パペットホームズ、大河ドラマなどの好きなテレビ番組やラグビーについて書いています。アフィリエイトはやっていません。／Welcome to my blog. I write about some Japanese TV programmes including NHK puppetry and Taiga Drama, Sherlock Holmes and rugby. I don't do affiliate marketing.
On the 18th of December 1898, the statue of SAIGO Takamori is unveiled at Ueno, Tokyo. But Ito, his third wife who attends the ceremony approaches it and says, "This is not my husband. He was not a man like this. No!" There are various opinions about him. But it's true that he was adored by both men and women and new Japan was brought by him.
Ito (Haru Kuroki) who sees the statue says that this is not her husband.
In 1840, Tokugawa shogunate has not opened the country to the world yet. And in Satsuma, children are educated by Gōchū (Gojū) system. This system adopts a self-active education but only for boys. One day SAIGŌ Kokichi, later Kichinosuke or Takamori and his friends in Shimo-Kajimyamachi Gojū go to Kōtsuki River to catch an eel but they are forestalled by the boys of Koremachi Gōchū. They grapple with each other in the river but Kokichi keeps calm and catches an eel. It is broiled and eaten by Shimo-Kajiyamachi Gōchū boys.
The boys of Koremachi Gōchū feel bitter about it and tell their opponents that there are more delicious things in Iso Goten (*), the villa of the Shimazu clan near Kinkō (Kagoshima) Bay. ARIMURA Shunsai, one of the Koremachi Gōchū boys serves the clan as tea server knows about the sweets in the villa. Then they plan to compete with each other to steal some sweets from the villa and on the following day they depart for Iso Goten by boat. Then they see an unfamiliar boy on the coast.
Shimo-Kajiyamachi Gochu boys includes Kokichi (Ao Watanabe, right) go to Kōtsuki river to catch an eel
It is IWAYAMA Ito, a girl who becomes Kichinosuke's wife later. She saw the boy in Kotsuki River and intends to join them. They watch for a chance and sneak into the villa but MURATA Shinpachi, one of the Shimo-Kajiyamachi Gōchu boys falls into a pond. The guards take notice of him and chase them. They climbs the slope and a man tests a cannon there. When they reach the top, smoke rises and the winds raises a dust and they find a strange man in western clothes.
They think he is Tengu (**) and retreat but Shinpachi is left and caught by the man. He asks them why they come here and Kokichi answers he wants to have delicious sweets. Then the man says it's not worth laying your life on the line. Kokichi says that he is always ready for death because he is a Satsuma Hayato (***). But the man tells him that he cannot say so because he abandoned the smallest boy and be helpful for those who are weaker than him. He also says adds he is a useless fellow, yassenbo in Satsuma dialect if he cannot do so. Then he returns Shinpachi to them.
Murata Shinpachi (Kenshirō Katō, second from the right) is caught by a strange man who is Shimazu Nariakira (Ken Watanabe, far right) in reality
Kokichi asks him what he is doing here but his followers try to stop him. But he warns them and says that he studies how to deal with the big Tengu from abroad. And he tells them not to tell other about it and if they break the promise, he will feed them to the sharks in Kinkō Bay. In addition, he wraps two slices of castella in a piece of paper and gives it to them.
They return to their boat and share the castella saying, "It's delicious" or "So sweet" however Kokichi watches the letters "cagonxina" on the paper. His friends say they are the magic spells of Tengu. Kokichi hopes to meet the "Tengu" again.
(*) Current Sengai-en. (**) Japanese monster who has a red face and big nose and wears the clothes of yamabushi. (***) Brave man of Satsuma.
The images are from the official website of "Sego-don".
