<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Yaoya O-shichi and her lover Kichisa[buro] figure indirectly in Edogawa Ranpo's wonderful story, Oshie to tabi suru otoko / The Man<DIV>Traveling with the Brocade Portrait (1929). The story was made into a film version (I was given a copy of it), but offhand I do not know</DIV><DIV>whether it was a feature film or a made-for-TV production. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>The story is set in Meiji (1895). The older of two brothers climbs the Twelve-Story Tower, Ryounkaku, in Asakusa and surveys</DIV><DIV>the city of Tokyo and the park surrounding the tower with a pair of binoculars on a daily basis. He is driven to do this because</DIV><DIV>one day he spied a most beautiful woman down on the ground in Asakusa Park. It is love at first sight, and he is desperate to </DIV><DIV>locate the woman and marry her. For the longest time, he is unable to locate her. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>He grows increasingly lovesick, and the family</DIV><DIV>sends his younger brother to check on his brother's bizarre behavior. The younger brother follows his o-niisan to</DIV><DIV>the tower and finds him searching with the binoculars. Suddenly the brother catches sight of the girl again, and</DIV><DIV>the two run frantically down the tower steps--but cannot find the girl.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>After much searching in the park, the younger brother finds his brother bent over a stereoscopic peep show (nozoki-karakuri)</DIV><DIV>and looking completely entranced. The peep show consists of a series of revolving padded panels (oshie) telling</DIV><DIV>the story of Yaoya O-shichi. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>What the</DIV><DIV>older brother had seen as he peered down from the tower was a panel depicting O-shichi leaning coquettishly against</DIV><DIV>Kichisa in the lecture of Kisshoji Temple, where O-shichi and her parents had sought refuge after their home was</DIV><DIV>destroyed in the fire set by O-shichi. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Ranpo goes onto weave a story about how the brother, desperate to wed O-shichi, devises a plan to be</DIV><DIV>permanently united with her. When the younger brother reverses the binoculars, his o-niisan is whooshed</DIV><DIV>into the panel--there to remain permanently mounted next to O-shichi (in place of Kichisaburo). </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>It's an unusual take on the Yaoya O-shichi story, but Edogawa uses the legend in a masterful way to highlight</DIV><DIV>the theme of mad obsessions--whether O-shichi's or the older brothers. Ah, what we do for love! For further details</DIV><DIV>see the original story. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Sep 4, 2007, at 5:03 PM, Frako Loden wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Does anyone know of films based on the story of Yaoya Oshichi, the teenage grocer's daughter who in 1682 burned down her own Edo house to be reunited with her priest lover and was burnt alive for it? I know there are a number of bunraku and kabuki plays based on her story, and a bunraku version is being performed in some American cities this fall. I see imdb.com mentioning a 1923 film ("Yaoya Oshichi") with Nikkatsu Kyoto/Onoe Matsunosuke involvement. Where could I get more details on this and possibly other film versions of Oshichi's story? (Japanese language OK)</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Thanks a lot,</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Frako Loden</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Berkeley</DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">William J. Tyler</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Associate Professor, Japanese Language & Literature</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Ohio State University</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">398 Hagerty Hall</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">1775 College Drive<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Columbus, OH 43210-1340</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">USA</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Telephone (direct) 614-292-3184</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><BR></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:tyler.20@osu.edu">tyler.20@osu.edu</A></FONT></P> </DIV><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>