ShinigamiThe God of Death
死神（しにがみ）
A man so broke he wants to die meets a gaunt shinigami, a god of death. If Death is sitting at a sick person's feet, the shinigami tells him, a magic spell will drive it away. The man becomes a celebrated doctor. But then, faced with a wealthy merchant who has Death sitting at his pillow, he is blinded by a huge sum of money...
The story
Nothing a certain man tries ever works out, and now his money is gone too. Just as he's decided he might as well die, a gaunt old man with piercing eyes calls out to him. He introduces himself as a shinigami, a god of death, tells the man it isn't yet his time to die, and shares a secret with him.
If a shinigami is sitting at a sick person's feet, you can chant a spell and clap your hands, and the shinigami will vanish and the illness will be cured. If it's sitting by the pillow, the person's time is up and nothing can save them. Use this, says Death, and become a doctor. Half doubting, the man hangs out a doctor's sign, and right away a messenger comes from a big shop in Nihonbashi. Death is sitting at the master's feet. One spell, and the master recovers. The man is soon famous as a brilliant doctor.
His life of luxury doesn't last long. Before long, every patient he sees has Death sitting by the pillow, and he slides back into poverty. Then he's called to a large merchant house. Once again, Death sits at the master's pillow. When the man tries to decline, the household offers him a fortune. Dazzled, he has four servants each take a corner of the futon, and when the shinigami dozes off, they spin the futon around so the master's head and feet trade places. Then he chants the spell.
On his way home, the man is stopped by the very shinigami he first met and led into a cave where countless candles are burning. Each candle is a human life, and his own is a stub about to gutter out. He has traded lives with the master, Death tells him. The man is handed a fresh candle and tries to pass his flame to it, but his hands shake so badly that...
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
“Ah... it's going out...”
The most common ending is a shigusa-ochi (a punchline delivered through gesture): the man murmurs these words, and the performer collapses on the takaza (the stage). The line was originally “It went out,” but Sanyutei Ensho VI is said to have changed it to “It's going out,” reasoning that a dead man could hardly say “it went out.” Few stories have as many different endings depending on the performer.
The many endings
Performers love to rework the ending of this story. In some versions he is saved, in some he is saved only to blow the flame out himself, and in some it all turns out to be a dream.
| Version | How it ends |
|---|---|
| Standard | He murmurs “It's going out” and collapses. Sometimes the lights are dimmed to show it |
| The sneeze | He manages to transfer the flame, then blows it out with a sneeze from his cold (Yanagiya Kosanji X; the idea came from Kingentei Bako V) |
| He blows it out himself | Outside the cave, he's told, “It's light out now, so you can put that out,” and absent-mindedly blows it out (Tatekawa Shinosuke) |
| He's saved | After collapsing, he gets back up, having transferred the flame after all, and the story ends happily. Said to be a reworking for occasions that call for good luck |
| The dream | He shouts “It's going out!” and wakes up to find that only his paper lantern has gone out |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
Enter Death
- ShinigamiHey, you there. If you're looking for a branch to hang yourself from, that one's too thin. It'll snap.
- ManW-who are you? You're a creepy old geezer.
- ShinigamiI'm a god of death. Don't be so scared. Your turn hasn't come yet.
The pillow and the feet
- ShinigamiListen. If one of us is sitting at the patient's feet, say the spell and clap twice. That'll chase us off.
- ManAnd if it's at the pillow?
- ShinigamiThen their time's up. Don't you lay a finger on them.
Spinning the futon
- ManAll right, when I raise my hand, all four of you spin the futon around at once.
- (Keeping an eye on the shinigami as it nods off, he quietly raises his hand.)
- ManNow! ...Ajarakamokuren, tekerettsu no pa!
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot, the sage and the stock phrases of the spell follow the classic version; the dialogue was written for this site.
Notable performers
- Sanyutei Encho I1839–1900EdoSaid to have created this story by adapting a Western tale about Death.
- Sanyutei Ensho VI1900–1979EdoSaid to have added the spell for extra laughs and changed the sage to “It's going out.”
- Yanagiya Kosanji X1939–2021EdoKnown for the ending in which he blows out the flame with a sneeze.
- Tatekawa Shinosuke1954–EdoPerforms it with his own ending, in which the man blows out the flame himself after leaving the cave.
