Epiphany

—From “Twelfth Night”—

Raikouya Takagorou / Otaka: Ayaki Nao

Mouri Mari: Hisato Rie

Fukunaga Ousuke: Asazumi Kei

Marui Yae: Miya Erika

Andou Shingorou: Matobu Sei

Iriya Shigeyoshi: Tsukasa Yuuki

Mouri Shintarou: Natsumi You

Mouri Shige: Mari Yuzumi

Aizawa Kenichi: Asamiya Mayu

Mimasuya Kirizou: Nishiki Ai

Kisaragi Juushirou: Ohiro Ayumu

Kobori Samon: Mizushiro Rena

Okada Kenkichi: Mine Saito

Genji: Ayase Saki

Oroku: Hara Miteki

Osei: Ayame Hikaru

Koganei Kimiko: Marino Yui

Arai Tama: Hiiro Moe

Gonpachi: Yuuho Satoru

NOTES: As usual, this script translation is a little different from the one I ended up using for the subtitles, for space restrictions, for clarity, and because I tend to make small, last minute changes as I’m working on the subs.

This show was the first by the young director Ōno Takuji. It is a tale about the birth of actresses in Meiji Era Japan. Based on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", it also draws broadly on Ogai Mori's "The Dancing Girl".

The show opens with a young Mari reading from the beginning of "The Dancing Girl", which is used as the back-story for the character of her father, Mōri Shintarō. "The Dancing Girl" is a story of a young Japanese man who goes to study abroad in Germany in the 1800s, and falls in love with a dancing girl named Elis. His superiors and his friend Aizawa conspire to separate him from the girl and return him to Japan. It is speculated that "The Dancing Girl" is actually a partially true autobiography of Ogai Mori.

Kabuki also plays a large role in this show. Kabuki is a type of Japanese performance staged with all-male performers. Although kabuki had its roots in female performers in the early 1600s, the prostitution of its actresses led to women being banned from the theater. Since then, kabuki performers have been entirely male, with onnagata playing the female roles.

Act 1

Scene 1 – Prologue (Meiji Japan)

A girl is sitting on a desk, reading a book while her father listens.

Child Mari: The Dancing Girl of Kloster. Mouri Shintarou. They have finished loading the coal, and the tables here in the second-class saloon….. †

† NOTE: “The Dancing Girl” by Ogai Mori (1890) begins with this same sentence.

Shintarou: It’s still difficult for you, isn’t it, O-Mari?

Child Mari: Father, what is a “dancing girl”?

Shintarou: …It means someone who sings and dances on a stage. And they also act.

Child Mari: Someone like Hanshirou?

Shintarou: Your grandmother took you to see kabuki, did she? Hanshirou is a man. An actress is a woman who works on the stage in foreign countries. They wear beautiful costumes.

Child Mari: Hmm. But Hanshirou’s Red Princess is beautiful too.

Shintarou: (laugh) I see. …..But, you know, when you’re all grown up, Mari, there will probably be actresses singing and dancing on the stage in Japan too.

Child Mari: Oh, father. I want to go see a play again.

Shintarou: Ask your mother. Your father and plays are not exactly… Although I did attend them quite frequently when I was studying abroad in Berlin.

Child Mari: Hmmm.

Shintarou: … Come now, it’s late. Your mother will be getting worried, so to bed with you.

Child Mari: Yes, father. Good night.

She leaves.

Shintarou: Actresses….

In a crowd of people dancing in his memory, one woman stands out.

Shintarou: Elis….

Mari’s Voice: Seven years have passed since then. I still haven’t seen an actress, but I’ve grown up, and….

Scene 2 – Yokohama Harbor

Suketaka: (To the proprietress) …And then we received a favorable reply from the proprietor of the Enouza Theater. In any case, speaking of the Enouza, the young master’s father, Raikouya Takashirou, was called to Kyoto from Tokyo, and ran a small theater which needed no large billboards to advertise.

