KowakareParted from His Son
子別れ（こわかれ）
Kumagoro is a skilled carpenter, but drinking and women cost him his wife, Omitsu, and his son, Kame, who leave home. Three years after giving up drink and settling down to honest work, he runs into Kame by chance in town. Father and son promise to meet at an eel restaurant...
The story Middle and Final Parts
On his way home from a funeral, the carpenter Kumagoro drifts off to Yoshiwara and doesn't come home for days, and in the end he brings a courtesan to live in the house. Fed up, his wife Omitsu leaves, taking their son Kame with her. Before long the courtesan leaves too, and Kumagoro is left all alone.
Brought to his senses, Kumagoro gives up drink and works hard for three years until he is completely back on his feet. One day, on his way to work, he spots Kame playing and calls out to him. Hearing that the boy and his mother are struggling, Kumagoro gives Kame fifty sen in pocket money and promises to treat him to eel the next day.
When Kame comes home with so much money, Omitsu demands to know whether he stole it. When she threatens to hit him with his father's gennou, a carpenter's hammer, unless he tells the truth, Kame finally confesses that he met his father.
The next day Omitsu sends Kame off but can't stop worrying, and paces back and forth in front of the eel restaurant. Kame calls her in, and upstairs she comes face to face with Kumagoro for the first time in three years. After an awkward exchange, the two decide to live together again. When Omitsu says with feeling, “They do say a child is the kasugai that holds a husband and wife together,” Kame...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
“I'm a kasugai? So that's why you said you'd hit me with the hammer!”
A kasugai is a U-shaped iron clamp used to join pieces of timber, and it is driven in with a gennou, a hammer. The sage (the punchline) is a childlike mix-up linking the proverb “ko wa kasugai” (a child is the clamp that holds a marriage together) with his mother's threat the night before to hit him with the hammer. Performers usually start from the latter half of the middle part and focus on the final part, “Ko wa Kasugai.”
The Three Parts
Told in full, the story is long, so it is usually performed from the latter half of the middle part through the final part. The first part is sometimes told on its own as a comic story called “Kowameshi no Jorogai.”
| What happens | Mood | |
|---|---|---|
| First part (Kowameshi no Jorogai) | Drunk on his way home from a funeral, Kumagoro drags Cho-san the wastepaper dealer off to Yoshiwara | Drunken comedy |
| Middle part | From bringing a courtesan home to his wife and son walking out | Failure and regret |
| Final part (Ko wa Kasugai) | From meeting Kame again to the couple's reconciliation at the eel restaurant | Quiet, heartfelt drama |
| Kamigata “Onna no Kowakare” | A version reworked by Sanyutei Encho so that the wife leaves home without the child, later brought to kamigata by Sanyutei Enba II | |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
A Chance Meeting in Town
- KumagoroHey, you there, kid. Sorry if I've got the wrong boy, but... aren't you Kame?
- KameOh, it's Dad! Dad, your face looks kind of pale now.
- KumagoroThat's because I quit drinking. Is your mother well?
- KameYeah. She sews other people's clothes till late every night.
Where Did the Fifty Sen Come From?
- OmitsuKame, where did you get this fifty sen? Tell me the truth.
- Kame...A man I don't know gave it to me.
- OmitsuDon't you lie to me. If you won't tell me, I'll hit you with your father's hammer.
- (The performer turns his head left and right to switch between the mother raising the hammer and Kame ducking his head.)
Upstairs at the Eel Restaurant
- Kumagoro...Well, uh, you know. I'm sorry for all the trouble I put you through.
- OmitsuI'm not here for any reason. It's just that Kame said he wanted to see his father.
- KameMom, you walked past the front three times already!
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot and the sage are as handed down in the classical tradition; the dialogue was written for this site.
Notable performers
- Kokontei Shinsho V1890–1973EdoOne of the performers whose recordings of the middle and final parts survive.
- Sanyutei Ensho VI1900–1979EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
- Kokontei Shincho III1938–2001EdoOne of the performers whose audio and video recordings survive.
- Shofukutei Shokaku VI1918–1986KamigataMade the kamigata “Kowakare” one of his specialties.
