The
print illustrates Chapter 15 –Yomogyu or Wormwood
Patch, which is compared
with the play Shinpan Utazaimon, created by
Chikamatsu Hanji in 1780. To illustrate the play Kuniyoshi
shows Hisamatsu standing, holding a napkin, his father
Yamazaki no Kyusaku seated before him with a bundle
behind.
The
tragic story of Hisamatsu and Osome was inspired by real
events that occurred in Osaka and become the subject of
several Bunraku and Kabuki plays, such as Osome no
Nanayaku, Some Moyō Imose no Kadomatsu or Shinpan
Utazaimon.
In
this last play, the one illustrated here, Hisamatsu, who
was in love with Osome, the daughter of a rich merchant
for whom he worked, was unjustly accused by a rival of
having stolen some money and had to take refuge near his
father (Kyusaku) in the village of Nozaki. Kyusaku pays
off Hisamatsu's debt of stolen money and attempts to lift
everyone’s spirit by going forward with Hisamatsu’s
marriage to Kyusaku’s step-daughter, Omitsu, to whom he
has been betrothed since boyhood.
However,
Osome pursues Hisamatsu to Nozaki Village and the two
lovers determine that they will commit suicide together
rather than marry another. Kyusaku intercedes and
convinces them to promise that they will give each other
up, but Omitsu realizes they still plan to die. She
sacrifices her own love of Hisamatsu, cutting her hair and
becoming a nun to free Hisamatsu, allowing him to
honourably marry Osome.
The
connection between the play and the chapter of Genji lies
in the fact that both refer to times of exile (Genji’s
exile in Suma and Hisamatsu’s exile in Nozaki) and to
the end of this exile.