Okami: Oh…

Suketaka: The young master also had enthusiasm, and so I am going to Tokyo now to try and spread the Raikouya name, and do what I can for his promising future. And it was decided that he would go give greetings at the Enouza tomorrow….

Okami: I see.

Suketaka: This is… this is…. How could this happen?

Okami: ….. Sir.

Suketaka: I, Suketaka, have served his family faithfully for generations, and without one word to me, he….

Suketaka begins weeping. A young man in the inn uniform appears, carrying a lantern.

Okami: Ah, you’ve returned. How is it? Any clues….?

Man#1: Yes, ma’am, we’ve searched. He doesn’t know the area around Yokohama, so where on earth could the young master have gone…?

Man#2: Most importantly, at this hour.

Okami: Shunkichi, did you check in Takashima’s red-light district?

Shunkichi: Yes, I spoke with the gate-keeper, but he doesn’t seem to have been there. It was past closing time in any case, so I don’t think he was wrong…

Suketaka: At any rate, in the end you learned nothing?

Men: Yes…

Okami: Well, it’s impossible. The night is growing brighter already. (To Suketaka) … What more can we do? For the moment, let’s return to the inn. Everyone else, thank you for your hard work.

Man#2: Truly…

Man#1: Idiot!

Suketaka: But…. Miss, what do you think?

Otaka: … She’s right, Suketaka. For now, let’s go back. (To Okami) I’ll wait at the inn until dawn.

Okami: I see… If you wait until dawn, and he doesn’t return…

Shunkichi: I’ll go to the public office.

Otaka: We have caused you trouble.

Okami: It’s all right, when you run an inn you become accustomed to these kinds of things happening. …More importantly, miss; keep your hope strong as you wait.

Otaka: I will….

Okami: At best, he’ll come back without our searching, yes? There’s no reason to think of death—

Suketaka: Impossible. ….There’s been no omen of it.

Otaka: Yes… But, it’s so. The inn mistress is correct. My brother is not the type to pass away…. Although he’s nowhere to be found here, I’m certain that wherever he is, he is safe.

Okami: That’s so.

Otaka: Thank you. I feel slightly calmer now.

Okami: I’m glad to hear it. Shunkichi.

Shunkichi: … Yes. Watch your feet as you go, please.

Man #1: Well then, miss.

Suketaka: Miss, how are you faring?

Otaka: ….Look.

As they watch, the horizon brightens.

Suketaka: Ah, it’s dawn already. The rising sun is a good omen for your house. †

Birds cry as they watch the sun rise. The old man stirs.

Suketaka: Now then, miss—

Otaka: Suketaka, my brother will certainly…

Suketaka: Yes.

Otaka: He will certainly come back.

Suketaka: …Miss.

Otaka: But, when father passed away, the role of providing for the family dependents fell on him immediately, and he was the one who suffered the greatest loss. … He even had to leave the Kyoto he knew so well.

Suketaka: …Yes. He spoke to me of wanting to know his own, true, strengths.

Otaka: We forgot the crucial point of how upset he was at being forced to leave. For him to give up the stage…..

Suketaka: …. Certainly that’s true. It’s in his blood…. No, the young master has been a child of the stage since he was a baby. That’s right, for that young man to—

Otaka: (smiles) Yes.

Suketaka: ….Only, the appointment with master Iriya of the Enouza is tomorrow- no, today.

Otaka: That’s right… I wonder if there’s any way he would wait?

Suketaka: That would be difficult. To make someone wait, perhaps for a long time—

Otaka: But then when my brother returns, the stage that is so crucial to him will be gone. Why have we come so far….?

Suketaka: …..It can’t be helped. Come now, miss.

He turns and begins to leave.

Otaka: Yes, that’s true…. But…

She suddenly adopts a lower tone and barks out:

Otaka: ….Hey, Suketaka!

He whirls around.

Suketaka: Young master!

Otaka: I fooled you, didn’t I?

Suketaka: Miss, to play tricks at a time like this…

Otaka: That’s so….

