Pathway to Japanese Literature

Prologue: Act 1 – Toride's Inn – Front of the Abiko House

Scene 2: Tone River Ferry

Grand Finale: Scene 1 – Fuse Riverside

Scene 2: Otsuta’s House

Scene 3: Wild Cherry Tree at the Eaves

Komagata Mohei Old Boatman Suji Ichii

Otsuta Kiyo-daiku Kashi-yama Oniichirō

Funajirushi-bori Tatsusaburō Okimi Shakufu Omatsu

Funato Yahachi Iwashi no Kita Same Okiyo

Namihachi Gijū Kagohiko Bakurō Kyūtarō

Horisage Negichi Obu no Jintatsu

Ibei; Wife Omina; Cook; Accountant; Passersby; Neighbors; Red-lacquered masu cup; Tray-carrying Ryo; Ferry boatmen; Ferry passengers; Childminders (1 and 2); Hachikō; Shopping men and women; Others.

[Prologue]

Scene 1: Toride's Inn - Front of the Abiko House

Toride in Hitachi Province was a post town on the Mito Highway; crossing the Tone River brought one into Shimousa Province. The ferry crossing was located nearby.

At a teahouse inn in the backstreet of Toride's post town, the storefront of Abiko House stood in a lull, missing its usual busy tide. It was an autumn afternoon.

(Abiko House was a two-story building with a low roof ridge, its front and side forming a T-shaped intersection with the thoroughfare.) This corner shop’s structure had a wide earthen floor area; little else remained visible from outside. The ground floor and second-floor shutter boxes featured decorative plasterwork designs: the ground floor displayed the family crest embossed in white on a black background, while the second floor bore colored plasterwork depicting waves and a rising sun.

(At the corner pillar of Abiko House sat a single chrysanthemum pot.
Beside the outer window stood an old Japanese hackberry tree, its bamboo fence enclosing it on all sides.
Within it bloomed a few autumn grasses.)

(The second-floor three-foot shōji remained closed.)

In front of the shop stood the cook, accountant, Okiyo the barmaid, Omatsu, and others, watching toward the fight across the road.
The sound of clashing men carried from that direction though none could yet see them; upstairs, a libertine from nearby appeared to be entertaining himself with a barmaid, the plucking of a shamisen accompanying their revelry.

Cook (stands on tiptoes to look toward the fight)

Okiyo: (To Cook) “I can see it.”

Cook: “Nah, I can’t see a thing.”

Omatsu (slightly drunk): “I thought being tall would help at times like this, but I guess it doesn’t.”

Cook: “What’re you bellyachin’ about? Oh! Folks’re comin’ out!”

Omatsu: “Demons ain’t gonna show up here.”

Accountant: “Omatsu—drunk again.”
“Drinkin’s fine,” he added, “but yours is rotgut swill.”
“Look—they’re spillin’ from the side street like squeezed pus!”

Childminder (rushes in breathless)

Cook: “Hell’s bells—people surgin’ like an avalanche! Ah—runnin’! All runnin’ this way!”

Okiyo (grabbing Childminder’s sleeve): “Who’s brawlin’?”

Childminder: “It’s Funato Yahachi.”

Omatsu: “Huh?! Yahachi’s fighting again? What a hopeless man. That one’s beyond saving.”

Accountant: “Omatsu, don’t go saying that sorta thing in front of him—might get half your head lopped off, y’know?”

Omatsu: “Even someone like me wouldn’t carelessly shoot my mouth off in front of that lawless brute.”
“Not to speak ill of Otsuta-san, but even if she treats her body like yakuza trash, she still clings to her life.”

Cook (still watching intently): “Ah! Finally—the fight looks like it’s headed this way.”
“Look! The one chasing’s Yahachi, but those fleeing seem to be some young couple from god-knows-where.”

“What?! Someone’s jumped in to mediate—who is that?!”

“Let me see,” said Omatsu.

“Hey now,” warned the Accountant, grabbing her arm. “You can’t go spouting such reckless nonsense. You’ll bring trouble on the house.”

Omatsu shook him off. “That’s the horse trader from Kizaki on the Nikko Highway—ate lunch here two days back.”

“Shh! Shh!” The Accountant clapped his hands over her mouth. “Quiet!”

“Agh! Agh! Agh!” Omatsu bit his palm, eyes watering as locals streamed past like startled fish—men and women splitting into two murmuring clusters along the roadside. Through their midst stumbled Ihei and Omina, hands locked like children playing crack-the-whip, their pursuer Funato Yahachi closing fast. At twenty-eight or twenty-nine, the boatman moved with the single-minded fury of a winter storm.

Yahachi (grabbing Ihei): “What do you think you’re doing?!”
(Ihei shakes free, but Yahachi grabs him again and pulls him back.)

Omina (turning back with her husband’s important possession, anxiously fretting over Ihei)

Horse Trader Kizaki Kyūtarō (42 or 43 years old), attempting to mediate, caught up to Yahachi.

Kyūtarō: “Boss, come on, cut him some slack.”
“The man himself already apologized.”
“Hey now—enough’s enough. Let it go.”
“I’m beggin’ you too, alright?”
“C’mon, that should settle it.”
“This ain’t some proper feud—just bickerin’ over whether someone stepped on a foot!”

Yahachi: “Nope.”

Kyūtarō: “What?!”
(He seethed but steadied himself) “Ain’t how it is.”

Yahachi: “Shut the hell up! Hand it over!”
(Snatching the horse shoe from Kyūtarō and striking Ihei)

Omina: “What?!”
(Trying to protect Ihei, she was struck by Yahachi.)

Ihei (angrily restraining Yahachi’s arm): “You get cocky just for acting gentle—then dare to hit me with something even an animal would wear?!”

Omina (frantically clinging to Ihei, trying to speak but her voice failing)

Yahachi: “I whacked him with a horse’s shoe. What’s it to you?”

Kyūtarō: “No need for thanks—this’ll do!”
(Grabbing the horse’s shoe, he struck Yahachi.)

Yahachi: “Agh!”
“Stop it! That hurts!”
(He attempted to snatch the horse’s shoe from Kyūtarō.)

Kyūtarō (refusing to release it): “You bastard!”
“Enough with your high-and-mighty act!”

Yahachi: “Hand it over or I’ll kick you to death!”

Ihei grabbed Yahachi’s leg and pulled.

Yahachi: “Agh!”
He was knocked down but immediately tried to get up—only for Kyūtarō to strike him down with the horseshoe. When he rose again, Ihei kicked him down.

Kyūtarō: “Had enough yet, you big idiot?!”

Ihei: “I’ve memorized your face well. Come to the river’s other side if you dare—I won’t let you leave unscathed.”

Yahachi got up with a crash of tiles: “Just you wait!”
He rushed into Ankō House.

Cook: “What the—?”
To those inside he shouted: “Put away the knives! The knives!” A voice echoed from deep within where they’d fled: “The knives!”
The Accountant and others scrambled inside.

Kyūtarō and Ihei fled down separate paths with his wife.
The bystanders scattered too, fearing collateral harm.
Only Omatsu and Okichi stayed behind, cowering before the house.
A clamor erupted from within—dishes shattering, objects crashing from shelves.

“Outta my way, damn you!” Yahachi’s voice roared.
“I’ll gut every last one of ’em!”
“Move! Get movin’!”

“What’re you doing being so rough?! This ain’t right—let go! Ah! That’s dangerous!”

The second-floor shoji slid open, and barmaid Otsuta (23 or 24 years old) peered out with a slightly flushed, drunken face.

Otsuta spat out the toothpick she’d been chewing on and tried to peer into the back of the shop. When that didn’t work, she shifted her position. Yahachi burst into the street shirtless, a sashimi knife glinting in his hand. The cook and others pursued him as far as the entrance but stopped there, none daring to go further. Okichi and Omatsu scrambled into the shop. Leaning against a pillar upstairs, Otsuta ran a comb through her hair while watching the chaos below.

“I’ll rip the lives right outta that bastard and this one! Get out here!”
“Come on out!”
(Scanning the area) “Goddamn it! They’ve all slunk off and hid!”

Komagata Mohei (around twenty-three or twenty-four years old), wearing nothing but a filthy single-layer garment with straw sandals on his bare feet—a sumo aspirant who had finally become a *tsukedashi* apprentice under a stablemaster, only to be deemed unpromising and driven away during a traveling exhibition—now happened to be passing by.

Mohei came along unaware and encountered Yahachi.

