In Tokyo, from the three-way intersection at the west end of the Komagata Bridge, not far to Kaminarimon, on the left side of the street, there is an antique theater - Inazuma. If Tokyo were to select the "Seven Great Strange Things", the first one to be selected would probably be "Inazuza".It was built in the early years of Taisho, and it has a history of nearly half a century. Although there have been small-scale renovations during this period, no major renovations have been carried out, and it still retains the original appearance of the initial construction period.This ancient theater is extremely inconsistent with the magnificent modern buildings around it, just like a genre painting of the Meiji era.

The "Inazuma" theater is located in Shitamachi, the most prosperous place.It has miraculously withstood multiple earthquakes and wars, which should be considered extremely rare in Tokyo. The residents near the "Inazuma Theater" all said that there is a demon spirit in this theater.Therefore, whenever people pass by here, there is a feeling of gloom hanging over the theater. This ancient building has absorbed Western design in structure, but its style has followed the traditional Japanese style: whether it is the carvings on the eaves or the light gray gate, they all belong to ancient Japanese style, even the theater The guest seat design inside is also a traditional pool seat.

Not only that, but even the building itself looks dilapidated due to disrepair.Although the owner of the theater had taken some emergency measures, he did not renovate it after all. Years of wind and rain have damaged the theater more and more seriously.Although the theater has withstood natural and man-made disasters many times, its influence on society is decreasing day by day. However, the small theater "Inazuma" (perhaps it is more appropriate to call it a small theater), Bi Jing has stood up to this day despite the ups and downs, which is also one of the reasons why it is called one of the "Seven Great Monsters".

At present, the theater world in Tokyo is divided into two major groups. Kabuki dramas are monopolized by W Company, but "Inazumaza" does not belong to any of the groups, and it also has a first-class team of Kabuki actors. Of course, these actors don't stick to the "Inazuma" all year round. About half of the time, they will also be hired by W Company, which monopolizes kabuki, to perform in big theaters.Similarly, "Inazuma" only uses its own actors to perform repertoires, and sometimes it is a little short of manpower, so it has to seek assistance from W Company.

In any case, a small self-employed theater, relying on its own cast, was able to fight against big groups for a long time, which is also one of the reasons why it is called the "Seven Big Monsters". The founder of "Inazuma" is Sano Chuan Tsuruemon, whose stage name is "Rainsha".The Sanogawa family has been among the famous families in the Kabuki world since the Edo period. The Sanogawa Tsuruemon is the fifth generation of the Sanogawa family.Compared with previous generations, he can be called the worst generation.From the Meiji era to the Showa era, although he often performed on stage, he failed to become famous because of his poor acting skills.Not only that, but he was narrow-minded and couldn't tolerate the first-class actors who were loved by the public, and the famous actors left him one after another.Therefore, the troupe lacked successors.In short, as a traditional Kabuki actor, Sanogawa Tsuruemon lacks the necessary qualities; as an actor of modern popular dramas, he does not have the talent to capture the audience's psychological preferences in a timely manner.

However, Sanogawa Tsuruemon has a talent for financial management. In terms of assets, he is said to be a tycoon in the Kabuki world. Moreover, he also has excellent management capabilities, which has made the "Inazuza" theater since its establishment. It has been able to compete with the big groups so far. Tsurunoemon Sanogawa has two sons and a daughter. The eldest is the daughter Xiaoling, the eldest son, Tsurunosuke, and the second son Shizuo (stage name Zihong). These two common sons were also born by half mothers.The case arose from the sudden disappearance of his eldest son Tsurunosuke during a stage performance.There are still all kinds of strange rumors circulating in the society about this incident, which has cast a layer of mystery on this ancient theater.This is the main reason why the "Inazuma Theater" is considered the first of the "Seven Strange Things" in Tokyo.

The incident happened in August of Showa 11 (1936), and 16 years have passed so far. At that time, Tsurunosuke Sanogawa was 30 years old. Among the young actors in Tokyo, he had become an outstanding and famous actor. Maybe it is Passed down from generation to generation, he not only made up for his father's lack of quality as a traditional classical kabuki actor, but also had the talent to compose and perform modern popular plays. Competitive. Therefore, it is recognized as a leader in the Kabuki world. "Inazuma" was originally the only competitor of W company, but whenever "Inazuza" proposed to borrow actors, W company never neglected it.The reason is that they value Tsurunosuke very much, and have secretly made up their minds to win over this promising young actor at all costs.

In August of Showa 11, in order to attract audiences, the "Inazuma" theater used all young actors and rehearsed several "summer plays". Actor - Mizuki Kyosaburo. The rumors about Tsurunosuke Sanogawa and Kyosaburo Mizuki vying for the top spot is still a topic of discussion among the citizens after dinner. Both of them were born in a family of kabuki actors, they were about the same age, they both had a beautiful appearance and figure, and their acting skills were also outstanding.Therefore, it is understandable that two people compete to play the leading role, but unexpectedly, the competition caused a storm.

