke: “That’s why I’s thinkin’ it’s a monkey possessin’ him.”
(raising his voice) “Yoshi! Won’t you come down already!”
(suddenly changing tack) “Kichiji!”
“Why don’t you go up there?”

Kichiji: “But Young Master gets real angry when people climb up there, I tell ya.”

Gisuke: “Fine then! Let him rage all he wants!”
“Climb up and drag him down here.”

Kichiji: “Yes, yes.”

(Kichiji exits to fetch a ladder.)

(At that moment, the neighbor Tosaku enters.)

“Good day, Master.”

“Well now, fine weather we’re havin’. How’d yesterday’s net fare? Catch any big ’uns?”

“Didn’t catch a single one from the start. Season’s passed its peak a bit, I tell ya.”

“Must be so. Season’s a bit too late now. Spanish mackerel oughta start bitin’ soon.”

“Yesterday two-three got caught in Seikichi’s net, I tell ya.”

“That so?”

(looking at Yoshitaro) “Young Master’s on the roof again?”

“That’s right—still up there same as ever. Don’t wanna keep draggin’ him down, but when we lock him in that prison room he acts like a boat stranded from water. Let him out just once and he’s back on the roof.”

“But someone like the Young Master doesn’t cause others trouble, I tell ya.”

“It’s not like he causes no trouble at all, I tell ya. Climbin’ up such heights and stayin’ put—it’s a disgrace to the family, I tell ya.”

“But with your younger brother Suetaro doin’ so well at the town school, Master must’ve found some resignation in that, I tell ya.”

“Since Suetaro can manage like others, I’ve been enduring it, I tell ya. If both were madmen, there’d be no point in living, I tell ya.”

Tosaku: “Actually, Master. A shrine maiden who works wonders has been on the island since yesterday, I tell ya. I came here thinking it might do some good if Young Master were to have a prayer ritual performed once.”

Gisuke: “Is that so, I tell ya. But even if we have prayer rituals done—who knows how many we’ve had by now—they haven’t worked a bit, I tell ya.”

Tosaku: “The one who’s come this time is a shrine maiden from Konpira Shrine—they say she can work wonders, I tell ya. Since they say the god’ll possess her proper-like—not like them yamabushi prayers—might be worth trying, I tell ya.”

Gisuke: "Hmm... Could be so, I tell ya. How much'd the payment need to be, I wonder?"

Tosaku: "She says you don't need to pay if he's not cured, I tell ya. She says you should pay an appropriate amount if he's cured, I tell ya."

Gisuke: "Suetaro says prayer rituals ain't worth a damn, but since it won't do no harm, might as well give it a try, I tell ya."

(At this moment, Kichiji entered carrying a ladder.)
(He entered the bamboo enclosure.)

Tosaku: “Then I’ll go call the shrine maiden staying at Kinkichi’s place.”
“Make sure to get Young Master down from there.”

Gisuke: “Much obliged, I tell ya.”
“Then I’ll trust you to make the arrangements proper-like.”

(After seeing Tosaku off) “Come on, Yoshi!”
“You come down quiet now, hear?”

Kichiji (having climbed onto the roof): “Come now, Young Master, let’s come down together with me.”
“If you stay in a place like this, you’ll develop a high fever by evening.”

Yoshitaro (like a Buddhist follower fearing the approach of heretics): “No!”
“Lord Tengu and all his kind are beckoning me to come!”
“This isn’t a place for the likes of you to come! What do you think I’m doing here?”

Kichiji: “Don’t spout nonsense—come down now.”

Yoshitaro: “If you lay even a finger on me, you’ll be torn apart by Lord Tengu.”

Kichiji suddenly lunged at Yoshitaro, seizing him by the shoulders as he dragged him downward.
(Yoshitaro offered almost no resistance once seized.) “Now if you struggle wildly you’ll get hurt.”

Gisuke: “Be careful bringing him down.”

Kichiji came down while leading Yoshitaro ahead.
(Yoshitaro’s right leg had become crippled due to injury.) “Even those called shrine maidens include ones who aren’t effective in the slightest, you know.”