Yahachi glared menacingly while mimicking a knife thrust.

Mohei: "Wh-what are you doing? How should I know?!"

Yahachi: "Bastard!"
(He chased after the fleeing Mohei.)

Mohei staggered frequently from hunger, nearly collapsing again and again: "I don’t know anything! Wh-what is this person doing?!"
(He dodged around.)

The cook and the others could only watch anxiously; there was no one who stepped forward to restrain Yahachi.

Otsuta (watched intently, lost her temper, grabbed a washbasin and splashed water on Yahachi)

Yahachi: “Pfft.”
(Wiped his face smoothly with one hand)

“Did getting doused cool that hot head of yours even a little?”

Yahachi: “What the—?”
(Realizing it was the second floor, looked up) “You’re Otsuta the witch!”

Cook (tried swiftly to snatch the knife from Yahachi’s hand but missed)

“What’re you doing?!” Yahachi barked.
(He brandished the knife)

“Whoa!”

(Rushes into the shop)

Mohei calmed his panting breath, kept his eyes on Yahachi’s movements while occasionally flinching, and turned his gaze toward Otsuta on the second floor.

Yahachi: “Hey, Otsuta! You had the nerve to splash water on me! Come down here—I’ll cut you down!”

Otsuta: “What are you talking about?”

Yahachi: “You ain’t comin’ down? Fine then! I’ll barge up there myself!”

Otsuta: “Come up if you dare! Do you know who this customer here is? It’s Boss Santarō of the Nagare!”

“Our boss came?! This ain’t good—for real?!”

“If you think I’m lying, come up and see! Getting scolded by the boss might be amusing for once.”

Yahachi threw down the knife. “Damn lunatic! Who’d enjoy getting chewed out?!” He turned to Mohei. “You! Had the balls to gang up with that mob and hit me!”

The cook picked up the knife and had a nearby man take it to the kitchen.

“I just happened to be passing through here,” Mohei said. “I don’t know anything about what happened.”

“Don’t play dumb!” Yahachi snapped. “When they were beating me, I kept my eyes wide open—I know exactly what bastards did it.” He thrust a finger at Mohei’s chest. “You definitely hit me too!”

“Don’t hit me with such wild accusations!”

The cook stepped forward. “He’s telling the truth.” He kept his voice calm but firm. “Yahachi, the ones who attacked you were just that horse trader and the young man from before.”

“Like hell that’s your business!” Yahachi snapped at the cook before turning to Mohei. “You—what’s your racket?” His tone implied which gang’s errand boy he took him for.

“I’m training to be a sumo wrestler,” Mohei answered.

“A stable brat?” Yahachi sneered.

“That’s right—a trainee,” Mohei said evenly. “Every yokozuna and ōzeki started this way.”

“Quit your grand talk, loincloth-dragger!” Yahachi brandished his knife. “Come downriver with me! After three bouts, I’ll have you diving into the Tone!”

Mohei wiped his face where river spray still clung. “I’ve swallowed enough water today.”

“Don’t you know how to swim? Can’t even dog-paddle?”

“No, that’s not it—I’ve been drinking nothing but water since yesterday,” Mohei said.
(suddenly realizing) It’s because I’m scared of being underwater.

Otsuta leaned on her cheek and looked down. “Sumo apprentice, don’t bother with that guy—just get going already. Otherwise, after getting beaten a couple times, you’ll end up having some money taken from you.”

Yahachi glared at Otsuta.

Well, I don’t have a single coin, Mohei thought.

“Weeell...” Otsuta drawled. “How far do you think you’ll get without a penny?”

“I’ll head to Edo for now,” said Mohei.

“It’s eight ri just from here to Senju,” Otsuta countered. “And crossing that river costs sixteen mon coins. What’ll you do without a single penny?”

“I’ll manage somehow.”

Yahachi snorted. “Can’t even beat up a penniless bastard—too damn pitiful when ya hear it.”

“When you said ‘pitiable,’” Otsuta retorted, “I thought—well, hearing ‘penniless’ again—it felt more like disappointment.”

“You damn witch,” Yahachi spat. “Always spoutin’ crap that grates.”

“We might’ve been enemies in a past life.”

“If it weren’t for the boss being sweet on you—” He spat out the words like rotten teeth. “I’d’ve snapped your scrawny arm clean off years back! What’s he even see in a dried-up hag like you?”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself? See what answer you get.”

“Shut your damn trap!” Yahachi wheeled toward Mohei mid-stride. “Bastard!” His sandal cracked against Mohei’s ribs. “Heh—all that rice you shovel down, still weak as pisswater.”

Mohei (staggering and collapsing): “Wait!”
(rising to his feet) “Hup!”
(delivers a headbutt to Yahachi’s chest)

Yahachi: “Agh!”
(flips over backward, scrambles to rise in panic, then collapses limply)

Mohei (staggers weakly, barely managing to stop himself, then collapses limply to sit)

Yahachi: “You sumo apprentice wretch.
“Agh, damn that hurts!”
(Limping as if lame, holding where he was struck) “Agh!”
“Agh!”
(Bent over, he leaves.)

Otsuta (watches Yahachi collapse and cheers, but grows despondent seeing Mohei sit limply).

Omatsu (to Okichi): “This man looks ill, but even a sumo apprentice remains a wrestler through and through.”

Cook (emerging at the entrance to watch Yahachi’s retreating figure): “Heh. That lawless brute Yahachi took a full headbutt yet still endured it—see how he’s walking bent over like a shrimp now.”
“Serves him right.”

Omatsu (to Okichi): “But y’know…”
(Pointing at Mohei) “That one’s got no charm at all.”
“Even I’d say no if they told me to take him as a customer.”
“He’s just too slovenly.”

“Well, of course—I mean, even I would.”
“Still, Yahachi’s somewhat better.”

“You think so?”

Okichi (steps forward and looks up at the second floor): “Otsuta—you’ve been poking at Yahachi with your usual tricks since earlier. You sure that’s smart?”

Otsuta: “Couldn’t care less what comes of it.”

Omatsu (to Okichi): “Now now—that’s her trademark.”
“Waste of breath arguing with her.”
“She’s that sort of self-destructive woman.”

Komagata Mohei (finally standing up): "Might I trouble someone for a drink of water?"

Cook: "Well's right up ahead if it's water you're after."
"Drink your fill before leaving."
(to the others) "Let's hear the rest of that storybook now."
"Hachi—do the reading."

Hachikō: “Sure.”
(Exits inside with the Cook.)

Okimi: "I’ll listen too."
(taking Omatsu’s hand) "Come on, you too."

Omatsu: "Might as well listen to kill time."
(Exit inside with Okimi.)

Mohei (heads toward the well, finishes drinking, and returns): "Plenty there."
(starts to leave)

Otsuta: “Hey! Hey!”

Mohei (turns back to glance at Otsuta, then continues walking)

Otsuta: “Sumo apprentice—I’m calling you.”

Mohei: “Me?”
“What is it?”

“What’s wrong with you?”
“My stomach.”
“You overate, didn’t you?”
“It’s because I haven’t been eating properly at all.”

“Oh right—you did say you were penniless.”
“Someone told me if I act like a beggar, people would give me coins.”
“You’d actually do that?”
“Not a chance.”
“I’m going to become a proper sekitori.”
“Did the stablemaster say that? That you’ve got potential or something?”

Mohei: “The stablemaster said I have no prospects.”

Otsuta: “Oh really? You think you can still become a proper sumo wrestler that way?”

Mohei: “I can make it—I’m working hard, after all. If I don’t become one... I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“Where’s your hometown?”

“Kozuke Province,” Mohei answered. “A place called Komagata in Seta District. About two ri from Maebashi.”

Otsuta clicked her tongue. “If you fail, you can always go back to the countryside and take up a hoe. Your family are farmers, right?”

“Home...” Mohei’s voice thickened. “My home turned to ashes.”

“Burned down?” Her eyes narrowed. “So now you’ve got no house?”

“No.”

“What about parents? Siblings back home?”

“I’m an only child,” said Mohei. “My old man went off somewhere—no word from him in twenty years. He must’ve made something of himself out there.”

“So only your mother’s left?”

“Ah, she’s there.” His voice softened. “In Komagata—at a spot where you can see the upper Hirose River.”

Otsuta tilted her head. “Oh? You do have a house after all.”

“Oh, that place? It’s my mother’s grave.”

Otsuta suddenly teared up.

“Older Sister, are you the proprietress here?”