Suketaka: Miss?

Otaka: Oh, Suketaka. ….. Let’s go. To Tokyo, to the Enouza.

Suketaka: The Enouza? ….You mean to meet with the master there and convince him somehow to wait?

Otaka: No, not that. …Look, if I met him as my brother, as Raikouya Takagorou—

Suketaka: Miss!

Otaka: It will be fine; we’re twins after all. Even my father said he couldn’t tell which was Otaka and which was Takagorou when brother and I were dancing at rehearsals together. And even now—

Suketaka: B-but what about the vital acting?

Otaka: I’m the daughter of a kabuki actor. So long as they are the ordinary sorts of accomplishments—

Suketaka: It’s different from an ordinary dance rehearsal. …To start with, a woman on the stage—

Otaka: It won’t be a woman. The one on stage will be Takagorou.

Suketaka: You can’t possibly…

Otaka: And there’s no other way. (She looks at the inn-keeper) Mistress, about what we’ve said.

Okami: I understand. Watching and pretending not to see is the job of an inn-keeper…. Miss, Okami of Masagoya Inn has heard nothing.

Suketaka: But, to truly do this….

Otaka: We’ll deal with it as things become necessary. … But, Suketaka, I can do it well. I expect that much.

“Epiphany”

Otaka:

The cold wind from the seashore

Gently strokes my cheek and cheers me

I wake up

As if the dawn has called out to me

This hope came in a flash

Now it catches hold

I don’t know what is waiting

But I am not afraid

Because the night has brightened

Someone whispers

When I am born anew

Surely a new future is waiting for me

Scene 3 - Prologue

Otaka is joined by dancing actors and changes into her male disguise.

I believe that

I will make it if I struggle on

A ceaseless heart

Has taken root

Only my hope in my breast

Certainly I am struggling on

To a new future

The characters from the kabuki play “Imoseyama Onna Teikin” come out onto stage and dance.

“Imoseyama”

† “Raikou”, or “rising sun” is part of the family name that Otaka’s father and brother use in their stage name “Raikouya”.

Scene 4 – Backstage at the Enouza

Backstage of the small theater, the Enouza. The proprietor of the theater, Iriya Shigeyoshi, is standing among a clutter of props, near a tree. He is holding a love letter with a pained look on his face. The sounds of a performance on stage can be heard.

Iriya: The sound of the shamisen pains my heart terribly…

The patrons shout out.

Patrons: Mimasuya! Both of you!

Iriya gazes at the actors as the audience calls out.

Iriya: It looks good. But to watch an impossible love right now is too painful for me.

“The Glorious Path of Man”

He sings the story of how he became estranged from his teacher, Mouri, while the events are acted out behind him.

Iriya:

I inherited this playhouse

From my parents

And on that night,

I became anathema

Mouri: Kabuki and its ilk are, after all, no more than relics from ancient times. That’s why you became my pupil in the first place.

Iriya: That’s… I wanted to learn the new Western cultures.

Mouri: I see. You can’t make modern Japanese culture a priority yet. …. And because of that, there are things which you have to go and throw away.

Iriya: No, sensei.

Mouri: Enough. You’re already no longer my student. You should leave, now!

Iriya: Sir!

Mouri:

Leaving everything behind

Mari: Father, what happened?

Iriya:

Going on the glorious path of man

Mari: Where are you going, Iriya-san?

Iriya:

But I do it with painful reluctance

Iriya: So difficult to forget the face of Mari, the professor’s daughter. Nonetheless, this love letter….

He pulls off a bit of a fake tree in frustration. The actors appear, coming from the stage, including the lead actor Mimasuya Kirizou and the onnagata Kisaragi Juushirou.

Juushirou: Zamoto†.

† NOTE: “Zamoto” is the title of the proprietor of a theater.

Iriya notices them.

Iriya: Juushirou-san….

Juushirou: (spots the letter) What’s that?