Gisuke: “Yoshi claims he’s conversing with Konpira’s god proper-like, I tell ya.
“If it’s the Konpira shrine maiden, I’m thinking it might work, I tell ya.”

(raising his voice) “Oyoshi! Come out here for a moment.”

Oyoshi (from inside): “What’s the matter?”

Gisuke: “I’ve asked the shrine maiden to come—how d’you reckon it’ll go?”

Oyoshi came out from the lattice door. “Well, that might be for the best.”
“He might just get cured by whatever they do.”

Yoshitaro looked displeased. “Father, why’re you making me come down now?”
“The five-colored clouds were right about to descend and meet me!”

“You fool!” Gisuke barked.
“Last time you said clouds were coming too—jumped right off the roof!”
“That’s how you ended up a cripple!”
“Today that Konpira shrine maiden’s here to drive out your sickness. You’ll stay put—no roof-climbing!”

(At that moment, Tosaku arrives guiding the shrine maiden.)
The shrine maiden is a woman around fifty with a sinister countenance resembling a sorceress.

Tosaku: “Master, this here’s the shrine maiden I told you about earlier.”

Gisuke: “Ah, good day! Thank you kindly for coming. He’s such a troublesome one, I tell you—a complete disgrace to his family.”

Shrine Maiden (offhandedly): “Oh you there, no need to fret—I’ll cure him straightaway through the god’s divine power.” (Turning toward Yoshitaro) “Is this the gentleman in question?”

Gisuke: “That is correct. He’s already twenty-four, I tell ya, yet climbing high places is all he ever does.”

“When did he become afflicted with this illness?”

Gisuke: "It's something he was born with, I tell ya."
"Ever since he was little, he’d want to climb high places—at four or five he’d scale the alcove, climb up the household Buddhist altar, get up on shelves; by seven or eight he learned tree-climbing; at fifteen or sixteen he’d climb mountain peaks and not come down all day, I tell ya."
"And he keeps muttering to himself like he’s talking with Lord Tengu or gods or such things, I tell ya."
"What in the world could be causing this, I tell ya?"

“As expected, a fox must indeed be possessing him,” declared the Shrine Maiden. “Very well—I shall conduct the prayer ritual for you.”

She strode toward Yoshitaro. “Listen well! For I am the messenger of Konpira Daigongen-sama who presides over this land. Every word I speak flows from the god’s own lips.”

Yoshitaro scowled. “You go on about Konpira’s god—but have you ever actually met him?”

“Such insolence!” The Shrine Maiden glared. “Do you imagine God’s form reveals itself to mortal eyes?”

Yoshitaro (triumphantly): “I’ve met him countless times!”
“Lord Konpira’s an old man wearin’ a white robe with a golden crown.”
“He’s the one I get along with best.”

Shrine Maiden (somewhat flustered at being outmaneuvered, looking toward Gisuke): “This is an exceptionally severe case of fox possession.”
“Very well, I shall consult the god.”

(The shrine maiden chanted incantations and performed strange gestures.
Throughout this, Yoshitaro—held fast by Kichiji at the shoulders—remained utterly unperturbed, as though entirely disconnected from the proceedings.
The shrine maiden spun wildly in a frenzy before collapsing.
Having stood up again, she looked around restlessly.)

Shrine Maiden (in a voice completely different from before): “I am Konpira Daigongen, enshrined upon Mount Zōzu in this land.”

Everyone (except Yoshitaro) bent at the waist and chuckled deferentially: "Heh heh."

Shrine Maiden (solemnly): "The eldest son of this house is possessed by the fox of Takanojō Mountain."
"Hang him from a tree branch and smoke him out with green pine needles."
"If you deviate from what I declare, divine punishment shall strike without delay."
(The shrine maiden collapsed again.)

Everyone (except Yoshitaro) chuckled again: "Heh heh."

Shrine Maiden (standing up again with feigned innocence): "What was it the god said now?"

