The Love of Izayoi & Seishin. Kawatake Mokuami

on the same old tune!

      Ichisuke (suddenly stepping out of character): Oh, that reminds me, I must make the announcement: Ladies and gentlemen! The musical narrative for which you have been waiting now begins!

      Kane: We are the ones who called the tune!

      Ichisuke: Get away with you!

      Then to the rapid drumbeats which are a convention in the kabuki in scenes laid near water, plus flute music, Kane exits running to stage left with Ichisuke in pursuit. A section of the paling at stage right then falls open, revealing the Kiyomoto musicians on a platform. The music begins.

      Narrator: Even on a hazy moonlit night the images of the stars number one, two, three, four, five. "Five strokes on the alarm bell? Am I being pursued?" Fleeing the quarter, Izayoi hears the tolling of the hour bell with a beating heart.

      To samisen music and the ringing of a bell, Izayoi comes swiftly up the runway. She is dressed in the casual dress of a prostitute, with a sash of soft silk. A kerchief is draped over the head. She stops on the runway.

      Narrator: Izayoi comes, fleeing along the frosty river's edge with an anxious heart. She is pursued by the wind, and flies she knows not where. She dreads the eyes of men more than the whitefish does the bonfire and the nets of a fisherman's boat.

      Izayoi pantomimes on the runway, then comes to the stage proper.

      Izayoi: Oh, what a relief to know that the voices I heard were not those of my pursuers! I knew that Seishin was being exiled today. My father and I are obligated to him. I longed to see him and escaped from the brothel. I have come this far but I have lost my way in the dark. I pray that I might be able to see him!

      Narrator: She stops for a moment. Upstream, from a pleasure boat returning from a plum-viewing party, comes a song: "If you want to meet your lover in secret, avoid a pitch-black night. Your luck on the sixteenth night, the izayoi, when no clouds conceal the moon, will be good. Wait patiently until then." Taking this as a lucky omen, Izayoi prepares to hurry on.

      Izayoi starts to exit at stage left. Then Seishin enters at stage left, dressed in a plain, elegant gown. He wears a black hood. They pass, avoiding each others eyes. The moon appears, and their eyes meet.

      Seishin (astonished): Aren't you Izayoi?

      Izayoi: You are Seishin?

      Seishin (with mixed feelings of joy and distress): Ah, an unfortunate meeting!

      He starts to go, but Izayoi catches hold of him.

      Izayoi (with feeling): How I have longed to see you!

      Narrator: From the openings of her sleeves comes the fragrance of plum blossoms as she clings to him. He is soon charmed.

      Izayoi detains Seishin. Seishin realizes that there is no way out of this situation now.

      Seishin (suppressing his feelings): You're all alone. Where are you going in the dark and so far from the quarter?

      Izayoi (crushed): Where? Oh, Seishin, how heartless of you! Yesterday my father told me that you were to be expelled and that I would never again see you in the quarter. When I heard him say that he thought you might be starting on a journey somewhere, I just had to see you. At the quarter every omen was evil and pointed to a long separation. I decided to leave and sneaked out at sundown. I did this because I wanted to see you.