Meiboku Sendai hagi (The Disputed Succession)

In this play an evil magician, Nikki Danjo, is attempting to take over the Date clan holdings in Sendai. In order to do this, he has to get rid of the Lord of Sendai castle and his son, Tsurukiyo, who is being cared for by the nurse Masaoka. In this scene, the lady-in-waiting Yashio (Tsurukiyo's aunt and a co-conspirator with Nikki Danjo) has attempted to give Tsurukiyo some poisoned candy. Masaoka's son, who has been coached by his mother to make sure that all the food given to Tsurukiyo is tested, pretends to act selfishly and gobbles all the candy up before Tsurukiyo has a chance to taste it. In the image above, Yashio is shown on the left with Masaoka's dead son in her lap. She makes a horrible face, reflecting her anger that her plan has been spoilt and the wrong child has died. Masaoka (on the right) helps Tsurukiyo put on a robe. Although her heart is breaking because of the death of her child, she must not show her pain.