Iriya: Ah, it’s nothing.

He hides the letter in the tree.

Kirizou: Hey, were you watching?

Iriya: Yes…..

Juushirou: ……How was it? I wanted to seem like I was scheming with Kirizou.

Kirizou: It was good, wasn’t it?

Iriya: Yes. It delighted everyone who was watching!

Kirizou: Well of course; it was “Imoseyama” performed by Juushirou and Kirizou. …..Or so I’d like to say, but, well, as you’re always saying, Iriya-san, the audience is getting very, very tired of it. It’s a play that seems to be preaching from the authorities.

Juushirou: ….. Good grief. All these petty government officials, who know nothing about theater, acting self-important.

Iriya: It’s true. Officials from the Ministry of Culture say to learn by observing the noble foreign plays, but what is this “Tsubaki-hime” †, where the plot is about a love affair between the heir of a large store and a prostitute….. It’s simply ridiculous to say that that’s the kind of reform that kabuki needs……

† NOTE: A version of “La Traviata”.

He grabs the poor tree in two fistfuls.

Juushirou: It’s painful.

Otaka appears, now passing herself off as Takagorou.

Iriya: I have no intention of running a fragmented show on the stage of this Enouza. ……In any case, leave the government officials to me. Everyone—

Otaka: “Everyone should continue to show the plays as you’ve done before. For more than three hundred years these dreams have been spun for Japanese people by Japanese people.” Right?

Iriya: Yes.

Juushirou: (to Okata) Takagorou-chan, you’re done already?

Okata: Yes. I’m going to practice the nagauta now.

Kirizou: I see. When you first came to the Enouza I wondered what kind of amateur had come.

Okata: Truly, back then…. It’s completely embarrassing.

Kirizou: What? Perhaps that was for the best. It’s true, Juushirou got a shock from the Kyoto pup actor, when he intended to embarrass you.

Okata: Kirizou-san.

Kirizou: And then when I see how your rehearsals are now—

Juushirou: Kirizou-niisan!

Kirizou: —All because he’s desperately learning what you teach him.

Juushirou: ….What’s wrong with that? I didn’t abandon him.

Iriya: (smiling) How like you, Juushirou.

Otaka: Yes. Thank you very much, Juushirou-san.

Juushirou: (moved) …. Well, he seems to be becoming popular, so didn’t it all work out?

Iriya: Yes, the young ladies are all at the stage entrance making a huge racket.

Otaka: Eh? I’m so very sorry.

Iriya: It’s not something to apologize about.

Otaka: But….

Kirizou: You’re just hopeless over those kinds of things. And you say you grew up in a theater environment…. I know! I’ll take you with me next time I go to the pleasure distri—

Otaka: (flustered) I couldn’t possibly!

Kirizou: It’s a good thing! Don’t be shy.

Otaka: Kirizou-niisan!

Kirizou: I get it. You’re just really happy.

An actor dressed as Tsubaki-hime appears.

Actor (Tsubaki-hime): Oh? Sir. It’s almost time for the scene where you return to the princess.

Kirizou: Oops, that’s no good. Well then, Iriya-san…

Iriya: Yes.

Kirizou: (to Okata) You’re looking forward to it, aren’t you?

He heads off at a fast pace.

Otaka: Kirizou-niisan….

Juushirou: He’s just teasing you. If anyone’s going to make a play at the amateur, it would be me….

Laughing, Juushirou leaves as well.

Iriya: (bursting with laughter) Geez, they’re a bad lot.

Otaka: (looking as if she’d like to forget it all) Yes…. And how was I, today?

Iriya: Hm. Today’s Koganosuke was—

Otaka: Yes?

Iriya: As I told you the day before yesterday—

Otaka: Embracing with only the heart, something like that?

Iriya: Yes. ….. It wasn’t bad, it was a good appearance.

Otaka: Really?

Iriya: Really.

Otaka: (happily) Thank you.