Gisuke: "Truly, it was a divine revelation."

“What God has decreed—if you do not promptly carry it out, divine punishment shall instead befall you. I state this as a precaution.”

“Kichiji! In that case, go cut some green pine needles, I tell ya.”

“No matter how much they say it’s the god’s will,” Oyoshi protested, her voice trembling, “how could we do something so cruel?”

The shrine maiden’s eyes hardened. “The one writhing in smoke will be the fox spirit,” she declared, thrusting a bony finger toward Yoshitaro. “The man himself won’t feel a thing.” Her gravelly voice sharpened as she turned to Gisuke. “Make ready at once!” When her gaze snapped back to Yoshitaro crouching by the pine beams, her lips twisted into a sacramental smirk. “Didn’t you hear the god’s warning? Flee now before agony claims you.”

Yoshitaro threw back his head, laughter cracking through smoke-hazed air. “Lord Konpira’s voice rings clear as temple bells!” His good leg stomped a challenge against roof tiles. “You think some backwoods charlatan could mimic divine speech?”

Shrine Maiden (pride wounded): “Just you wait—I’ll make you suffer soon enough! You dirt-born fox—how dare you speak ill of God, you hateful wretch!”

(Kichiji brought an armful of green pine needles.)
(Oyoshi fluttered anxiously.)

Shrine Maiden: “If you do not hold God’s divine words in high regard, divine punishment will strike!”

(Gisuke, reluctantly lighting pine needles with Kichiji’s assistance, dragged the resisting Yoshitaro toward the smoke.)

Yoshitaro: “Father! What’re ya doin’? I hate this! I hate this!”

“If you keep thinking that’s his voice, we can’t smoke him out properly! All of you must consider it the fox’s voice! We cannot proceed unless you resolve to torment the fox tormenting this person.”

“No matter how you look at it, this is too cruel.”

(Gisuke worked with Kichiji to thrust a face into the smoke.)

At that moment, Suetaro's voice could be heard from the direction of the main house.

Suetaro (from inside the main house): “Father! Mother! I’ve returned!”

Gisuke (somewhat flustered, releases Yoshitaro): “Suetaro’s come home.”
“Not even Sunday—what could’ve brought him?”

(Suetaro peered out from the sliding door.)
A dark-complexioned, stalwart youth in his middle school uniform.
He immediately noticed the abnormal state.

Suetaro: “What’s going on, Father?”

Gisuke (awkwardly): “Well...”

Suetaro: “What’s going on? Smoking pine needles like this?”

Yoshitaro (coughing painfully but lighting up upon seeing his brother): “Suetaro! Father and Kichiji ganged up to smoke me out with pine needles!”

Suetaro (his complexion slightly changing): “Father! Are you doing such foolish nonsense again? Didn’t I tell you repeatedly?”

Gisuke: “But... this sacred shrine maiden’s been possessed by God.”

Suetaro: “What nonsense.”
“You’d commit such folly just because Brother can’t argue reason?”

(With a sidelong glance at the shrine maiden, [he] kicked apart the burning pine needles.)

“Wait! That fire was lit by God’s decree!”

Suetaro (stomped out [the fire] with a sneer)….

Gisuke (slightly changing his tone): “Suetaro! Look—I ain’t got no learning to speak of, see? I’ve been listening to everything you say—you being so smart from school and all. But no matter what, that fire was lit by the god’s own command! You shouldn’t go kicking it around like that!”

“What exactly gets cured by smoking someone with pine needles? If you say you’re driving out a fox, people would laugh at you. Even if every god in Japan gathered here, they couldn’t cure a common cold. A fraud like this shrine maiden only wants to take your money...”

Gisuke: “But... even doctors couldn’t cure him.”

