Sutokuin (classical rakugo performance)

//Summary//

Kumagoro receives a favour from the head of the family.

It seems that the young master is lovesick, and he wants him to go and look for a beautiful woman he met at a tea shop.

His clue is a poem by Emperor Sutoku, "Slowing the rapids.
Blocked by rocks," which the woman gave to him as they were leaving.

However, he is unable to find her, and on his wife's advice, he decides to go around crowded places singing the song out loud.

Searching for the woman, Kumagoro becomes exhausted after visiting many bathhouses and barbershops.

Finally, he goes into a barbershop, where he meets a man called Kashira.

The Kashira knows Kumagoro and the woman he is looking for, and tells him that she has travelled to Shikoku to look for a man who is the subject of Emperor Sutoku's poem and who is likely the young master.

Kumagoro and the Kashira get into a scuffle over who will come to see him, the young master or the woman, and he ends up breaking the mirror at the barbershop.

With the mirror broken, Kumagoro says, "Even if it breaks, I think I'll rebuy it in the end," and the story ends.

Synopsis:

1)
The young master of a large store falls ill, and his father, the head of the family, has consulted many famous doctors, but he is not cured. The doctor says that it is a mental illness, and that he has some deep regrets, and that if this is resolved, he will recover.

However, when his father asks him why, the young master refuses to answer, and he grows weaker day by day. So the head of the family asks Kumagoro, a craftsman who frequents the store and is close to the young master, to ask him why.

2)
When asked by Kumagoro, the young master reveals in a voice that is about to fade away that he cannot forget a woman he met by chance.

About 20 days ago, while visiting a temple or shrine ("Takatsumiya" in Kamigata, "Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Ueno" in Edo), he went to a teahouse to rest and encountered a lovely girl of about 17 or 18 years old, about his age, or slightly younger, and fell in love at first sight.

3)
As he was thinking about the girl, he noticed that she had dropped the tea cloth that was hanging on her lap when she left the shop, so he picked it up and ran after her to hand it over to her.

She then wrote the first line of a famous poem by Emperor Sutoku on a piece of paper she had with her, "Slowing the rapids.
Blocked by rocks," and gave it to the young master before leaving.

4)
At first, he didn't understand the meaning. Still, then he remembered the second line, "Even if we are separated, I believe we will meet again in the end," and realised that the girl had replied, "I will say goodbye for today, but I hope we can meet again someday."

However, he couldn't meet her because he didn't know who she was or where she was, and he became lovesick.

5)
When Kumagoro reported this to the head of the family, he ordered him to find the girl within three days, as the doctor had told him that the young master would not last another five days.

He also promised to forgive his debts and pay him a large amount of money if he found her.

6)
Kumagoro runs around the town aimlessly, wasting the first two days. When Kumagoro's wife is consulted, she is annoyed and advises him to shout "Se wo hayami!" at the bathhouses and barber shops where many people gather, and see the reaction.

7)
On the third day, he goes into barber shops in the town from the morning and shouts "Se wo hayami!", but there is no response, and he is looked at suspiciously by the barber and other customers.

On the way, he meets a man who says that his daughter also likes the song, and he is happy that he has finally found her. But when he hears her story, he is heartbroken to learn that she is a young child.

8)
In the end, it is nightfall and there is no hair or beard to shave. The last barber he goes to asks him to plant a plant, but then a customer comes in and asks the barber to hurry up.

When the master heard about it, he learned that the daughter of a large merchant who was a regular customer of the shop was lovesick and seriously ill, and that she had fallen in love at first sight with a young master she met while stopping by a tea shop at a shrine on her way home from tea ceremony lessons.

9)
The father of the large merchant then announced that he would give a large sum of money to anyone who could find the man, and he also mentioned the clues, such as the tea cloth and Emperor Sutoku.

In the end, he was unable to find the man, so he set off to search for him from afar. Upon hearing this, Kumagoro instinctively grabbed the man and said it was the girl he was looking for. The man also learned about Kumagoro.

10)
Both of them wanted their reward right away, so they started fighting, each saying, "You come to my house."

In the process, the mirror in the barber's shop fell to the floor and broke. When the shop owner got angry and asked what he was going to do, Kumagoro replied.

"Even if it breaks, I think I'll rebuy it in the end."

11)
Explanation of "sage" (final twist):

Sage (final twist) is a pun on the lower line, "Even if it breaks, I think I'll rebuy it in the end." "End" refers to the end of the month, and it typically means paying for a broken mirror on the 30th day (misokabarai), which was common in the Edo period.

"Tenpo Suikoden - The Last Days of Sasagawa Shigezo and the Chivalry of Miura-ya Magojiro" Synopsis

http://koudanfan.web.fc2.com/arasuji/04-35_tenpousuiko-saigo.htm

30th Kanda Hakuzan PLUS April 21, 2025 Iino Hall

https://www.kandahakuzan.jp/live/

"Echigo no Umi" Wakanojo
"Shuzanjin" Hakuzan
"Yamauchi Kazutoyo and Chiyo" Nankai
~Intermission~
"Kashima's Stick Festival ~ The End of Hirate" Hakuzan
"Miura-ya Magojiro's Chivalry" Hakuzan

Add info)

A little bit of difference with the "Hyakunin Isshu Lecture"

https://ogurasansou.jp.net/columns/hyakunin/2017/10/17/1359/

Slowing the rapids
Blocked by rocks
Even if the waterfall is divided, I think we will meet at the end.

Modern translation:
The rapids of the river are fast, and the rapids blocked by rocks are divided into two. But just as they become one again, even if we are separated now, I think we will meet again one day.

Words:

[Slowing the rapids]
"Slow" refers to the shallow part of the river. Here, it means "because the rapids of the river are fast."

[Blocked by rocks]
"Sekara" is a verb meaning "to be blocked."
"Takikawa" means a rapid or torrential stream.

[Even if it is divided, it will come to an end]
This is a play on the meaning of "water flowing into two" and "man and woman separating." It means "even if it is divided into two, in the future."

[I think we will meet]
This is a play on the meanings of "water coming together again" and "a man and a woman who have been separated reunited." It means "I am sure I want to meet again."

Author: Sutoku-in (1119-1164):
The first son of Emperor Toba, he succeeded to the throne at the age of five in 1123.
After 18 years on the throne, he abdicated to Emperor Konoe, and was called Shin-in in contrast to Emperor Toba (main in).

After the death of Emperor Toba, he had a dispute with Emperor Goshirakawa over which prince should be the next emperor.
He was defeated in a war, the Hogen Rebellion, and exiled to Sanuki (present-day Kagawa Prefecture), where he died at the age of 45.

Mukojima Geisha District and Pigeon Town, with a Showa-era feel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ogr5fFRbw