FudoboFudobo's Ghost
不動坊（ふどうぼう）
Rikichi of the nagaya receives an offer of marriage to Otaki, the wife of the late koshakushi (storyteller of historical tales) Fudobo Kaen. The condition is that he take over the debts Fudobo left behind. Rikichi, who has long been in love with Otaki, agrees on the spot, and the wedding is set for that very night. But the insults he lets slip in his excitement at the bathhouse reach the ears of a bachelor from the same nagaya... It is a lively story whose highlight is the great commotion on the roof.
The story
Rikichi of the nagaya is a bachelor, but a steady man with some savings. The landlord brings him an offer of marriage. The bride would be Otaki, the wife of the koshakushi Fudobo Kaen, who died suddenly while on the road. There is one condition: he must take over the 35 yen of debt Fudobo left behind. Rikichi, who has long been in love with Otaki, agrees on the spot, and the wedding is set for that very night.
Rikichi goes to the bathhouse to clean himself up. Soaking in the hot water and picturing his life as a newlywed, he gets completely carried away and even says out loud some insults about three other bachelors in the same nagaya. As bad luck would have it, one of them, Toku-san the paper recycler, is in the same bath.
Unable to swallow his anger, Toku-san tells the other two who were insulted, and they plan their revenge. They bring in Dosai, a koshakushi in the same trade as Fudobo, to play Fudobo's ghost and appear at the wedding, frightening the couple so that the marriage falls apart.
That night, the group climbs onto the roof of Rikichi's house, planning to lower the ghost on a rope through the skylight in the ceiling. But on the roof the squabbling among them never stops, and nothing goes as planned.
When the ghost finally comes down and wails, “I'll haunt you,” Rikichi doesn't turn a hair. He fires back that the marriage was arranged properly through a go-between, that he has taken over the debts, and that there is no reason for him to be haunted, and Dosai has no answer. When Rikichi offers 10 yen as an offering for prayers for the dead, Dosai pleads that it can't be split evenly among four, and in the end it becomes 20 yen.
From below comes the sound of the ghost congratulating the couple, and the others hurry to pull up the rope, but they lose their balance and tumble off the roof, and Dosai drops into the room with a thud. With his true identity exposed, Dosai is pressed by Rikichi: “So a koshakushi makes money by playing a ghost, does he?”...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
“Yes, sir. I'm a licensed yurei kasegi-nin.”
In the Meiji era, rakugo storytellers and koshakushi held a license as “yugei kasegi-nin” (people who earn a living by performing arts). The sage is a pun on “yugei” (performing arts) and “yurei” (ghost), so the answer sounds like “licensed ghost earner.” Because the term is unfamiliar today, the story is often performed after a makura (opening talk) that explains the license. In Edo, according to Yanagiya Kosan V, Yanagiya Kosan III changed the sage when he brought the story to Tokyo. The offering stays at 10 yen, the angry others won't pull up the rope, and when someone asks the ghost, still hanging there, “Still not at peace?” (literally, “Still haven't floated up?”), he answers, “No, I'm dangling in midair.”
Fudobo in Kamigata and Fudobo in Edo
Yanagiya Kosan III brought to Tokyo a Kamigata story said to have been written by Hayashiya Kikumaru II. The plot unfolds in almost the same way, but the characters' names, the ghost, and the ending are different. In Tokyo the story was handed down through the line of Kosan, to Kosan IV and Kosan V.
| Kamigata | Edo | |
|---|---|---|
| The bridegroom | Rikichi | Rikichi. In the version of Katsura Bunji IX, Kichibei |
| The partners in revenge | Toku-san the paper recycler, Yu-san who washes and refreshes kamoji (hairpieces) and kanoko (tie-dyed cloth), and Shin-san the tozai-ya (street announcer) | Toku-san the paper recycler, Tetsu-tsan the blacksmith, and Man-san the chindon-ya (street band advertiser) (in the version of Katsura Bunji IX) |
| Who plays the ghost | Dosai, a koshakushi in the same trade as Fudobo | An elderly storyteller who has been a zenza (lowest-ranked apprentice) forever (in the version of Katsura Bunji IX) |
| What happens to the ghost | Falls off the roof and is exposed | Left dangling in midair from the rope |
| Sage | The pun on “yurei (yugei) kasegi-nin” | “I'm dangling in midair” |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
The marriage offer
- LandlordRikichi, this is sudden, but how would you like to take a wife?
- RikichiWell, if somebody'd give me one, I'd take her any time.
- LandlordIt's Otaki-san, from Fudobo's place. The idea is, she'll marry someone who'll settle the debts he left.
- RikichiO-Otaki-san! Bring on the debts, bring on anything. Is tonight all right? Tonight?
- LandlordNobody said anything about tonight. ...Oh, never mind. Let's make it tonight.
The bathhouse
- Rikichi(Narrowing his eyes in the hot water) When Otaki-san comes, what should I say first? “Thank you for coming”... No, something a bit more manly.
- RikichiMind you, there's not a decent one among the bachelors in our nagaya. Take Toku-san. All that time recycling paper, and his own face has gone all crumpled...
- (Beyond the steam, the sound of someone standing up with a splash.)
- Toku-san...Whose face has gone crumpled, you say?
On the roof
- Toku-sanAll right, Dosai-sensei. When you get down there, give us a good, haunting voice.
- DosaiLeave it to me. This throat was trained in the shakuba (storytelling hall). ...But is this rope really going to hold?
- (Dosai, in a white kimono, is slowly lowered through the skylight.)
- DosaiI'll haunt you... Holding a wedding right in front of my memorial tablet...
- RikichiOh, it's you, Fudobo-san. Look, we had a proper go-between, and I even paid off your debts. I've got no reason to be haunted.
- Dosai...Well, when you put it that way, I'm in a tight spot.
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot and the sage follow the classic version. All lines were written for this site.
Notable performers
- Yanagiya Kosan III1857–1930EdoHe is said to have brought this Kamigata story to Tokyo. According to Kosan V, who came from his line of disciples, it was also Kosan III who changed the sage to the “dangling in midair” form.
- Yanagiya Kosan IV1888–1947EdoA disciple of Kosan III. According to his own disciple Kosan V, he performed the story without the scene of talking to himself at the bathhouse.
- Katsura Bunji IX1892–1978EdoOne of the stories in his repertoire, and a recording also survives.
- Yanagiya Kosan V1915–2002EdoA stenographic record of his performance is included in the first volume of Yanagiya Kosan Shu (1966), and in its commentary he also touches on how his teacher Kosan IV and Kosan III performed it.
- Katsura Shijaku II1939–1999KamigataOne of the stories in his repertoire.
- Katsura Kitcho1954–2005KamigataOne of the performers whose recordings and videos survive.
- Shunputei Ichinosuke1978–EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