Iriya: Of course, as the Daimyo Koganosuke your performance still has a way to go. … But you truly look as if you’re a young boy in love; you have that mood.

Otaka: Yes, sir. ….. I consulted my feelings again and again – To not be able to even take the hand of the one you love because of the enmity of your own parents. Today, somehow, I could feel the press of Koganosuke’s pain on my heart.

Iriya: The gallantry and fragileness of the maegamidachi†….

† NOTE: A phrase referring to a hairstyle worn by boys before they attained manhood.

The stage hands suddenly appear. One of them moves to pick up the tree.

Stage Hand 1: Iriya-san, excuse me a moment.

Otaka: …..Well then, I’ll take my leave.

Iriya: Sure.

The second stage hand discovers the love letter and begins reading it.

Stage Hand 2: “Surely, my heart loves thee—“

Iriya snatches it away.

Stage Hand 1: (to Stage Hand 2) What is it?

Iriya: Ah, it’s nothing…… (he hands them the torn off branch of the tree) Sorry.

Stage Hand 1: (to Stage Hand 2) Hey, let’s go.

Stage Hand 2: Sure…..

They take the tree and leave. Iriya turns to Okata, who is leaving.

Iriya: Takagorou-san, wait a moment.

Otaka: (turns back) What is it?

Iriya: Actually, I have a favor to ask you. It’s a shame I bear….

Otaka: (bewildered) Yes, sir.

Iriya: Ah, you who understand Koganosuke’s pain, surely you won’t sneer at this love beyond my control. (as he hands Otaka the letter) Won’t you deliver this to Professor Mouri Shintarou’s daughter, in Hongou Sendaki?

Otaka: To his daughter…. Iriya-san, what is this?

Iriya: …… It’s a love letter.

Otaka: A love letter….

Scene 5 – The Inner Garden of the Mouri Mansion

Mari and her two friends, Koganei Kimiko and Arai Tama, are sitting at a table set for tea in the inner garden of her house in Hongou Sendaki.

“Love In April”

Kimiko:

Gentle sunbeams streaming through the leaves,

And the voices of the birds

Tama:

I’ve found one flower

Different from yesterday’s

Kimiko:

I have a premonition

That something is going to happen

That’s right!

Tama:

An encounter is waiting

It’s the season of love

Both:

Someone will find me

And take my hand

Mari:

The wind that slips through my fingertips

Is still cold

But in the sunlight

The flower buds unfurl

Kimiko/Tama:

The fragrance builds up

Spring is coming

Mari:

Don’t let your smiling face

Disappear

Kimiko/Tama:

I’ll always be with my friends

Mari:

Don’t forget this vow

We made together

Kimiko/Tama:

We dreamed the same dreams

Mari:

Since long ago

Kimiko/Tama:

The time to part

April passes

Mari:

I’ll meet someone new

The three of them are 17 and 18 year old girls, but Kimiko has just gotten married, and Tama will be leaving soon for a women’s school. Marui Yae arrives.

Yae: Ladies, the tea has arrived.

Mari: Thank you, O-Yae.

Mouri Shintarou and his old friend Aizawa Kenichi arrive, along with the student Kobori.

Mari: Father, Uncle Aizawa.

Aizawa: Hello!

Shintarou: (to her two friends) Welcome. (to Kimiko) …. Ah, I didn’t recognize you.

Tama: It’s true!

Kimiko: It has been quite a while.

Shintarou: You’re completely the young wife. ….. How is Yuuzou-kun these days?

Kimiko: Full of plans for the hotel in Nara…. Busy as ever.

Aizawa: That’s hard. His study abroad is next year, isn’t it, around New Year’s?

Kimiko: Yes. So I’ve come to see if I could ask uncle about his experiences studying abroad.

Shintarou: My study abroad is a story from more than twenty years ago. You can’t use it as a reference. But, let’s see….

Mari: It’s no good, Kimiko, if you listen to what my father has to say. He’ll say that Yuuzou-san will probably fall in with a bad crowd in Germany!