“I’m a barmaid. The white powder’s burned my face raw—I’m just a worn-out hag.”

Mohei: “Worn-out hag? That’s not true—I don’t think so at all.”
(Bowed his head and began to leave)

Otsuta: “Wait—Sumo Apprentice.
You—don’t you have any proper relatives?”

Mohei: “It’s not that there aren’t any, but there’s no one who would care for me.”

Otsuta: “Everyone’s united in being heartless, aren’t they?
Sumo Apprentice—you listen here. Work your hardest to become a proper sekitori. When times get tough, remember those heartless relatives’ faces and push through. Once you’ve made it big, return home in splendor and make every last one of those cold-hearted bastards grovel at your feet. That’ll show ’em good.”

Mohei: Oh no—it’s not like I’m trying to become a proper sekitori just so my relatives can see me.

“Oh.”
“Ah—so there’s some lovely woman you want to show off for and make happy.”
“Ho ho ho—that doesn’t come cheap, does it?”

“I want to perform a yokozuna dohyō-iri in front of my mother’s grave back home—once I do that, I’ll be satisfied.”

“Sumo Apprentice—you must miss your mother too, huh.”
“You must have those dreams often, huh.”

“Of course I do.”
“Older Sister... has your mother passed away too?”

“My mother’s alive.”
“Then you’re a bit better off than I am.”
“Oh, what’s that—even if she’s alive, she’s not living any sort of decent life, that’s certain.”
“You don’t know how she’s doing?”

“It’s far away—my hometown.”
“So there’s no way to know.”

“Where?” asked Mohei.

“Even further past Zenkoji Temple in Shinano—six ri south from Etchu Toyama, deep in the mountains,” replied Otsuta.

“If it’s beyond Shinano,” Mohei said, “I still don’t know that land.”

Otsuta hid her tear-streaked face as memories overwhelmed her, turned her back, and began singing softly—her hometown’s famous Yatsuo Koharabushi song: “My dear friends and rapeseed flowers... Ah, where have you all gone?”

Mohei looked up at Otsuta and started to leave silently.

Otsuta (continues singing): “If they bloom too much, they’ll scatter away...”
“Sumo Apprentice—hey.”

Mohei: “I still have over eight ri to walk—I’m going.”

Otsuta: “The Tone River ferry costs sixteen mon.”
(taking a purse from her obi and tossing it to him)

Mohei: “Huh.”

Otsuta: “I’d give you something to eat, but this household’s too stingy to make that happen. I’ll give you everything I’ve got—so go eat something somewhere.”

Mohei: “Can I really take this with me? Older Sister—won’t you be left in trouble later?”

Otsuta: “Me? I’m stuck in trouble year-round anyway—having it or not makes no difference. Quit dawdling and take it.”

Mohei: “I’ll take half.”

Otsuta: “Stingy much? Aren’t you the sumo apprentice who’ll become yokozuna someday?”

Mohei: “But see—I’ve been penniless and struggling too. If Older Sister were penniless...”

Otsuta: “What difference does penniless or loofah make when I guzzle poison knowing this reckless drinking’s bad? Since you’re such a glutton, that won’t do—take this too.”
(took a comb and hairpin from her hair)

“No, no—I don’t need to take so much.”

Otsuta: “Take them with you.”
(tying the comb and hairpin to the sash)

“Huh.”

Otsuta let down her sash. “Take ’em already. What’re you lollygaggin’ for?” Her voice sharpened as she noticed his face. “Ugh—cryin’ now?”

“I ain’t never met a woman like you,” Mohei mumbled through tears.

“Yokozuna hopefuls bawlin’ like brats? Pathetic!” She shoved the comb toward him. “Grab it quick—folk’ll think we’re doin’ somethin’ shady.”

Mohei: “Huh.”
(took the comb and hairpin in hand)

Otsuta (adjusting her sash): “If someone questions you, just say you got them from me. I’ll step forward and clear things up.”

Mohei: “Older Sister—what’s your name?”

Otsuta: “Haven’t told you yet, have I? When you say it out loud, make sure it’s clear: ‘The daruma at Toride’s Abiko-ya inn goes by Otsuta—a twenty-four-year-old woman born in Etchu Yatsuo.’”

Mohei: “Huh.”
(repeating the words under his breath to memorize them)

Otsuta: “But in return—Sumo Apprentice—stand firm! Become a proper wrestler now.”
“Hear me?”
“Do that and I’ll move heaven and earth to see your dohyō-iri ceremony once.”

“Aye—aye—I’ll stand firm,” said Mohei. “I’ll stand firm as a yokozuna and repay today’s kindness by having you watch my kata-ya-iri ceremony.”

Otsuta adjusted her sash. “Even though I might drift who-knows-where, I’ll look forward to it—I’ll keep an eye on the banzuke when sumo tournaments come around.” She paused, tilting her head. “Oh—I haven’t heard your name yet, have I?”

“My master’s name is Tateshina Isoemon,” Mohei replied, his voice formal yet warm.

Otsuta: “A master who sends you away on a journey without even providing money—his name doesn’t matter one bit.”

Mohei: “He gave me six hundred mon. He told me I could go anywhere with this. But I ate up all of it.”

Otsuta: “Oh! I thought you were being sent back to Edo, but you’ve been cast out. Well, that’s a problem.”

Mohei: “No—if I go to Edo, I’ll cling to the master’s wife and have her take me back as a disciple once more. Because the master’s wife has been saying she feels sorry for me.”

“Somehow I feel a bit uneasy,” said Otsuta.

“Oh, I will be fine,” Mohei replied. “Even if I have to bite into stones, I will rise to yokozuna.”

Otsuta pressed him further: “Then go on and put your all into it with that mindset.” After a beat, she added: “What’s your name?”

“I was given the name Komagata.”
“Komagata is the name of my hometown.”
“My name is Mohei.”

“So it’s Komagata Mohei, then.”

Mohei: “Aye. Older Sister—even if I rise to sandanme or nidanme division, enter makushita rank, or attain sanyaku status—until I become yokozuna, no matter what happens, I’ll remain Komagata Mohei through and through.”

Otsuta: “Then I’ll recognize you straight away—good that way. Now off you go. Farewell.”

Mohei: “Yes.”
(bowing his head joyfully) “Farewell, Older Sister.”

(starts to leave)

Otsuta (seeing him off): “I’ll be waiting for your rise.”

Mohei: "Yes!"
(looking back again and again as he leaves)

Otsuta (resting her cheek on her hand while humming a tune, then noticing): Huh—he’s still facing this way and bowing.
Was he really that happy?
(waving her sash) Komagata—

Funato Yahachi led his gang of ruffians—Akagane no Masukō, Iwashi no Kitakō, and Bonmochi no Ryōkō—charging in with a racket like festival revelers, all four of them clutching hoe handles and other tools.

Masukō: Where is it?
"Where is it?"
“Where is it?”

Kitakō: Waaah! Waaah! Wawawaaah!

Ryōkō: Heave-ho! Heave-ho!

Yahachi (wearing a long wakizashi, standing at the front)

Otsuta (coldly watching)

Yahachi: “Huh—he’s already gone.”
“The ferry landing! The ferry landing!”
(started to dash off)

“Hey now, Yahachi—causing trouble again? The boss’ll chew you out.”

“Otsuta the witch? You liar! The boss was at home!”

“Of course he was,” Otsuta said. “He left earlier after saying he was going home.”

“Liar! You witch!” Yahachi barked. “To the ferry landing—smash those loincloth bastards!” He started to dash off.

Otsuta laughed coldly. “How strange—too scared to lay hands on me, aren’t you? Hohoho.”

“Keep yapping and I’ll—damn it! Everyone—crush that witch first!”

Kitakō jabbed two fingers under his nose. “But you’re her home man, ain’tcha?”

Ryōkō: “If we get scolded, it won’t be any fun—so cut it out.”

Yahachi: “To the ferry landing!”
Yahachi: “Go on, go!”

Otsuta hummed a folk tune while reaching for the sake flask and cup tray. She poured cooled sake into the cup tray before sitting on the windowsill to sip her drink.

Scene Two: The Tone River Crossing

Tone River Ferry Landing.
Autumn wildflowers bloomed here and there.
Reeds grew thickly here and there in the river.
The ferry boat left the shore, already switched to oars, and its bow became hidden by the reeds, no longer visible.

The boatman pushed the oar.
Several passengers were aboard.
Somewhere, a voice called out: "Hey—hey!"

