Desire (6) * Omamori blessed by monks, Kyoto * For wallet

Omamori DESIRE (a single desire for those who receive it) for wallet

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IMAGE: Sukeroku

Sukeroku (助六) is a play in the Kabuki repertoire, and one of the celebrated Kabuki Jūhachiban ("Eighteen Great Plays"). The play is known in English as The Flower of Edo.

The play is strongly associated with the Ichikawa Danjūrō family of actors.

Events take place in Yoshiwara, a pleasure district of present-day Tokyo. Agemaki is a courtesan who is frequented by Sukeroku (who turns out to be Soga Gorô). Sukeroku is continually looking for fights. An old samurai called Ikyû arrives and tries to coax Agemaki away from Sukeroku. Sukeroku does not succeed in provoking Ikyû to draw his sword. A saké-seller named Shimbei shows up, and Sukeroku picks a fight with him, but Shimbei reveals himself to be Soga Jûrô (Sukeroku's elder brother) in disguise. Sukeroku explains to his brother (and later his mother) that he tries to provoke people into drawing their sword. If the sword turns out to be Tomokirimaru (their fathers sword), the person who holds the sword is probably the killer of their father and revenge can be exacted.

Ikyû tries to convince the brothers to join him. To demonstrate his power he hacks a leg of an incense burner. Thus revealing that his sword is in fact Tomokirimaru and he is Iga Heinaizaemon, an enemy of the family, and their father's killer. Quite often the play ends here, although there are versions where Sukeroku kills Ikyû.