TomikyuKyuzo and the Lottery
富久（とみきゅう）
Kyuzo is a taikomochi (a professional jester who entertains at parties) living in a back-alley tenement in Abekawa-cho, Asakusa. His drunken blunders have cost him his patrons, and he is struggling to get by. At the end of the year he spends his last bu on a lottery ticket, places it on the kamidana (the household shrine shelf) and prays, promising to go straight if it wins. That night a fire breaks out in the direction of the shop of the patron who has banned him from his house...
The story
Kyuzo is a taikomochi (a professional jester). He is good at his work, but he is a bad drunk and keeps falling out with the wealthy patrons who used to favor him. Now he lives in a back-alley tenement in Abekawa-cho, Asakusa, with no work.
At the end of the year, at the urging of his tenement landlord (a friend, in some versions), he spends his last bu (a quarter of a ryo) on a single lottery ticket, “Pine No. 110” (“Crane No. 1500” and so on, depending on the performer). Kyuzo puts the ticket in the kamidana dedicated to the Daijingu (the Grand Shrine of Ise) and prays that it will win, even if only the second prize. Picturing himself going straight and opening a shop if he wins, he falls asleep in high spirits.
That night the fire bell rings. The fire is in the direction of Nihonbashi (the place varies by performer), near the shop of the patron he fell out with. Woken by a neighbor who tells him that if he rushes over to call on the patron, his blunder may be forgiven, Kyuzo runs through the night streets to the shop. The patron is delighted that he was the first to arrive and allows him back into the house.
The fire dies down before it reaches the shop, and Kyuzo helps receive the people who come to offer sympathy. His work wins the patron over, and he is given sake until he is thoroughly drunk and falls asleep. Then the fire bell rings again. This time the fire is toward Asakusa, and when he runs back, his tenement has burned down. Kyuzo is allowed to stay on at the patron’s shop.
Later, Kyuzo comes upon a lottery drawing in the grounds of a shrine (Fukagawa Hachiman for Katsura Bunraku VIII, Sugimori Shrine for Kokontei Shinsho V). The first prize, a thousand ryo, goes to “Pine No. 110.” But the ticket should have burned along with the kamidana, and without the ticket he cannot collect the money.
On his way back, walking along in despair, Kyuzo runs into the head fireman from his neighborhood. During the fire, he says, he carried the kamidana out of Kyuzo’s house along with the bedding and the rice pot. When Kyuzo opens the kamidana, the winning ticket is right there.
The sage the punchline, contains spoilers
Tap to reveal the punchline
“Now I can make my oharai everywhere.”
The wording differs a little from performer to performer. The sage (the punchline) is a jiguchi, a pun: with a thousand ryo he can pay off (oharai) his debts all around, and the same word, oharai, also means the purification rite of renewing the Daijingu talisman in the kamidana.
The Lottery and the Fires
This story combines two things Edo was famous for: lotteries and fires. The tomikuji was a lottery drawn by temples and shrines, and in the story the first prize is a thousand ryo and the second prize five hundred ryo. Where the fires break out and which shrine holds the drawing change from performer to performer.
| The first fire | The second fire | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it happens | Near the patron’s shop (the fire does not reach the shop) | Kyuzo’s tenement (it burns down) |
| What it means for Kyuzo | He rushes over to call on the patron, and his blunder is forgiven | He believes he has lost both his home and his lottery ticket |
| Highlights of the story | Kyuzo running desperately through the night, and his hand reaching for the sake brought by visitors | His despair after learning of the thousand-ryo win, and his joy when the ticket turns up |
Key scenes original dialogue written for this site
Before the kamidana
- KyuzoGreat god of the Daijingu, I won’t ask for first prize. The second prize, five hundred ryo, will do just fine.
- KyuzoIf I win, I’ll give up drink for good and open a little shop on the main street... heh, and then I might even find myself a wife.
- (He places the ticket in the kamidana and mimes clapping his hands twice.)
Calling on the patron
- Man from the tenementHey, Kyu, wake up. There’s a fire over Nihonbashi way. Isn’t that near the shop you got yourself thrown out of?
- KyuzoWhat, the master’s place? I can’t just lie here. If I’m the first one there, the master might forgive me.
- PatronWhy, if it isn’t Kyuzo. Thank you for coming in the middle of the night. All right, from today you may come to the house again.
The drawing
- AnnouncerFirst prize, a thousand ryo: Pine No. 110.
- KyuzoPine No. 110... That’s me! I won, I won!
- OfficialCongratulations. Now please show your ticket.
- KyuzoThe ticket... it burned up with the kamidana...
This is not a transcription of any storyteller's performance. The plot follows the classic version; the dialogue was written for this site.
Notable performers
- Katsura Bunraku VIII1892–1971EdoOne of his signature pieces. He set the lottery drawing at Fukagawa Hachiman.
- Kokontei Shinsho V1890–1973EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive. He set the lottery drawing at Sugimori Shrine.
- Yanagiya Kosan V1915–2002EdoOne of the performers whose recordings survive.
