Product Description
NTSC, Region Code All, English Commentary and booklet notes. 99 mins (main programme) + 23 minutes (special feature on 50 selected works of Kabuki). Colour. Filmed March 1997.
Nakamura Ganjiro III (born 1931, current name Sakata Tojuro IV) is known as one of the few Kamigata Kabuki actors and known for playing the roles of Kamiya Jihei and Fujiya Izaemon in Kawasho, the scene from Shinju Ten no Amijima. Kataoka Hidetaro II (born 1941) is also trained in the great tradition of the Kamigata Kabuki. Nakamura Tomijiro V (1929-2011) was a versatile tachiyaku (male role) actor.
Kawasho is set in Osaka, based around the entertainment distric of Tennoji. The story centres around a courtesan, Koharu, and Jihei, her lover, a married paper seller. They make a pact to commit suicide, but Jihei's wife writes to Koharu asking her to spare her husband's life. It all turns rather messy, with a sense that they will die anyway.