Boatman (faced one part of the shore and waved): “No good! No good! Hold on a sec—I’ll go and come right back, alright?”

The ferry boat had departed.

Komagata Mohei, having managed to get some food along the way, was now healthier than before.

Mohei: “Hey—hey, Boatman—hey!”
(Comes running) “Hah! He’s gone.”
(Sitting on what appeared to be an unloaded garden stone, gazing at the river while taking food from his pocket) The restaurant worker had said crossing to Abiko was one ri—then three more from Abiko to Kogane. He couldn’t walk that far.
“Ah well—gotta walk. Walk I will.”
Two ri from Kogane to Matsudo they’d claimed.
Four ri from Matsudo through Kasai to Senju.
“Then I’ll reach my stablemaster’s by tomorrow!”
(Begins eating.)

A childminder—different from the previous one—came along, soothing the child she was carrying with a pinwheel.

Childminder (singing a lullaby, passes by Mohei)

Mohei (grew thirsty, went to the riverbank, scooped water, and drank)

Yahachi led Masu, Kita, and Ryo as they stealthily crept closer.

The Childminder (startled, moves aside and watches fearfully)

Yahachi (restraining Masu and the others, taking the lead, stealthily approached Mohei from behind) Hn.
(attempted to strike)

Mohei (stood up by chance)

Kitakō (threw down his club) "Bastard!"
(tried to push him down with both hands)

Komagata Mohei pulled free and shoved Kitakō out from behind.

Kitakō tumbled head over heels into the river.

Yahachi: “I’ve been hunting you since earlier. Where’ve you been skulking around?”

“I stopped by a restaurant because I got some money,” said Mohei.

No wonder—when Masukō had asked the boatman, he’d said he hadn’t seen him.

Ryōkō: “Good thing you hadn’t left yet, Yahachi-chan.”

Yahachi: “I’ll beat you down right here, so you’d better believe it.”

“More importantly—the person who fell into the river—is he okay? Can that guy even swim?” Mohei asked.

Ryōkō sneered at him, “This bastard’s actin’ real weird here.”

“You’re lookin’ down on us!” Yahachi barked. “Bastard!” He lunged to strike.

“What’re you doing?!” Mohei shouted. Though his stomach could still take the blows—he wasn’t beaten yet—he began faltering when Ryo and Masu grabbed him from both sides.

Yahachi swung his weapon overhead to strike Mohei.

The Childminder, who had been watching fearfully until now, blurted out: “Murder!”

Yahachi: “Huh?!”
He turned around in a panic.

Komagata Mohei seized the moment when Ryōkō and Masukō were startled by the “Murder!” cry, shook them off, picked up the fallen weapon, struck down the two men, and turned to face Yahachi.

Yahachi (throws his weapon and reaches for his long wakizashi): “Resist, and I’ll strike your bare head clean off!”

“If you don’t do anything, I won’t either.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“Then I’ll act.”

Yahachi (slowly inched back).

Mohei: “You. Didn’t you do anything to Older Sister earlier?”

“Otsuta the witch?”
“That slut.”
(Retreats again.)

“She’s not a slut.”

“She’s a slut! A total slut! Went and popped out some fatherless brat!”
“For a teahouse woman, she’s so slovenly.”

“She’s not that kind of person.”

“The hell she isn’t!” Yahachi spat. “Ask any childminder here! That brat on her back—the witch squeezed it out this spring!”

“Liar!” Mohei roared. “She’d never bear a fatherless child! Say that again, you damn beast!” He lunged at Yahachi.

Yahachi (tries to fight back but is overpowered, gets beaten, and runs away): “You’ll remember this!”
(Exits)

Ryōkō and Masukō, seeing this, fled just a step ahead of Yahachi.

Mohei: “That ‘remember this’ was meant for you all.”
“When your belly’s empty enough to rot, anyone turns strong. Burn that into your skulls.”

Childminder: “You fought real strong there, Sumo wrestler!”

Mohei: “Huh?”
“Ah—Childminder! You saw all that?”

Childminder: “Oh, I’ve been watching since it started.”

Mohei: “Must’ve scared you stiff.”
It wasn’t my doing wrong here.
Keep holding to that thought now.

“I already knew that,” said the Childminder. “Funato Yahachi’s scarier than a fire! A fool, a lawless brute, and a stubborn mule—that’s why we sing about him like that.”

Mohei: He fell into the river alone.

Childminder: That’s my Kita.
“He’s already swum off somewhere.”

Mohei: If he knows how to swim, that’s reassuring. Hey, Childminder—that child, whose is she?

A village child of this household.

Mohei: Is she truly Abiko-ya’s Otsuta-san’s child?

Childminder: “That’s right.”
(The baby started crying, so she stepped away from Mohei and walked off while soothing it.)

Mohei (to Childminder): “Hey... that child—fatherless—”
(started to speak but stopped)

Childminder (humming a lullaby as she moved along)

Sardine Kita-kō parted the reeds and quietly crawled up.

Mohei (stops speaking and, averting his eyes, spots Kita-kō)

Kita-kō (gulps air and leaps into the river like a frog)

Mohei: “Hey!”
(He called out, but it was too late.)

Childminder (startled by the splashing sound, stops singing and looks back; thinking nothing is amiss, continues her song)

Mohei sat on a rock and began stuffing his cheeks with leftovers.

A Japanese bush warbler sings alternately in the distance and nearby.

[CLIMAX]

Act I: Fuse Riverside

It was spring, about ten years later.

Fuse—which lay along the Tone River about one ri southeast of Abiko in Shimousa Province, its opposite bank being Togashira in Hitachi Province—was known as the Seven Ri Crossing.

(Fuse served as the thoroughfare from Matsudo to Mitsukaidō; along with places like Fusa, it was part of an area called Nakasōma.)

A short distance from Benten Hill, where Fuse Bentendo Hall stands, flowed the Tone River.
The opposite bank lay about half a ri away.

A fairly large boat—only its stern visible—was dragged up onto the sandy shore, where the old boatman and his young son were applying reed fire to its hull.

The sound of a shipwright hammering with a caulking mallet came from inside the boat.

Old Boatman (singing while applying reed fire to the boat’s bottom): “Ah, the Tone’s a fine place—upper, middle, lower stretches—wherever you look, flowers bloom.”
(To the young man) “It’s been about eight years since we launched her new. Come next year, we’ll have to give her an upper hull overhaul, won’t we?”

Young Man: “Nah, we don’t need to talk about next year yet. Even if it’s the year after next, that’ll be fine.”
“Hey, Shipwright! That’s right, isn’t it?”
(He called out toward the boat, but there was no answer—only the sound of a caulking mallet being hammered.)

Old Boatman: “The shipwright can’t hear well over the sound of hammering the caulking mallet.”

Young Man (sings): “Ah, whether Inasa blows or Narai blows, this morning’s chill makes me want to turn back home.”

Komagata Mohei (thirty-three or thirty-four years old)—having quit sumo and fallen in with gambling circles—had, through roughly ten years of tempering both body and spirit, become a man transformed beyond recognition.
He now wore the attire of a traveler roaming various provinces.
He took the wrong path and came here.

“I’m sorry to disturb you while working,” said Mohei to the old boatman. “To reach Toride—would this crossing here suffice? Or would it be better to go to the downstream ferry?”

The old boatman replied, “This crossing will do well enough, but depending on where exactly you’re bound in Toride, the lower ferry might suit better.”

Mohei: “I went there about ten years ago, you see. Old Boatman, in Toride—is there still a house called Abiko-ya that does something like a teahouse inn?”

Young Man: “Abiko-ya? I know the area well, but there ain’t no such house in Toride.”

Old Boatman: “Oh, there is! There most certainly is. No—there was one originally.”

Mohei: “Oh... So it doesn’t exist anymore now?”

Old Boatman: “Ain’t. About eight or nine years ago, was it? A gambler fellow—oh, I must apologize for this. It was a slip of the tongue.”

“Please don’t concern yourself.”

Old Boatman: "Ah, right."
"Abiko-ya used to prosper, but after Boss Nagare no Santarō took charge and bought it out, it never caught on again—they shut it down within six months or a year."
"So by the time this lad here came of age for such interests, it was already gone—he wouldn't know about it."

Mohei: "Oh, is that so?"
"Thank you kindly for teaching me all this—I'm truly grateful."

