Guided Reading Essay: The Loves of Gompachi & Komurasaki

Read the story of The Loves of Gompachi & Komurasaki then answer then complete the following essay assignment under the Quiz section. Vendettas, honor, loyalty, murder and betrayal, key components of a classic and yet little known Japanese literary genre known as jitsuroku.  The word “jitsuroku” translates as “memoir” and was a genre of literature in feudal Japan that were generally exaggerated stories of political scandals and revenge.  These stories were largely based on true events, however through oral transmission and embellishment, these stories would soon intertwine fact and fiction together to the point that trying to decipher between the two would become quite difficult.  The result is that epic tales of revenge would soon become transmitted and popularized throughout Feudal Japan. The story of The Loves of Gompachi and Komurasaki is one such blood soaked tale. The 3rd installment of Justin Hagen's Jitsuroku series, here begins the first tale in a Pulp Fiction style revenge saga.  The story of Gompachi and Komurasaki shows just to what lengths one may go to for love, even if that means going on a dark murderous path.   This work is a republishing of a segment from A.B. Mitford's Tales of Old Japan which is now out of print and in the public domain. Each Jitsuroku in this series contains a republishing of a single short story from the public domain that has been updated and edited to correct some of the older terminology from their original versions.  These stories also include a common 'Foreword' discussing the Jitsuroku genre and an individualized 'Afterword' to bring historical context to each tale.