The four following prints record scenes from the jōruri Katsuragawa Tsuki No Omoide, Recollections of the Moon at the Katsura River, which was played as part of the same production.
Outline of the Plot
The plot is that of a well known love story which relates the infatuation of Chōyemon, a middle aged shop-keeper, with a very young girl named O-Han. Her parents refused to allow the unsuitable marriage, and O-Han, who in her turn had become infatuated with her elderly suitor, refused an elopement which would have been even more against the wishes of her father and mother. The only way in which the lovers could be together was in death, and they went out to perform double suicide beside the Katsura River where the moon alone was witness of their end. After death O-Han and Chōyemon were transformed into cats, and they are frequently represented in that shape, seated side by side, each with a paw about the other—faithful and protecting.