Old Boatman (gaining significant goodwill from Mohei’s courtesy): “Ah, no, think nothing of it. If there’s more you want to ask, I’ll tell you all I know—just don’t expect answers while I’m fire-caulking this hull.”

Mohei: “If I may accept your kind offer, I have a few questions to ask. Might there be someone who knows even the private details about Abiko-ya? Would you happen to know such a person?”

Old Boatman: “If you mean Funato Yahachi, he might know—he’s the one who took over after Boss Nagare no Santarō caught some plague and dropped dead.”

Mohei: “Funato Yahachi? Would that not be the man they once called Yahachi-kō or Yahachi-san?”

Old Boatman: “You know Yahachi... Mr. Hachi, then?”

“No, I don’t know him—I just feel like I’ve heard the name before. This might sound like an odd question, but what’s Yahachi’s reputation like?”

Old Boatman: "Well now..."
(Hesitating to speak)

Mohei: “Understood. That man’s reputation isn’t good.”

Old Boatman (flustered): “That ain’t so.”

Mohei: “No need for concern. If I might ask one more thing—Old Boatman. I must apologize for my forwardness—this may vex you—but would you happen to know any women who worked at Abiko-ya? Even just one or two?”

Old Boatman (troubled): “Wh-what’re you asking an old man?”

Mohei: “This fool misspoke. I beg your pardon.”

Old Boatman: “Oh, now that you say it, that smarts a bit.”
“Back in those days, even I went there to play once or twice myself.”

Mohei: “Might you happen to know a woman called Ms. Otsuta?”

Old Boatman: “Ms. Otsuta... Hmm, that name rings a bell, but which woman would that be now?”
(calling toward the boat) “Hey there, Kiyo-daiku! Come over here!”

The aged ship carpenter Kiyokichi emerged halfway from the stern.

Kiyo-daiku: “What?”
“Business, huh?”

Old Boatman: “You had a thing for Abiko-ya’s Ama in Toride back in the day, didn’t you?”

Kiyo-daiku (grinning): “What’re you sayin’?”
*(withdrew his face)*

Old Boatman: “Hey there, Kiyo-daiku!”
“This ain’t no time for jokin’ around!”
“The person here wants to know.”
“This person seems to be askin’ about someone.”

Kiyo-daiku *(showed half his body again)*: “Hmm?”
“Who’s this about?”

Mohei: “I apologize for interrupting your work. By any chance, would you happen to know a woman named Ms. Otsuta who was at Abiko-ya about ten years ago?”

Kiyo-daiku: “Otsuta, huh? Don’t recall her. If she’d been around long, I’d have known her...”

Mohei: “At that time she was twenty-three or twenty-four—fair-skinned and beautiful—might you have known her?”

Kiyo-daiku (to Old Boatman): “You don’t know?”

Old Boatman: “If I knew, I wouldn’t have called you.”

Kiyo-daiku: “You were pretty hung up on someone yourself back then.”

Old Boatman: “Tone River boatmen don’t fixate on women.”
“That’s our code.”

Kiyo-daiku: “Nah, that ain’t right.”
“The one you were sweet on was... Omatsu, wasn’t it?”

Old Boatman: “That’s your woman.”

Kiyo-daiku: “That’s right. My woman was Omatsu—she was a real drinker, I tell ya.”

Old Boatman: “Back then, both you and I were still spry as could be, eh?”

Young man (waiting impatiently)

Kiyo-daiku (overcome with emotion, staring blankly)

“I apologize for interrupting.”
“I’ll go to Toride and search for her even if I don’t find anything.”

“Alright, alright.”
“In that case, the lower ferry would probably be closer.”

Kiyo-daiku: “Well then, best get back to work.”
(Kiyo-daiku entered the boat.)
Before long, the sound of striking a maul could be heard.)

“Excuse me.”
(He put on his straw hat and started to leave)

Three subordinates of Namihachi Gijū, the gambling den boss of these parts—Obu no Jinta, Kagohiko, and Horisage Nekkichi—came rushing in.

Kagohiko (wordlessly snatching off Mohei’s straw hat)

Jinta (blocking Mohei’s path)

Nekkichi (grapples Mohei from behind)

Mohei (grabbing Kagohiko’s shoulder and slamming him into the sand, applying a neck hold to Nekkichi and spinning him forward to kick away, then catching Jinta’s charging arm to throw him): “What do you think you’re doing?”
(takes off the base of the straw hat and discards it)

Nekkichi: “Crap, crap! Wrong guy!”

Jinta: “Uh… I’m really sorry about this.”

Kagohiko (shifting blame onto the two): “It’s not like I didn’t say anything! Didn’t I say it was the wrong guy? I made sure to check!”

Nekkichi: “What’s your deal? You were the one yappin’ ‘that guy, that guy’ earlier!”

Jinta: “That’s right! It’s Hikoppe’s fault!”

Kagohiko: “Tsk! Don’t pin all the blame on me.”

“Hey!”
“Get your asses over here!”

Jinta: “Huh.”

Mohei: “Boatmen! The carpenter’s working.”
“You’re blocking his way—move over here!”

Kagohiko: “Huh.”

The old boatman and young man were by the boat, Kiyo-daiku showed half his body above it, and together they watched how things would unfold.

“You lot are thugs?”

Kagohiko: “Huh. I shall now state my name. Please wait a moment.”

Mohei: “I’m bein’ rude. I don’t accept your gang formalities.”

Kagohiko: “Huh.”

Mohei: “Where’s the family?”

Kagohiko: “Though it be presumptuous to address you with muddy hems on my sandals—a thousand pardons for this discourteous greeting—having now properly oriented myself toward your esteemed self for this first audience, this humble one declares: From Sōshū Katsushika District, Shibasaki Village—junior member under Namihachi Gijū of the Namihachi Group—Kaguya Hikosakuemon. As your wise discernment perceives, I am but a lowly individual.”

“Understood,” said Mohei.
“You.”

Jinta reluctantly answered, “The name’s Obu no Jintarō.”

Nekkichi (as Mohei’s eyes demanded an answer): “I’m Horisage Nekkichi.”

Mohei: “Was this done on Namihachi Gijū’s orders? Or your own doing?”

Nekkichi (cutting him off as Hiko began to say “The boss told us—”): “Our own decision.”

Mohei: “The particulars?”

Nekkichi: “That’s what we’re apologizing for.”

Mohei: “You thought an apology would make this right?”

Kagohiko: “That’s twisting words!”

Mohei: “Depending on how things stand—I might forgive you.”
“Depending on how things stand—there’ll be no forgiveness. No need to spell it out—this is between fellow gutter rats.”
“Aye, that’s how it must be—or so you’d think.”

Kagohiko: Huh.

Mohei: “Let’s hear how you screwed up the job.”
“Not you—you there.”
(pointing at Nekkichi, who seemed the most reliable)

Nekkichi: “There’s an abandoned temple round here—we use it regular-like.”
“Today too, soon as the den opened daytime, this drifter we never seen shows up. First off, nothin’ odd—but when he kept comin’ back for more, the bastard started actin’ shady-like.”

“Mistook him for someone else? What’s his deal—causing trouble at the den?”

“Turned out he was a swindler—by the time we noticed, the bastard was already making a run for it. So we split up to chase him down, and ended up making a damn fool mistake.”

“Does that swindler look like me?”

“That’s not how it is, but...”
“Hey, you.”
(Pointing at Jinta) “Was the swindler dressed like a traveler? Like me?”
“The sash… he had the sash neatly tightened.”
“His age and face—different too?”

Jinta: “Yes, that’s correct.”

Mohei: “Not a single similarity—completely different—yet you lot tear off my hat out of nowhere and come at me grappling and striking. A quick-tempered man would’ve cut you down right then and there.”
“Don’t think I’m doing you any favors—it’s only ’cause it’s me things stopped here.”
“You fools! From now on, watch your step.”

(He headed off downstream.)

“What a bastard... He was such a pain.”

“Jinta ended up in a terrible mess.”
“Who was the one acting all clever, saying the swindler pulled a quick change to take on that appearance?”

Kagohiko (scratching his head)

Nekkichi (seeing Mohei off): “What a man he is.”
“Oh! We were so stunned by him that we forgot to ask his name.”
“That man must be laughing at us now.”

Namihachi Gijū—who had once reached the three senior ranks of grass sumo—arrived with his subordinate Sujiichi and the wandering rōnin Kashiyama Oniichirō.

Nekkichi: “Hey, Boss.”
“And Sensei.”
(He bowed.)