Suetaro: “If doctors say they can’t cure him, he won’t be cured. And like I’ve told you countless times—if Brother were suffering from this illness, we’d have to do anything to cure him. But just put him on the roof and he stays happy from dawn till dusk.”
“Is there even one person in all Japan who stays as happy every day as Brother?”
“Not a single one in the whole world.”
“And suppose we cure Brother now and he becomes sane—what then?”
“He’ll be twenty-four knowing nothing—can’t even read his ABCs, zero life experience, plus he’ll realize he’s a cripple—he’d probably become Japan’s most miserable man.”
“Is that what you want, Father?”
“Thinking everything needs fixing through sanity—nothing’s stupider than becoming sane just to suffer.”

(With a sidelong glance at the shrine maiden) "Mr. Tosaku, if you're the one who brought her here, take her back with you."

Shrine Maiden (furious at the insult): “Divine punishment strikes instantly upon those who treat God’s oracle with disrespect!”
(After chanting incantations, resuming her earlier gestures, collapsing once, and rising) “I am Konpira Daigongen! All that the patient’s brother has spoken just now stems entirely from his own selfish heart.
When your brother’s illness is cured, it is because all the property of this house will become his.
Doubt not the vision.”

Suetaro (furiously shoving the shrine maiden down): “What nonsense are you spouting, you fool!”
(He kicked her two or three times.)

Shrine Maiden (rising to her feet while suddenly regaining her normal composure): “Ouch! What are you doing? Don’t go doing such reckless things!”

Suetaro Katsushima: “You fraud! You swindler!”

Tosaku (intervening between them): “Now, young master, wait. There’s no need to stay so angry.”

Suetaro Katsushima (still agitated): “Spouting such nonsense! Would a fraud like you understand brotherly affection?”

Tosaku: “Let’s withdraw for now. My mistake was bringing you here.”

Gisuke (handing money to Tosaku): “Please forgive him—he’s still just a child after all.”
“That boy’s got a real short temper, you see.”

“The reckless fool who kicks me while God’s possessing me won’t survive past tonight!”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Oyoshi (supporting Suetaro): “Stay quiet.”
(to the Shrine Maiden) “I’m terribly sorry.”

Shrine Maiden (leaving with Tosaku): “The foot that kicked me will begin to rot.”

(The two left)

Gisuke (looking at Suetaro): “You did such a thing—won’t punishment strike?”

Suetaro: “Would God really possess such a fraudulent woman? She’s spouting such absurd lies!”

Oyoshi: “I knew she was shady from the start. If it were truly God speaking, He’d never say such awful things.”

Gisuke (without conviction): “Aye, that’s true enough.”
“But Suetaro!”
“You’ll be stuck tending to your brother your whole life.”

Suetaro: “What’s so burdensome about that?”
“When I make my fortune, I’ll build a tall tower atop Takano Castle Mountain and settle Brother there.”

Gisuke: “Speaking of which—where’s Yoshitaro got to now?”

Kichiji (pointing at the rooftop): “He’s gone up there.”

Gisuke (smiling): “He’s still at it as usual.”

(Yoshitaro had apparently climbed onto the roof unnoticed during the earlier commotion.)
(The four people below exchanged smiles upon seeing Yoshitaro.)

Suetaro Katsushima: "If ordinary people were smoked out like that, they might get furious—but you've forgotten, Brother!"

Yoshitaro Katsushima (as if even the madman’s heart held special affection for his younger brother): "Suetaro! When I asked Konpira-san, they said, 'We don't know any such woman.'"

Suetaro Katsushima (smiling): "That's right. Rather than some fraudulent shrine maiden, it's you who've been possessed by God."
(The golden sunset, freed from the clouds, bathed the entire roof.) "What a sunset."

Yoshitaro (bathed in the golden sunset, his face took on a radiant glow): “Suetaro, look—you can see a golden palace in those clouds over there, can’t you?”
“Look! Just look there!”
“How beautiful.”

Suetaro Katsushima (with a hint of sorrow for the madman): “It does look that way.”
“How beautiful.”

Yoshitaro (ecstatically): “Look! From the palace—I can hear my favorite flute coming through! What a sound!”

(The parents had retreated into the main house, while the mad elder brother remained on the rooftop and the wise younger brother stood on the ground below, both gazing at the same golden sunset.)

-- CURTAIN --