Kimiko: That’s true. A tragic love story like “The Dancing Girl” at the Victoria Theater.

Mari: Everyone knows your tale when you go so far as to write it into a short story.

Kimiko: It won’t do. After all, Uncle, you have a previous conviction.

Mari: That’s right, what if you influence Yuuzou-san?

Tama: (to Aizawa) Ah, and even the villain who tore him from the dancing girl….

Aizawa: Hey, that’s cruel.

The three girls giggle.

Shintarou: ….. All right, let’s knock it off, lady-killer. (to Kimiko) It’ll be fine. It’s best not to worry.

Kimiko: Yes, sir. It’s Yuuzou-san.

Tama: Oh….?

Shintarou: (laughs) I see.

Aizawa: …. Ah, O-Yae-chan. A man from the Ministry of Home Affairs, called Fukunaga, is coming, so when he comes could you tell him we’ve gone to Miyakezaka on business?

Yae: Yes, sir.

Mari: (as an aside) Fukunaga-san……

Yae: Aizawa-sama.

She hands him a bag he looked like he was about to forget.

Aizawa: We’re going to be late, so if you have something to say, it’ll have to wait.

Yae: Understood.

Shintarou: (to Mari’s friends) Well then, ladies, take your time.

Friends: Yes, sir.

Yae: Safe journey.

Shintarou and Aizawa go to leave.

Mari: (without thinking) Father.

Shintarou stops and turns.

Mari: ……. You loved that Elis, didn’t you? So why did you come back to Japan?

Shintarou: Where did that come out of the blue? Hm….. Why did I? I’ll let you find the answer, O-Mari.

The two men leave, along with Kobori.

Tama: ……Hey, by any chance, is that “Fukunaga-san” that Uncle Aizawa just mentioned…?

Mari: Oh? Yes……

Kimiko: Whaaaat?

Tama: That’s right, you don’t know. A graduated student who has gone down in history in French, English, and Japanese girls’ schools. And at last he has come to the reigning beauty, Mari-sama—

Mari: O-Tama!

Tama: —to propose…..

Kimiko: Eeeh!

Tama: It seems that Uncle Aizawa couldn’t say enough good about him in the bureaucracy at the Ministry of Home Affairs. And now he’s back from overseas.

Mari: ….. But I haven’t even met him yet.

Tama: Isn’t it good that you’ll see him?

Mari: No!

Kimiko: Hey, then what about that other one? You know, the one who was a student here, who inherited the theater….?

Tama: Iriya-san?

Kimiko: That’s right, Iriya-san.

Mari: Even worse!

Tama: He was thrown out, by Uncle.

Mari: It wasn’t like that….. But he was a student here for more than five years. To look at someone I’ve seen in such a way is…

Tama: What are you saying? Someone you’ve never met is no good, and someone you know is no good. At this rate you won’t be able to get married at all.

Mari: ……. Wouldn’t it be better not to?

Tama: So you say…..

Kimiko: (laughter) How extreme.

Tama: At any rate, if you have a Minister of Home Affairs, an actor isn’t going to work. Well, for now that’s a good enough reason. If you could only have an arranged meeting—

Mari: What’s a good enough reason?!

The student Kobori returns.

Kobori: ….. Miss. I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation.

Yae: What is it, Kobori-san?

Kobori: Just now someone arrived who said he must see the young lady.

Mari: I wonder who it could be?

Kobori: Well….. a young man.

Mari: Did he say what about?

Kobori: He said he needed to talk with you directly, but I didn’t ask.

Tama: (teasingly) Could it be Fukunaga-san?

Mari: That’s true. ….O-Yae, Uncle Aizawa’s message. And after that, please. Tell him I’m entertaining guests and politely send him on his way.

Yae: Yes, miss.

She begins to leave, but Tama calls her back.

Tama: Wait a moment. (to Kobori) How was he?

Kobori: Well, he was a very good-looking man, like a young man from a picture book.