Gijū: “That swindler’s been lurkin’ round Toride lately.”
“We’re headin’ there now to dish out some harsh punishment.”
“All three of you—come.”

Kagohiko: “Right! I’ll tag along.”

Sujiichi (puffing his chest at Nekkichi’s group): “We’ll methodically crack down hard—just watch how we do it.”

Kashiyama (slapping his sword): “When it comes to this one, the final blow must be this humble one’s duty.”
“Hahaha.”

Jinta: “Boss.”
(He began to report the incident)

Nekkichi yanked Jinta’s sleeve, signaling with his eyes to keep quiet.

Gijū: “Hiko.
Go ahead to the Upper Ferry. If the boat looks ready to depart, have them wait.”

Kagohiko: “Yes, sir!”
(He dashed off)

Gijū: “Let’s go.
This’ll be one hell of a day!”

Gijū and his men headed toward the Upper Ferry.
Their voices lingered briefly in the air.
Tatsusaburō the boat engraver—branded a swindler—arrived moments later, his sharp clothes lending him an air of respectability as he scanned his surroundings.

Tatsusaburō pulled a sumo referee’s fan from his hair and threw it away.

Kiyo-daiku had already boarded the boat earlier and was planing boards.

The Old Boatman stopped the planking work he’d started with the young man and stared at Tatsusaburō. Suspecting this might be the man Gijū’s gang was hunting, he called out: “Hey. Hey.”

Tatsusaburō: “Huh?”
(Startled, he fled downstream.)

Old Boatman: “Ah— I was going to quietly warn you...”

Young Man: “But since they say he did swindling gambling, there’s really no helping it.”

Kiyo-daiku (poking his head out from the boat): “Did something happen again?”

Old Boatman: “Oh, it’s nothing. Just one person ran off, that’s all.”

Kiyo-daiku: “Ah, that’s what it was.”
“He’s racing off ahead.”

The old boatman resumed planking.

The boatmen’s song, carried on the wind, echoed from far and near.

Act II: Otsuta’s House

Inside a solitary house on a highland slightly removed from Toride’s post town, where the Tone River could be seen somewhat in the distance.

The house was built long ago, its eaves tilting and walls crumbling.
On the earthen floor with a window, skewers of river fish hung.
In the tatami-matted area stood a memorial tablet inscribed with a man’s name, placed in a box that served as a Buddhist altar.
In a corner lay clothes for selling candy, a sedge hat, and tools.
This house held only a mother and child—one glance made clear the mother earned their living through candy peddling.)

Otsuta (thirty-three or thirty-four years old), drawn by the child’s love, lived alone and made a meager living.

Otsuta was making small banners and streamers to attach to her candy stall decorations.

Okimi (ten or eleven years old) offered a branch of wild cherry blossoms she had picked to the memorial tablet.

Children’s voices could be heard from the direction of the town.

Children (voice): *"Sunset glow, little glow—let tomorrow be sunny too!"*
*“Sunset glow, little glow—let tomorrow be sunny too!”*
(Growing distant)

Otsuta: “Okimi. You’re a good child—light the lamp for me.” She continued making streamers.

Okimi: “Okay.”

Otsuta: “Be careful now—don’t spill the oil.”

Okimi: “Okay.” She struck the flintstone and yelped when she hit her finger.

Otsuta started up. “What happened? Did you hurt your finger? Let me see.” She examined the wound. “Oh, it’s bleeding. Must hurt something fierce—be brave now.” From an old wicker trunk that held remnants of better days, she pulled out Naritasan’s wound salve. “This’ll sting some,” she warned as she applied the last dregs of medicine, “but hold it tight yourself while I wrap it.” Finding a scrap of cloth, she bound the finger firmly. “There—should heal by morning.” She struck the flint again and lit the lantern.

Iwashi no Kitakō—now looking about ten years older than before—roughly opened the entrance.
He enters the earthen floor area.
Outside the entrance stood Namihachi Gijū and others.

Kitakō (looking around): “Tch, this place is filthy.”

Otsuta: “Who’s there?”
“Oh.”

Kitakō: “We’ve seen each other around enough—you can’t have forgotten me completely! It’s Kitazō.”
(To Gijū and others outside) “Please come right in.”
“Hey, Otsuta.”
“Today I’m here as Boss Funato Yahachi’s representative to escort your guests.”
“Don’t you dare mess this up.”

Otsuta seethed but bit back her retort, staying silent. Seeing Okimi’s frightened face, she beckoned her daughter closer and hugged her.

Gijū entered the earthen floor area with Sujiichi and Negishi.

Kashiyama, Hiko, and Shinta were outside, coming and going beyond the open entrance.

Kitakō: “Boss of the other territory, please do not hesitate to inspect thoroughly.”

Gijū: “Then we’ll do that.”
(To Otsuta) “I’m Namihachi Gijū of the Namihachi group from Nakasōma across the river.”

Otsuta: “May I ask what this is about?”

Gijū: “There’s no need for me to say this directly myself.”

“Sujiichi, go ahead and ask.”

Sujiichi: “Huh.”
(Stepping forward abruptly) “Otsuta! What’s with that face? We’ve come on business with your husband.”
“Bring out your husband.”

Otsuta: “My husband, you say? Ohoho.”
“Do I have a husband?”
“You must be joking.”

Sujiichi: “Hey! I ain’t lettin’ you weasel outta this!”
“What’s that? That mortuary tablet over there.”

Otsuta: “That’s my husband’s secular name written there.”

Sujiichi: “You bring out the man with that secular name.”

“Can you produce someone who’s become a mortuary tablet? If you insist on this farce—very well then. Okimi, bring your father’s mortuary tablet.”

Okimi (looking at her mother’s face with concern): “Is it okay?”

Otsuta: “Yes.”
“These fine gentlemen claim they have business with your father’s mortuary tablet.”

Okimi (starts to go retrieve the mortuary tablet)

Sujiichi: “That fuckin’ tablet can’t talk! We don’t want that shit!”

Otsuta (to Okimi): “Since they don’t need it—never mind now, Okimi.”

Gijū: What a hassle.
“Sujiichi, restrain that witch and brat! The rest of you—search the house!”

Hiko and Shinta rushed in from outside; Kashiyama stood beyond the entrance watching inside.

Otsuta shook off Sujiichi’s restraining hand, hurled the color-paper streamer basket at Kitakō as he lunged forward, shielded Okimi, and pressed against the corner wall: “What’re you doing? Grown men forcing their way into a house with just a woman and child—what’s this brute strength nonsense?”
“I’m not some weakling you can push around!”

Gijū: “You might not have one—but your husband does.”
“Quit fussing—Funato’s crew approved this. Pin ’em down.”
“Tear this place apart.”

Otsuta (restrained by Sujiichi): “What do you think you’re doing? You’re gamblers laying hands on decent folk—you think this ends here?”

Kitakō (gripping Okimi’s collar)

Gijū (directing Shinta, Hiko, and Negishi to search the house)

Kashiyama (stepping into the dirt-floored entrance)

Okimi: “Mom! Mom!”

Kitakō: “Quit that squealing!”
(Covering Okimi’s mouth)

Otsuta (to Kitakō): “Wh-what’re you doing? You’ll suffocate someone’s precious child like that! Let her go! I’m begging you—let her go! Don’t do this, I implore you!”

Sujiichi: “You’re annoying! Shut up!”

Otsuta: “How dare you do this to a precious child!”
(Lunging forward violently)

Sujiichi: “Damn it!”
(Roughly pinning her down)

Gijū joined the house search himself.
(...but found nobody)

Kashiyama (to Gijū): “How about it, Boss?
‘Seems he’s not here after all.’”

Gijū: “Has he hidden himself somewhere? Everyone, stop searching the house. Searching the same place two or three times won’t do any good. Sujiichi, let go.”

Sujiichi: “Alright, I’ll let go.”
(Steps away from Otsuta.)

Kitakō: "I'll let go too."
(shoves Okimi toward Otsuta)

Otsuta (embraces Okimi tightly and glares at Gijū and the others with hostility.)

Gijū: “Negishi—you handle this.”
“Make the witch spill the dirt.”

Negishi: “Right.”
(To Otsuta) “Sorry ’bout gettin’ rough—there’s a reason for this.”
“That husband o’ yours—Tatsusaburō—it’s written on that mortuary tablet there, ain’t it?”
“Well, that Tatsusaburō ain’t dead—he’s alive.”

Otsuta: “Wh-what? Th-that… Is that true?”

