鏡 / The Mirror

A quarrel inside Edo Castle ends with a retainer of the Mito house killing one of the shogunate's attendants.

The senior councilors immediately demand that the offender be surrendered for punishment. But Tokugawa Yorifusa, lord of Mito and a member of one of the Three Great Houses, refuses. Even a compromise allowing Mito to carry out the sentence itself is rejected.

What began as a minor incident now threatens to become a confrontation between the shogunate and Mito.

Senior councilor Abe Tadaaki searches desperately for a way to defend the authority of the government without driving Yorifusa into open resistance.

At home, his wife Asako tells him a story from the Japanese version of Aesop's fables: rather than accuse someone directly of a fault, it may be wiser to place a "mirror" before them and allow them to recognize it for themselves.

That simple idea gives Tadaaki another way forward.

"The Mirror" is a compact historical drama about political pride, diplomacy, self-knowledge, and the quiet intelligence that can prevent conflict.

Written by Shugoro Yamamoto.

Narrated by Shichimi Shungorō.

Produced and published by Marutake Shobo.

江戸城内の小さな争いから、水戸家の家臣が本丸の御小人を斬る事件が起こる。

幕府は下手人の引渡しを要求するが、水戸中納言・頼房は御三家としての意地から頑として拒絶。水戸藩邸で処罰するという妥協案さえ退ける。

些細な事件は、ついに幕府と水戸家の対立へ発展し、改易さえ議論される危険な状況となる。

老中・阿部豊後守忠秋は、幕府の威信を守りながら、戦いを避ける道を探し続ける。

そんな忠秋へ、妻・朝子が『伊曾保物語』の「鏡」にまつわる話をする。

人の欠点を正面から責めるのではなく、鏡を見せるように、自ら気づかせればよい――。

その言葉から忠秋は、頼房の意地を折らずに、自ら過ちを悟らせる方法を思いつく。

政治的な面目、御三家の誇り、夫婦の知恵、そして争いを防ぐ「鏡」の発想を描いた、山本周五郎の端正な歴史短編。

著者：山本周五郎

朗読：七味春五郎

制作・発行：丸竹書房