Bunshichi MottoiBunshichi's Hair Cords
文七元結（ぶんしちもっとい）
Chobei is a skilled plasterer who has gambled his life away. With fifty ryo in his pocket, money his daughter Ohisa raised by offering herself to a house in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, he is crossing Azuma Bridge at year's end when he comes upon a young man about to throw himself into the river. A grand ninjo-banashi (human drama) created by Sanyutei Encho.
The story
Chobei, a plasterer in Honjo, is a master of his trade, but he is hooked on gambling and buried in debt. One day at the end of the year, he comes home from the gambling den to find his daughter Ohisa gone. While he is arguing with his wife Okane, a messenger arrives from Sanozuchi, a leading house in the Yoshiwara. Ohisa has gone to the proprietress and asked to be taken on, so that her father's debts can be paid.
The proprietress lends Chobei fifty ryo. She will keep Ohisa with her until New Year's Eve next year, she tells him, but if the money isn't repaid by then, the girl will be put to work. Shaken awake at last, Chobei heads home with the fifty ryo tucked in his kimono.
On Azuma Bridge, a young man is about to leap into the river. He is Bunshichi, a clerk at Omiya, a tortoiseshell wholesaler. He had fifty ryo he'd collected stolen by a pickpocket and means to die to make amends. Nothing Chobei says will stop him. After agonizing for a long time, Chobei tells him the money came from his daughter selling herself, flings the fifty ryo at him, and all but runs away.
But the money Bunshichi thought was stolen had simply been left behind at the place he'd called on, and it had already been returned to the shop. When his master, Uhei, hears the whole story, he takes Bunshichi to Chobei's tenement the next day to give the money back. “You think an Edokko takes back money once he's given it away?” Chobei says stubbornly. After much back-and-forth, Uhei calls in someone waiting outside...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
The traditional ending tells how Bunshichi and Ohisa later married and opened a shop selling motoyui, paper hair cords, in Kojimachi. And that, it concludes, was the beginning of Bunshichi Mottoi.
There is no wordplay sage (punchline) here. The story peaks when Ohisa, whose contract Omiya has bought out, appears in fine clothes, and it closes by telling the origin of the hair cords. “Bunshichi Mottoi” was the name of a sturdy brand of motoyui (the cords used to tie a topknot) that really existed in the Edo period.
How performers differ
Why Chobei hands his daughter's ransom to a total stranger, and how to smooth over the plot's less believable points, vary from performer to performer.
| Performer | Approach |
|---|---|
| Sanyutei Ensho VI, Kokontei Shinsho V | Chobei gives the money grudgingly: my daughter won't die, but you will, and I can't just let you |
| Hayashiya Hikoroku, Yanagiya Kosanji X | Moved by Bunshichi's loyalty in being willing to die for his master, Chobei hands it over without regret |
| Kokontei Shincho III | Changed the hour at which Ohisa walks alone to the Yoshiwara at night to a more believable time |
| Tatekawa Danshun | Reasoning that fifty ryo couldn't be repaid in a year, extended the deadline to two years |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
Azuma Bridge
- ChobeiHey, hold it! A young fella like you, what're you doing something stupid for?
- BunshichiLet me go. I've lost fifty ryo. I can never go back to the shop.
- ChobeiFifty ryo... Of all the amounts, it had to be that one.
- (He reaches into his kimono, starts to pull something out, then stops. He stares at the river for a while.)
Throwing the fifty ryo
- ChobeiListen. My daughter sold herself to the Yoshiwara to raise this. She's not gonna die. You're telling me you are.
- BunshichiI can't take money that precious.
- ChobeiShut up and take it, I said.
- (He hurls the bundle at Bunshichi and runs off without looking back.)
The standoff at the tenement
- UheiPlease, I beg you, accept this money.
- ChobeiI gave it away. You think an Edokko just says ‘oh, thanks’ and takes it back?
- Okane(From behind the folding screen) Just take it, dear.
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot and ending follow the form handed down since Encho. The dialogue was written for this site.
Notable performers
- Sanyutei Ensho VI1900–1979EdoHis meticulous staging is regarded as a model, and his version is highly acclaimed.
- Kokontei Shinsho V1890–1973EdoHis performances in the slower delivery of his later years, after his illness, are also said to be masterful.
- Hayashiya Hikoroku (Hayashiya Shozo VIII)1895–1982EdoOne of the performers regarded as masters of this story.
- Kokontei Shincho III1938–2001EdoHighly regarded for how he portrays Chobei's wavering before he hands over the fifty ryo.
- Katsura Zakoba II1947–2024KamigataA performer who took it up in the Kamigata (Osaka-Kyoto) tradition.