Negishi: “It’s true—I saw it with my own eyes, no less.”

Otsuta: “How did you—who isn’t even a friend—realize it was Tatsusaburō?”

Negishi: “I never knew this Tatsusaburō myself, but there was a man called Mr. Masu who used to live around here. He recognized him as Tatsusaburō—the ship crest engraver who worked under the overseer at Sekiyado’s shore—a man who’d vanished over ten years back. That’s how we put it together.”

Otsuta: “Oh... So he’s been alive all this time?”
“Okimi-chan—your father’s alive, they’re saying.”

Okimi: “Where’s he gone off to?”
If only he’d come home soon.

Kashiyama: “Hah... They’ve pulled off quite the cover-up here.”

Gijū: “That’s right.”
“Hmph.”
(Scornfully eyeing Otsuta and her child)

Negishi: “Once we realized you and Tatsusaburō share a bond so deep you even had that child there—and since we spotted him across the Tone River at Sanbori Fuse and Abiko—it’s only standard to assume he’d head for his wife and kids, no?”

Otsuta: “Now that I hear that, it makes perfect sense.”
“There are no lies or secrets—we mother and child have not even seen Tatsusaburō’s figure yet.”

“Boss, I don’t think she’s lying.”
“So he still hasn’t shown up?”
“He might be planning to come after letting things cool off somewhere.”

Kago-hiko: Exactly right!

“Shut up, Hiko.”

Kitakō: “Then how about this? Let’s first retreat to your headquarters, Boss.”

Gijū: “I promise we’ll visit properly on our return. Now then—shall we accept their hospitality?”

Kitakō: “We’ll post lookouts at this house immediately from your side, Boss. Everyone—”
“Proceed.”

Gijū: “Sujiichi and Hiko—you two stay here.”

Kitakō: “Well then, we’re obliged. Everyone, please come along—it’s just a stone’s throw away, so the lookouts’ll be posted right quick.”

Gijū: “Well then, I’ll comply with your words.”
“Alright, let’s go.”

From the entrance, Kitakō headed outside, followed by Gijū and the others.
Last was Negishi.

Negishi: “Landlady, if Tatsusaburō comes back, tell him to steel himself—once things have come to this, there’s no helping it.”

Otsuta: “Wait.”
“Well... what did he do?”

Negishi: “Something unforgivable in our trade—like gouging out the eyes of a live horse.”

“What do you mean by that?”
“He’s a swindler disguised as an honest man.”

(Exits outside and closes the door.)

Otsuta: “Oh!”
(Startled)

Okimi: “Mom—are they gone already? What… what did that man say?”

Otsuta: “It’s nothing—just grown-up talk you wouldn’t understand.”
(Collecting scattered colored paper into a basket) “Never mind that—Father’ll be home any minute now.”

Okimi: “What’s Father like?”

Otsuta: “How could you know, Okimi-chan? He’d already left when you were born.”

“I... I sorta remember Father.”

“How come?” Otsuta asked.

“But when I was younger,” Okimi insisted, “the person who gave me sweets—that must’ve been Father.”

“There had been such a thing?” Otsuta murmured. “I suppose that might be true.”
(The window in the dirt floor creaked open from outside.) “What—?”
(She clutched Okimi as the girl clung to her.)

Tatsusaburō’s face appeared at the window.
He had been hiding nearby all along.

“It’s me,” he said.

“Who’s there? Who is it?” Otsuta demanded.
(She stood and stared intently.) “Oh!”

“I know they’ve gone back, but there’s no one left behind, right?”

Otsuta: “Yes, there’s no one.”
“Okimi-chan, it’s your father.”

Okimi (dashed out to the dirt floor and opened the entrance) “Father!”

Otsuta: “Don’t raise your voice like that.”

Tatsusaburō (closed the window and moved to the entrance)

Okimi: “Father! My father!”
“Wah!”

Tatsusaburō (embracing Okimi tightly): “Father... I’d missed you.”
(Sobbing)

Otsuta closed the entrance, ushered the father and child toward the tatami area, and secured the door with a locking bar. “Hurry—get over there! Quickly now!”
She moved to join them on the tatami mats.

Tatsusaburō: “Otsuta... I’m sorry for all the hardships over the years.”

Otsuta: “You... please stay safe. For us, that’s what matters most.”

Tatsusaburō: “I’ve wronged you in every possible way. Please forgive me.”

Otsuta: “What are you talking about?”

Tatsusaburō: “You didn’t forget this heartless man and kept living on like this. The punishment for my unfilial act of not performing the deathbed water ritual for my parent now weighs upon me. From now on, I’ll never leave my wife and child’s side until the day I die.”

Otsuta: “Then do it. Look after this child.”

Okimi (cutting between the two and proudly showing characters from her writing practice book): “Father, I know this character too!”

Tatsusaburō: “Mm-hmm.”
(To Otsuta) “Even I’ve grown sick of my own callousness over all these years.”

Otsuta: “You’re not callous at all. When you’re a woman working at a tea house inn, it’s only natural to doubt whether there’s any truth to things.”

Tatsusaburō: “Don’t say that—it hurts.”
“But back when I was at Toba Port in Shima Province, there was this guy Ryōkō I knew from around here. He messed something up and fled all the way to Toba.”
“When I heard about you from Ryōkō, my long-held delusion—that women would flock to me unasked wherever I went—shattered all at once.”
“After that, when I resolved to come back here, I worked myself to the bone—not just carving boat emblems, but taking any job I could find. For a time I saved up some money, but falling ill ruined that. Then as I kept working, whether to stay or go became unbearable, so I came back without even a proper gift.”

“Ah, so that’s how I figured it out.”

Tatsusaburō: “Since those bastards must’ve spilled everything by now, I won’t hide it.”
“After acting so coldhearted and showing up empty-handed—couldn’t even step over a single threshold—I fell back on the cheating tricks I’d learned for fun.”
(Taking out money from his waist pouch) “Look.”
“Knew it was like balancing on a blade’s edge, but I kept reaching for more out of greed. Won this much, but the curse came circling back fast.”
“Th-this… It’s all worthless.”

“There’s no need for such regrets—let’s leave this place right now with the three of us.”
“I only settled here waiting endlessly for your return—or thinking you might be dead—but I’ve no attachments left to this land now.”

“Yes.”
“The sun shines wherever we go.”
“Let’s run.”

“We’re running away?”

“That’s not it at all.”
“We’re going back to Mother’s hometown, understand?”

“Okimi—ah—that was from that song.”

Otsuta: “Okimi, you sing that song better than your mother.” (To Tatsusaburō) “You there—what’s that?”

Tatsusaburō (writing a note addressed to Gijū on the blank margin of the copybook’s cover): “This?”
“This is returning money I took through cheating—and along with it, I’m leaving this letter.”
“After all, those guys will come back here—it’s bound to catch their eye.”
(Places the money.)

“If it’s dirty money, I don’t want any.”

“I want money so bad I could claw it from my throat with bare hands. But if they catch me—snap an arm, break every finger—at best I’d lose two digits starting with this middle one. Maimed like that, I’d just burden you again. That’s why...” He swallowed hard. “However much I crave this gold, I mean to leave it here. Once they get their cash back, those bastards won’t come sniffing after us.”

“If that’s how it works, I’d be grateful—but with those bastards, who knows?”

Tatsusaburō: “Okimi—I’ll carry her on my back.”

Otsuta: “Well then—I may have nothing else—but at least let me handle the child’s belongings. This child will have Father carry her now. Wait—not yet.” (preparing the luggage to take along)

Tatsusaburō: “What? There’s no need.” (begins to carry Okimi on his back)

Okimi (to Tatsusaburō): “Do you know about Mom’s hometown?” (touching her cheek and stroking his shoulder)

Tatsusaburō (evasively): “Yeah, I know.” (holding Okimi’s hand)

Okimi: “So you know the song too?”

Tatsusaburō: “I know it, all right.”
(He grasped her hands with both of his)

Okimi (singing proudly): “I’ve got friends—the rapeseed flowers!”
“Ha, heave-ho, ho!”

Otsuta (trying to silence Okimi’s song)

Tatsusaburō was stroking Okimi’s hand while listening.

Okimi sang: “If they bloom too much—scatter away, fall apart.”

The window in the earthen floor area opened, and Komagata Mohei stuck out his face and peered inside.

Otsuta (noticing by chance): “Oh.”

Tatsusaburō: “Huh?”

The window was suddenly closed.

