Over 400 years ago, the dance of Izumo no Okuni captivated all of the audience, which became KABUKI, and from that Japanese Dance was born. Whether you’ve seen it before or not,
we hope you find it interesting…
This time, we’ll talk about “JUSANYA (The Thirteenth Night)”, one of ICHIYO HIGUCHI’s most famous novels.
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｜The Moon in ICHIYO’s Works
‘Ooumi mo Hikari no Uchini Narinikeri, Yama no Ha Ideshi Aki no Yo no Tsuki’
(The vast sea, too, has become one with the light, as the autumn moon rises over the mountain ridge.)
In this Waka poem by ICHIYO HIGUCHI, the autumn moon rises above the mountains and fills the endless sea with its light, creating a beautiful scene in which the world seems to be bathed in moonlight.
ICHIYO left behind many novels and poems, and the moon appears repeatedly throughout her works. In her stories, the moon is more than a beautiful object in the night sky. It often seems to reflect human emotions, the passage of life, and the joys and sorrows of the people she portrays.
This can also be seen in her story “JUSANYA (The Thirteenth Night)”.
｜Beneath the Willow Tree
“JUSANYA (The Thirteenth Night)”, published in 1895, is one of ICHIYO HIGUCHI’s most famous works.
The title refers to the moon of the thirteenth night of the ninth month in the lunar calendar, which has long been regarded as the second most beautiful moon after the full moon of the fifteenth night.
Near the end of the story, the heroine meets her childhood sweetheart again beneath a willow tree on a main road. They talk about old times, but in the end each returns to a different path in life.
‘He went east, she went south. Beneath the willow on the road, in the light of the moon…..’
The story ends with these words.
The phrase ‘He went east, she went south’ seems to quietly express two lives that, though they briefly crossed once more, will never truly meet again.
｜Characters
“JUSANYA (The Thirteenth Night)” is a story about people whose lives cross under the moonlight but who cannot escape their fate.
The heroine, SEKI HARADA (OSEKI), marries into a wealthy family and has a son, but she suffers in her married life.
Her husband, ISAMU HARADA, is a man of social standing. However, after the birth of their son, he gradually becomes cold toward OSEKI and treats her harshly.
ROKUNOSUKE KOSAKA is OSEKI’s childhood friend. There was once talk of a marriage between them, but he now makes his living as a rickshaw driver.
｜Story
OSEKI, the heroine of the story, marries ISAMU HARADA, a wealthy and respected government official who falls in love with her. Although he is kind at first, his attitude changes after their son is born, he grows distant and begins to treat OSEKI harshly.
Unable to endure her unhappy marriage any longer, OSEKI returns to her parents’ home and asks for a divorce. However, her father advises her to endure the situation because her younger brother obtained his job through ISAMU’s connections.
Carrying her unspoken sorrow, OSEKI leaves her parents’ home and takes a rickshaw on the moonlit road of the Thirteenth Night. As the moonlight falls on the face of the rickshaw driver, she recognizes him as ROKUNOSUKE KOSAKA, her childhood sweetheart. After OSEKI married into another family, ROKUNOSUKE lost the will to go on. He became reckless, fell into poverty, and now earns his living as a rickshaw driver.
Reunited beneath the not-quite-full moon, the two quietly accept their circumstances while carrying the feelings they could never fulfill. Then, as if their lives will never cross again, they part and return to their separate paths.
“JUSANYA (The Thirteenth Night)” may be seen as a story about the sadness of a life that does not always go as we wish, told through the unfulfilled love of OSEKI and ROKUNOSUKE. Quietly illuminating them is the moon of the Thirteenth Night, from which the story takes its title.
In its imperfect form, the not-quite-full moon still watches over us today.
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