Background:
Ise ondô koi no netaba (A song of Ise: Love and a dull blade: 伊勢音道恋寝刃) was written only two months after an actual incident when a physician named Magofuku Itsuki went on a murder rampage at the Abura-ya teahouse in Ise. In the dramatization, Fukuoka Mitsugi is the son of a deceased samurai serving the Lord of Awa and also a Shintô priest at the Ise Grand Shrine. Mitsugi loves the courtesan Okon, and she returns his affections. The complicated plot includes the search for a stolen — and cursed — Awa heirloom sword and its authenticating certificate, as well as switched identities and an intrigue to overthrow the ruling daimyô. When Mitsugi ultimately gains possession of the sword, the curse takes effect, causing him to murder several of the evil protagonists. Only Okon can stop him from more killing and break the spell.
Design:
Mitsugi pulls aside and moves through some tall, wind-swept grasses that line a seashore in Ise. He seems to be on a quest to capture some flying insects (mushi: 蟲 or 虫), as he holds a long-handled sweep-net over his right shoulder.
References: IKBYS-III, no. 103
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