Okimi (singing): “Ha, heave-ho, ho!”
“Mom taught me this.”

Tatsusaburō (to Otsuta): "What?"

Otsuta: "Maybe it's my imagination... But I thought someone peeked through that window just now."

Tatsusaburō: "Huh?"
(He hands Okimi to Otsuta and heads toward the doma.)

The entrance door was knocked on from outside.

Otsuta: “Ah! They’re here!”
(She threw down the bundled luggage, pulled Okimi close, and hoisted her onto her back)

Tatsusaburō (seeking a weapon)

Mohei (from outside): “Pardon me—I deeply apologize.”
“I must speak with you.”
“Please grant me your attention.”

Tatsusaburō (gathering his courage, heads to the entrance and grabs the securing bar).

“Might this be the residence of the person referred to as Ms. Otsuta? I am someone who maintains no association with those from across the river.”

“Otsuta.”
“He’s calling you.”

“There shouldn’t be anyone who would call me.”

Tatsusaburō (listening intently, turning to Otsuta): “He says it’s someone named Mohei.”
(Otsuta shook her head to indicate she didn’t know him, then resolutely opened the door.)

Mohei (entering the doma): “I deeply apologize—I’ll make sure the door’s secured proper as it was.”

Tatsusaburō: “Who’re you?”

Mohei: “We’ve not met before, but I’m one who’s been in the ma’am’s care.”

Tatsusaburō: “Huh?”

Mohei (facing Otsuta—who watched him with suspicion while he himself looked startled—placed both hands on the raised threshold, bowed his head, and slightly bent his waist in a formal traveler’s greeting): “It’s been too long.”
“Thank you for your help back then.”

Otsuta: “Who might you be, speaking like that?”

Mohei: “It’s only natural you’ve forgotten me. I am Mohei.”

Otsuta (to herself): I can’t recall...

Mohei: “I broke our promise and became this wretched thing—I should never have shown my face to you again. But drifting back here after ten years stirred my memories... Today I wandered half a day asking discreetly, finding nothing until I heard a tavern girl humming a tune they said mimicked a candy seller’s song. Following that thread brought me here—where a child’s voice sang the melody I once knew. Ms. Otsuta—this Mohei may have failed to rise in the world, but let me make some poor attempt at repaying your kindness.”
“Please take this.”
(Placing the money packet swiftly) “If fate wills it, we’ll meet again.”
“Pray excuse me.”

(Starts to leave)

Otsuta: “Ah, wait!”

Tatsusaburō (to Otsuta): “You don’t know him?”

Otsuta: “Ah, I don’t remember.”

Mohei: “It’s actually a blessing you don’t recall me—realizing it was that wretch would’ve shamed me through.”
“If you mean to leave, best do it swiftly.”
“Depending on how matters fall, you might need to cover a ri or so.”
“Pray excuse this intrusion.”
(Opens the door and exits.)

Otsuta: “Who could that have been?”

Tatsusaburō: "He said he heard Okimi's song—isn't he someone from your hometown?"

Otsuta: "No, that's not it."
"If I don't know him, there's nothing to be done."
She wondered if this was what they meant by finding Buddha in hell.
With the money she'd received, even setting out on a journey wouldn't bring hardship.

Tatsusaburō had wasted too much time.
There were plenty of ways to escape.
"Come on," he urged himself, "let's get out of here."

“Alright.”

Once again the entrance door opened, and Mohei—who had turned back—entered.

Mohei restrained the startled couple. "Don't go out! Things have turned bad."

Tatsusaburō gripped Otsuta's arm. "We're too late to run now." His voice cracked as he pushed Okimi toward her mother. "This goodbye comes too soon—keep our girl safe."

Okimi clung to Tatsusaburō. "Where are you going? No! Let's go together—you too, Mom!"

Otsuta declared, "Even if they maim you, I won't leave your side."

Mohei cut in firmly, "I won't let them lay a finger on you. Damn—they're right outside the house now." He turned to Otsuta. "Hold the child tight and stay glued to your husband." Listening to the growing clamor beyond the walls, he barked, "Don't set foot outside this house."

Tatsusaburō: “Huh?!”

Otsuta stared fixedly at Mohei.
(She was beginning to think she recognized him.)

Mohei: Once things are settled here, the three of you—parent and child—will dash toward your destination.

(A knock comes from outside.)
(He takes the bracing pole and swings it.)

Otsuta: “Ah! I remember now.”

Mohei: “Is that so?”
“I’m ashamed.”
(He opens the door, shoves Hiko’s emerging face aside, exits outside, and closes the door.)

Otsuta (to Tatsusaburō, speaking about Mohei)

Tatsusaburō (stunned into stillness, bearing the cowering Okimi on his back as he strained to catch Otsuta’s whispers)

Outside, a violent commotion erupted.

Act Three: Mountain Cherries by the Eaves

In front of Otsuta’s house stood an old cherry tree and a young sapling—two trees in all—their blossoms in full bloom.

The Tone River appeared somewhat distant beside the house.

Mohei stood in front of the entrance, holding a stick.

Ichi, Jinta, and Hiko closed in on Mohei, while Nekichi kept some distance.

Kashiyama stands beside Gijū.
On the other side, Iwashi no Kitakō arrives with two or three people in tow and watches as a witness.

Mohei (silently glaring).

Ichi Jinhiko (the three shout in unison): “Get out of the way!”
“Move when I say move!”
(noisily clamoring) “Get lost already, bastard!”

Gijū: “Silence.”
Gijū (to Mohei): “Don’t know where you’re from or who you think you are—quit blocking the way. Move it.”
“If you’re with the con artist in this house, I’ll put you down next.”

Kashiyama (to Gijū): “Want me to crack his shin?”

Mohei: “So you’re this Gijū?”
“Ask anyone in Nakasōma—your name’s mud there.”
“Making threats against decent folk—that’s one hell of a habit.”
“For scum like you, nothing works better than a beating.”

Kagohiko: "The hell you say? Don't sass me!"
(Charges out recklessly)

“Still haven’t learned your lesson?” Mohei growled. “Take this!” He knocked Hiko flat, subdued Ichi and Jinta with precise strikes. When Kashiyama lunged in a sneak attack, Mohei smashed him down. As Kitako’s men swarmed him together, he discarded his stick—grabbing collars, hurling bodies, disorienting them all through raw sumo technique.

Gijū (confident in sumo techniques, grinning as he bared his torso): “Bastard! It’s a duel!”
“Don’t take the stick—throw it away.”

Mohei: “Alright.”
(Discarded the stick.)

Nekichi (had been watching intently until now.
Boldly cutting ahead of Gijū, he lunged at Mohei.

Mohei (pinning him down and looking at his face): “You’re slightly better than the rest here.”
“Back off.”

Nekichi: “There’s no right or wrong for us.”
“All we’ve got left is our stubborn pride.”
(Lunged at him.)

Mohei pinned him down. “Then keep quiet for a while.” He delivered a precise strike to the vital point, guided the collapsing body down, and laid it gently on the ground.

Gijū snarled, “You bastard!”
“Bring it!”

“What’s your problem?” Mohei thrust Gijū back repeatedly, seized his forearm to swing him around, then pulled him close while turning toward the house. “Seems we’ve reached some resolution.” He applied pressure to Gijū’s critical nerve point.

Gijū fainted.

Tatsusaburō, carrying Okimi on his back, and Otsuta, holding some luggage, emerged in whatever travel attire they could manage.

Mohei: "Now is the tide time to make our move."
"It would be best for you to depart now."

Tatsusaburō: “I heard everything from Otsuta.”
“I only did a small thing.”

Mohei: “Save the bows.”
“Speed’s what counts now.”

Otsuta (seeing the fallen men): “Ah—!”

Mohei: “They’re not dead.”
“Every last one’ll come around soon enough.”

Tatsusaburō: “Well then, Mohei-san.”
“Stay strong.”

Though reluctant to part with Otsuta...

Mohei: “Best you go now, quickly.”
“Live well and stay sturdy together.”
(Seeing off Tatsusaburō and his wife as they departed while looking back) “Ah, Otsuta-san—this stick-wielding Mohei’s wretched imitation of a yokozuna’s ring-entering ceremony is all Komagata can show the elder sister who, ten years past, gave him combs, hairpins, a purse, and counsel.”
(He entered the house through the doorway.)

Mohei stands beneath the cherry tree.

Mohei (watching over the unconscious ones)

Curtain.

Showa 6, May. Written.