Tama: (gleefully) Oh my. …. Hey, Mari. Why don’t you meet him?

Mari: No!

Tama: What, no good again? …. Ah, I see. You’re scared.

Mari: …..That’s not it.

Tama: Then what?

Mari: I just….. Well, we three haven’t been together like this in so long. Right, Kimiko-?

Kimiko: Oh, I don’t mind.

Mari: Oh, you….

Kimiko: Think of it as practice for the arranged meeting.

Tama: That’s right, we two will act as the match-makers.

Both: Right!

Mari: … All right, I see how it is. If we do this, you two will enjoy it. ….. Kobori-san, bring the guest to the addition. O-Yae, please prepare some tea.

Yae: Yes, miss.

Kobori: Yes, miss…….

Mari: (to her friends) You’ll be able to see him before long.

Tama: …… So you say.

Scene 6 – The Addition of the Mouri Mansion

The addition is a billiards room. The ladies settle at a table to wait for the guest.

Yae: Please, right this way.

Yae leads Otaka into the room. All three girls look at her expectantly, and no one gives her a clue as to who is Mari.

Otaka: Um…. Which of you might be the young lady of the house?

Yae: You’ll speak to me. First, what is your business?

Otaka: ….. I understand, well then. (Begins to recite) Ah, lovely Mari-sama. Thy art more beautiful than beauty. Thy face like the color of milk is reflecting a flame and the faint crimson tide flows over it; your thin, graceful limbs—

She is interrupted by a peal of laughter from the girls, but doggedly continues.

Otaka: —A pale, pure maiden’s. ….Please, don’t laugh. I went to a lot of trouble to memorize this love letter, but if I’m nervous I’ll likely forget the rest.

Kimiko: I’m sorry, but…. Who on earth are you?

Otaka: Ah….. Pardon me, I’m really so nervous. I’ve come as a representative for Iriya Naruyoshi, proprietor of the Enouza Theater. I am Raikouya Takagorou.

Tama: Whaat, you’re one of those theater people? Are you a kabuki actor?

Otaka: Yes. And it is an actor’s job to continue his lines. …. May I continue?

Mari: (decisively) ….That’s good.

Otaka: (misunderstanding) All right. …..A pale, pure-

Yae: That’s good.

Otaka stops.

Mari: O-Yae, please inform the guest.

Yae: The master has already spoken about Iriya-san.

Tama: Hey, this would be a good chance to practice as if you were at an arranged meeting. What are you hobbies, your friends, etc…..

Kimiko: O-Tama!

Otaka: But, really, after this we get to the good parts of the love letter.

Tama: That’s right, after this….

Mari: I don’t want to listen to any love letter from Iriya-san. …… My brown eyes are like this, my long eyelashes like this. If he likes such beautiful women, if beauty is all that matters to him, then a doll or a geisha will do just fine. … Yes, you would do just fine too.

Otaka: ….. I’m a man.

Mari: First of all, don’t you think it’s rude? Staring at a person, as if you’re evaluating them….. I won’t listen to it. Please, leave.

The clock chimes three o’clock.

Otaka: So you’re the young lady? You certainly are as beautiful as the love letter paints you to be. …. However, miss. Miss, I think you misunderstand.

Mari: I do?

Otaka: I don’t know what the other love letters have been like. But, yes, surely…. Please, read them again. Hidden between those lines you must be able to read what he thinks of you, his honest attachment.

Mari: Is that so?

Otaka: To begin with, men, it stands to reason that they’ll stare at the woman they’ve fallen in love with. To be rejected from the beginning…. After all, it takes courage to accept someone, doesn’t it? Above all, for a woman to—

Mari: Eh….

Otaka: But, for some, they are never accepted—

Tama: What are you talking about?

Otaka: Ah, uhm…. That’s right, I’m talking about plays. In the play “Imoseyama”, the young man Koganosuke—

A voice is heard from offstage.

Fukunaga: ….. I see, it was modeled on a country house.

