Yotsuya Kaidan
Yotsuya Kaidan (四谷怪談), the story of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon,[a] is a tale of betrayal, murder and ghostly revenge.
[b] First staged in July 1825, Yotsuya Kaidan appeared at the Nakamuraza Theater in Edo (the former name of present-day Tokyo) as a double-feature with the immensely popular Kanadehon Chushingura.
The next scene focuses on the character Naosuke who is sexually obsessed with Oiwa's sister, the prostitute Osode, despite her being already married to another man, Satô Yomoshichi.
It is at this point that Iemon and Naosuke unite and conspire to mislead Oiwa and Osode into believing that they will exact revenge on the people responsible for their father's death.
Sympathizing with Oume's plight, the Itôs scheme to have Oiwa disfigured by sending her a topical poison disguised as a facial cream.
Nanboku incorporated two sensational and real-life murders into Yotsuya Kaidan, combining fact and fiction in a manner that resonated with audiences.
In addition, the performance of Yotsuya Kaidan was filled with fantastic special effects, with her ruined face projecting magnificently from an onstage lantern, and her hair falling out in impossible amounts.
In a spectacular scene in the kabuki play, the living Oiwa sits before a mirror and combs her hair, which comes falling out due to the poison.
[5] Several productions of Yotsuya Kaidan, including television and movie adaptations, have reported mysterious accidents, injuries and even deaths.
[citation needed] Prior to staging an adaptation of Yotsuya Kaidan it is now a tradition for the principal actors and the director to make a pilgrimage to Oiwa's grave and ask her permission and blessing for their production.
[7] In 1826, the same year the play opened at Sumiza Theater in Osaka, Shunkosai Hokushu produced The Ghost of Oiwa.
An unusual image featuring a still-living Oiwa was depicted as one of the New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
Katsushika Hokusai created perhaps the most iconic image of Oiwa, in his series One Hundred Ghost Stories, in which he drew the face of her angry spirit merged with a temple lantern.
Shunkosai Hokuei made a visual quotation of Hokusai's design in the illustration above, including Iemon as he turns to meet the apparition, drawing his sword.
[8] This image of Oiwa appears to give Akari Ichijou a cup of tea in her victory pose in the arcade game The Last Blade.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi illustrated the scene at Hebiyama, showing a still-lantern-headed Oiwa coming for Iemon, surrounded by snakes and smoke.
A notable adaptation was Shimpan Yotsuya Kaidan by Itō Daisuke, one of the foremost Japanese directors of his time.
Toho produced a version of Ghost of Yotsuya in 1965 directed by Shirō Toyoda and starring Tatsuya Nakadai that was released as Illusion of Blood abroad.
[12] In 1994, Kinji Fukasaku returned to the Kabuki roots and combined the stories of Chūshingura and Yotsuya Kaidan into the single Crest of Betrayal.
