Ido no ChawanThe Ido Tea Bowl
井戸の茶碗（いどのちゃわん）
Seibei, a junk dealer known for his honesty, buys a small Buddha statue from a ronin (a masterless samurai) and sells it to a young samurai, who finds fifty ryo in gold hidden in its base. The samurai insists on returning it, and the ronin refuses to accept it. Neither man will bend his principles, and Seibei ends up shuttling back and forth between them.
The story
A junk dealer known as “Honest Seibei” takes an old Buddha statue off the hands of Chiyoda Bokusai, a ronin living in a back-alley tenement. Not trusting his own eye for antiques, Seibei pays two hundred mon for it on consignment, promising to split any profit fifty-fifty if it sells for more.
The statue is bought for three hundred mon by Takagi Sakuzaemon, a young samurai of the Hosokawa clan. But while he is polishing it, the paper over its base tears, and out come fifty gold ryo. Takagi decides he bought a statue, not money, and that it must go back to its owner.
When Seibei delivers the fifty ryo, Bokusai refuses it: failing to notice the money was his own mistake, so it is no longer his. Takagi won't take it back either. Finally, at the suggestion of the landlord, who steps in as mediator, Bokusai gives Takagi an old tea bowl, a family keepsake, and the matter is settled at last.
Then the tea bowl catches the eye of Takagi's lord, who recognizes it as a famous Ido tea bowl and buys it for three hundred ryo. Takagi tries to send half, a hundred and fifty ryo, to Bokusai, and things get tangled all over again. After much thought, they agree that Bokusai's daughter will marry Takagi and the money will go toward her wedding. When Seibei assures Takagi that with a little polishing, the daughter will turn into a real beauty...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
“No, let's not polish her. More gold might pop out.”
The sage (the punchline) is a kangae-ochi, a punchline you have to think about for a moment: it harks back to the very first fuss, when polishing the statue made the gold coins appear. The honest, unselfish Takagi gets the last word with a gentle little joke, and the story ends on a soft note.
Where the money and goods went
The comedy of this story comes from the fact that no one is trying to profit, so the money has nowhere to go. Laid out side by side, the flow of goods and cash shows just how much running around Seibei had to do.
| Goods and money | Where it ended up | |
|---|---|---|
| The start | The statue is bought for 200 mon and sold for 300 mon | The statue goes to Takagi |
| 50 ryo | Found in the base of the statue | At the landlord's suggestion, 20 ryo each to Takagi and Bokusai, 10 ryo to Seibei |
| The tea bowl | Bokusai gives it to Takagi in exchange for the 20 ryo | The lord buys it for 300 ryo |
| 150 ryo | Takagi tries to give half to Bokusai | It becomes the daughter's wedding fund |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
Taking the statue at the tenement
- SeibeiI don't have much of an eye, sir. If I bought it cheap and sold it high, I'd feel bad about you.
- BokusaiThen here's what we'll do. If it sells for more, we split the difference.
- SeibeiNever heard of doing business like that... but all right, sir.
Under the mansion window
- (He starts to call out his junk dealer's cry, then quickly clamps a hand over his mouth.)
- SeibeiOops. I promised myself I'd pass by here quietly.
- TakagiYou there, junk dealer. I've been waiting for you.
- SeibeiPlease, sir, anything but my head...
The fifty-ryo standoff
- BokusaiI sold it without noticing. That was my failing. That money is no longer mine.
- SeibeiThe samurai over there says the exact same thing. That's my third round trip today.
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot and the sage follow the classic version. The dialogue was written for this site.
Notable performers
- Kokontei Shinsho V1890–1973EdoWove in the cadence of his earlier days as a kodan storyteller, in performances regarded as masterful.
- Kokontei Shincho III1938–2001EdoInherited it from his father Shinsho, and is known for his brisk, lively telling.
- Shunputei Ryucho V1929–1991EdoIs said to have learned it from Shincho, and remarked that this story is best performed lightly.
- Yanagiya Kyotaro1963–EdoPerforms “the singing Ido no Chawan,” in which the characters sing parody songs.
