身代わり忠治

対象:一般向け ／ 時間:60〜70分

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逃すために騙る。

義理と度胸の、身代わり芝居。

Impersonate to set him free.

A stand-in drama of duty and nerve.

【あらすじ】

赤城山に潜む国定忠治。

山は役人であふれ、包囲は刻一刻と狭まる——。

子分の巌鉄・浅太郎が持ち込んだ脱出策は“身代わり”。麓の百姓・忠治郎は、顔立ちが忠治と瓜二つ。ただし気弱で腰が引けた男だ。人を巻き込むことを嫌う忠治は逡巡するが、仲間の熱に押され、刀と着物を預けて身を隠す。

一方、強欲なヤクザ・山形屋藤蔵の横暴に、忠治郎は“その通り”の一言だけを盾に、なりきり作戦で乗り込むことに——。攫われた娘、揺さぶられる“義”と“面（つら）”、そして頬の黒子が告げる正体の影。

嘘か真か、男の値打ちは声と背中に出る。雪解け間際の赤城路で、度胸が本物を追い越す瞬間が訪れる。

Akagi Mountain, where the outlaw Kunisada Chūji lies low. The hills swarm with officers; the ring tightens by the minute.

Chūji’s lieutenants, Gantetsu and Asatarō, bring a desperate plan: a “stand-in.” Down in the village lives a farmer named Chūjirō—the spitting image of Chūji. The man is timid to the bone, but with pressure mounting, Chūji yields, hands over his sword and coat, and disappears from sight.

Meanwhile, a ruthless fixer–boss, Yamagataya Tōzō, has snatched a young woman. Gantetsu and Asatarō drag the quaking Chūjirō to storm Tōzō’s place, armed with one tactic: whatever they ask, just say, “That’s right.”

Tōzō, convinced the real Chūji has come, returns the girl—and the money—until a henchman from Chūjirō’s own village spots the telltale difference: a mole on the cheek. Realizing the ruse, Tōzō gives chase.

Steel clashes, tempers flare, and the timid double finds a spine: in a final brawl, he scatters the gang with a ferocity worthy of the legend himself.