Fukunaga appears, along with his man Okada and the student Kobori.

Okuda: (makes a note) It’s called a country house.

Kobori: (to Mari) I’m sorry, I told them to stop, but….

Fukunaga spots Mari.

Fukunaga: Ahh, this must be….. (he takes her hand) I’m Fukunaga of the Ministry of Home Affairs. I know your father has spoken of me…..

Mari: (she reclaims her hand) ….. Father has gone out.

Yae: Yes. The master and Aizawa-sama have gone to Miyakezaka on business. If it’s an urgent matter, perhaps you should go there.

Fukunaga: Hm. ……Okada-kun.

Okada: Yes, sir!

He pulls out a notepad and begins writing.

Fukunaga: But, truly, this is the house you would expect of Professor Mouri. It’s different from those countless imitation Western houses. When I sojourned in England I often—

Mari: Fukunaga-san, as you can see, we have a guest right now, so couldn’t you…..

Otaka: No, I’ll take my leave now. …. Miss, this is the love letter I’ve brought, but I’ll return with it so.

Fukunaga: Love letter?

Otaka: Certainly you’re as beautiful as the love letter paints you. However, so long as your heart remains closed, all you will do is scorn this love letter and the honest love of the proprietor…. That’s something that I would never do. When you find someone to love, I’m certain you will understand. And when you feel that way, a time will come when you are also treated coldly. Excuse me.

Yae: Ah, sir….

Fukunaga: Hey, you, wait!

Otaka: What is it?

Mari: Fukunaga-san?

Fukunaga takes her hand.

Fukunaga: It’s all right, I’m aware of just about all of it. … Okada-kun.

Okada: Yes, sir.

He pulls out his notebook once more.

Okada: To conjecture, the proprietor was a former student of Professor Mouri’s, one Iriya-kun….

Fukunaga: That’s right. (he turns to Otaka) So what are you to that man Iriya?

Otaka: ….. An actor. I work at the Enouza.

Fukunaga: What, a kabuki actor? … Hey, you. Don’t you think you put things rather rudely?

Otaka: …..It’s nothing to do with you.

Fukunaga. This is it. This is why the actors in Japan can’t be dealt with. Good grief, among the actors in the West there are gentlemen who have been given the title “sir”.

Otaka: (to Okada) “Sir”?

Okada flips through his notebook, then shrugs.

Okada: No idea….

Fukunaga: … Ah, never mind. Go back and tell that man Iriya this: He’s not to reach out to Professor Mouri’s daughter again, or else I, Fukunaga of the Ministry of Home Affairs, will take away his theater’s permit.

Otaka: You couldn’t…..

Fukunaga: Your job here is finished. …. Now, go. (he raises his voice) You won’t leave?

The room is completely silent, and Otaka seems for a moment as if she will say something, but then she leaves.

Mari: Ah…..

Fukunaga: How was that? He won’t approach you again. Good grief, how shameless. …. More importantly, Mari-san (he takes her hand), what do you think, shall we commemorate our meeting? There is going to be a concert at the Public Hall.

Mari: (distractedly) Yes…

Fukunaga: You can forget this ridiculous kabuki business.

Mari: … That’s true.

Fukunaga: That’s right. I have here two tickets (he goes to pull them out from inside his jacket)

Mari: That’s right! ….. Kobori-san, please prepare a seat.

Kobori: What?

Fukunaga: No, if you need a seat, I have here….

Mari: Go to the theater and get them for tomorrow’s performance at the Enouza.

Kimiko: Why?

Mari: But, it’s so mortifying, don’t you think? He got to say everything he wanted to, but I didn’t get to answer back at all….. And on top of that, he got to read that love letter!

Tama: That’s right! Now the town beauty has been disgraced.

Kimiko: You too, Tama?

Mari: If that’s decided, I need to investigate… Kimiko, Tama, come on!

Fukunaga: Ah…. Mari-san?

Mari passes by him and leaves. The other girls follow her out.