Narihira Bunji

In the Edo of the 1770s, the rōnin Namijima Bunjirō is so handsome that Honjo calls him Narihira Bunji, after the great lover-poet of old, and so strong that people credit him with the strength of seven men. He gives his money to the poor, thrashes bullies, and turns extortioners into honest craftsmen. He pulls a pair of drowning lovers out of the Sumida, chokes a greedy geisha-mother into consent, and wins over a plasterer who once came at him with a musket stolen from a city gate.

But his widowed mother fears his temper and tattoos the character for “Mother” on his arm to hold him back. Meanwhile a fencing master and his brother cheat a pouch dealer of his wife over a game of go, and a blind rōnin is cut down at night by the river. Bound by his promise, Bunji waits, and the waiting ends in blood. San’yūtei Enchō’s long story of a chivalrous man is told in the voice of the stage, with its jokes, puns and cliffhangers intact. Complete and unabridged in all seventeen original chapters, with concise notes and a documented source record.

A New English Translation in the series Japanese Classics in English Translation.