Abstract:

FUINKIRI is the central act of the great Chikamatsu drama, Meido No Hikyaku (The Courier for Hell) by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Nakamura Ganjiro plays the courier Chubei who, tormented by love for the courtesan Umegawa, cannot resist the temptation to break open a packet of money he is carrying for a customer. Once the seal is broken, all is lost. This performance also features Nakamura Senjaku III and Nakamura Tomijuro V. || Originally recorded live at Tokyo's famed Kabuki-za theater in 1999, and broadcast by NHK, the Japanese Broadcast Company. An optional English translation and commentary by Kabuki scholars Paul M. Griffith, Ronald Cavaye and Valerie Durham follows the stories and provides additional information to help international audiences appreciation of Kabuki performance, history, music and dance.