Narukami
鳴神
Narukami
A beautiful woman is sent to seduce a monk who has locked up the dragon god
Even heroes and high-ranking monks can be brought down by the sweet words of a beautiful woman. The show revolves around the comic erotic dialogue between a monk and princess, and the monk’s fury when he learns he has been tricked. A prototypical aragoto work within the Eighteen Select Plays.
The drought
The nation is suffering a long drought because the monk Narukami, bitter at a broken promise by the court, has locked the dragon god behind a waterfall. A beautiful woman appears at his residence. She says she has come to wash the clothes of her late husband in the waterfall. The monk is attracted by her tale of how she met her husband and how she frequented his house across the river, which she illustrates by rolling up her kimono hem and revealing her leg.
【Left】Princess Kumonotaema（Nakamura Tokizo） January 2005 Kabukiza Theatre 【Right】［from left］Koku-unbo（Otani Keizo）、Princess Kumonotaema（Nakamura Tokizo）、Haku-unbo（Bando Shucho）、Narukami（Bando Mitsugoro） January 2005 Kabukiza Theatre
Woman’s gentle skin
When Narukami begins to have misgivings, the women says she wants to become his pupil. He sends his apprentices out and is alone with her. Suddenly she claims to have fallen ill. The monk, running to assist her, touches her breast. He learns the tenderness of a woman’s skin for the first time and is gradually unable to control himself. The women offers a toast for marriage to make him drunk, and meanwhile cuts the rope of the waterfall holding the dragon.
【Left】［from left］Narukami（Bando Mitsugoro）、Princess Kumonotaema（Nakamura Tokizo） January 2005 Kabukiza Theatre 【Center】［from left］Princess Kumonotaema（Nakamura Shichinosuke）、Narukami（Nakamura Hashinosuke） February 2012 Shimbashi Enbujo Theatre 【Right】Princess Kumonotaema（Nakamura Shichinosuke） February 2012 Shimbashi Enbujo Theatre
Raising fury
The dragon escapes to the sky, and immediately it begins to rain. The woman was in fact Princess Kumonotaema, who was sent to unlock the monk’s magic. Realizing he has been tricked, the monk’s hair rises and turns to flames, and he goes mad. He knocks over pupils trying to stop him and bounds out angrily after the princess.
【Left】Narukami（Ichikawa Danjuro） September 1997 Kabukiza Theatre 【Center】Narukami（Bando Mitsugoro） January 2005 Kabukiza Theatre 【Right】Narukami（Bando Mitsugoro） January 2005 Kabukiza Theatre
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