Shinagawa ShinjuLovers' Suicide at Shinagawa
品川心中（しながわしんじゅう）
Osome, a Shinagawa courtesan past her prime, cannot raise the money she needs for a festival day. Rather than be shamed, she decides to die and leave a romantic legend behind, choosing Kinzo, a dim-witted book lender, as her partner in a double suicide. She pushes him into the sea, and then the money turns up...
The story Part 1
Osome was once the itagashira (the top earner) of Shinagawa, but as the years went by, her customers fell away. She cannot raise the money for the change of wardrobe on a monbi (a special festival day in the pleasure quarter), and rather than be laughed at by the other women, she resolves to die.
If she has to die anyway, a double suicide will make a better story than dying alone. Looking over her regulars, she picks Kinzo, a book lender: an easygoing man who goes along with whatever he is asked.
On the pier late at night, Kinzo keeps hesitating, so Osome gives him a shove into the sea. Just as she is about to follow, a young man from the house runs up to stop her: the money has been found. "Well then, see you," says Osome, and she heads straight back to the house.
The sea at Shinagawa is shallow, and Kinzo crawls out of knee-deep water and goes, dripping wet, to the boss's house. A gambling game is underway, and the gamblers, thinking it is a police raid, go into an uproar. Most performers end the first part here.
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
"You've been reeling in so many customers, no wonder you ended up 'biku ni.'"
This is the sage (the punchline) of the rarely performed second part. Learning he has been tricked, Kinzo teams up with the boss to get revenge by posing as a ghost, and Osome ends up with her head shaved. The story ends with a pun: "biku ni" means "into the fish basket" (fitting for someone who "fishes" for customers), while "bikuni" means a Buddhist nun.
Part 1 and Part 2
The second part, the revenge story, is long and ends in a pun, so today it is usual to stop after the first part. Chances to hear the whole story in one go are rare.
| Part 1 | Part 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Content | From the suicide fiasco to Kinzo stumbling into the uproar at the gambling den | Kinzo and the boss pose as a ghost to get revenge on Osome |
| Chances to hear it | Often performed at yose (rakugo theaters) and rakugo shows | Few performers do the whole story |
| Ending | Usually stops at the gambling den uproar or similar | Ends with the "bikuni" pun |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
Proposing a double suicide
- OsomeSay, Kin-san, won't you die together with me?
- KinzoHuh, die...? You mean die, like, stop breathing?
- OsomeWhat other kind of dying is there?
The pier at night
- OsomeOkay, on the count of three, we jump.
- KinzoWait, I'm not ready yet... whoa!
- (A hard shove in the back. The performer slaps the floor with a folded fan for the splash.)
- Young manMiss! The money's come through!
- OsomeOh, has it? Sorry, Kin-san... well then, see you.
The shallow sea
- Kinzo...What the heck, the sea at Shinagawa only comes up to my knees!
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot and sage are traditional; the dialogue is written by this site.
Notable performers
- Kokontei Shinsho V1890–1973EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
- Sanyutei Ensho VI1900–1979EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
- Kokontei Shincho III1938–2001EdoOne of the performers whose recordings and video survive.