In fact, the two of them were close artistic friends.There are disgusting rumors circulating in the society that Kyosaburo's admirers poured Tsurunosuke mercury, and Tsurunosuke's admirers openly hired social violence groups to attack Kyosaburo in order to retaliate, causing a sensation in the entire Tokyo .Of course, anyone with a little brain will recognize the absurdity of these rumors. After the special performance of the summer drama, due to the tacit cooperation between Tsurunosuke Sanogawa and Kyosaburo Mizumizu, the superb acting skills, the vivid performance, and the fascinating plot, the venue was full.No matter who plays the leading role or a supporting role, or a loving couple performing on the same stage, with the opening of the curtain, the audience is immediately silent, and the stage and the audience are integrated into one. The scorching heat has already been suppressed I forgot to go beyond cloud nine.

The finale of the performance at that time was the mythical story "Catching a Carp Spirit Alive". Since Tsurunosuke suddenly disappeared in Tokyo, the play "Catching the Carp Spirit" has never met with the audience again, so young people nowadays are very unfamiliar.At that time, this play was a specialty of "Daozuzao". During the performance, a pool was set up on the stage, filled with clear water, and the actors conquered the carp spirit in the water. Therefore, it is very suitable for performing in summer and is the most capable. An original show that holds the interest of the audience.

There are several scripts for "Catching the Carp Spirit Alive". During the performance, the characters in the play can be changed according to the characteristics of the actors.After the Meiji era, the script of Kyonosuke Ryudo catching carp spirits performed by actor Ichikawa Sairu was the most popular among audiences. The performance of "Inazuma" is based on the script of the upper school, which is more in line with the taste of Tokyo people.The plot outline is as follows: Legend has it that a long time ago, on the shore of Lake Piwa in Jinguo, there was a mansion for princes, and there was a young lady in the mansion.There is a thousand-year-old carp spirit living in the lake. Because it is obsessed with the young lady's beauty, it becomes fascinated, but the young lady has already fallen in love with the servant boy Long Chuang Gongzhisuke in her heart.One night, the carp spirit casts a magic spell and takes the form of Long Chuang Gongzhisuke, and sneaks into the lady's boudoir. The housekeeper finds out, and then fights with him with a sword.Just as it was trying to escape by jumping into the lake, Kyonosuke rushed over and shot the carp spirit with an arrow. Kyonosuke dived into the water and captured the carp spirit alive. In addition, there is an episode in the play that describes a monk who is also obsessed with the lady, so he breaks into the boudoir privately, and is cut into the water by the knight.But the characters in the play can be changed at any time except Kyonosuke Longchuang. In Showa 11, the lady in "Catching Carp Essence Alive" staged at the "Inazuma" theater is Sakurahime, the monk's legal name is Qingyun, and Tsurunosuke Sanogawa plays the carp essence and Qingyun who quickly changed their costumes in the same play. There are three roles of Yun and Ryuzo Kyonosuke, and his rival Mizuki Kyosaburo plays the role of the butler and the knight who killed Qingyun. The most exciting scene in the play is this: At the exit on the left side of the stage, there is a sliding window prop, which is used as a lady’s boudoir. In the basement in front of the stage, there is a small pool built with stones, which is usually covered with a platform. Filled with water. The curtain opened, and Miss Ying Ji, who was like a flower and jade, fainted by the lake because of being bewitched by the evil spirit. The maid helped the lady into the boudoir.The fake dragon window Kyonosuke jumped out of the lake and rolled into the lady's boudoir. Although he jumped out of the water, he didn't get any water on his body, which is a unique feature of the play. Kyonosuke was in the room cuddling with the young lady, stealing jade, lingering, the butler appeared on the stage with a treasured knife, smelled the evil spirit and chased him to the boudoir, after a while of fighting, the carp spirit made a sharp turn, threw off his coat, exposed his scales, and showed his original shape.There was another tumble and fight to the edge of the pool.At this time, there was a shout from behind the scenes, and a cold arrow shot the carp essence.The carp spirit turned over and fell into the water, splashing a splash of water.Later, Kyonosuke, holding a bow and arrow, came out and chased him into the water to catch the carp spirit alive. The plot is not complicated, but due to going in and out of the water, the actors need to quickly change their costumes in the same scene. In addition, the leading actor is young and beautiful, with superb acting skills, which dazzles the audience. It is a popular summer drama. The repertoire was performed for more than 20 days, and the venues were full.But in the last scene of the last day, a shocking and strange thing happened. From the opening to the carp being planted into the water, there was a splash of water in the pool, and there has been no change since then.The next play is a problem. Since it has been staged for more than 20 consecutive days, the audience has already roughly known the detailed plot from rumors or newspaper introductions, so everyone held their breath, focused their eyes on the curtain, and waited for Kyoyuki, also played by Tsurunosuke. The assistant came out holding a bow and arrow... Waiting, waiting, people's eyes are sour, no one has been on the stage, and the audience is finally disappointed.Tsurunosuke Sanogawa plunged into the water and mysteriously disappeared, and he will not, and never will, appear again. It has been 16 years since this incident, and no one knows what happened to Tsurunosuke later, leaving a mystery to the society and their family.