INTRODUCTION

This four-act opera is based on the true story of Daikokuya Kodayu, ａ handsome boatman and captain of ａ crew of sixteen. Two hundred years ago on December 13, 1782, Kodayu's boat, loaded to capacity with cargo left Shiroko Beach off Ise, central Japan, towards Edo （present Tokyo). But it met with a violent storm immediately following departure; after drifting for eight months on the Northern Sea, the ship finally landed on the coast of Amchitka of the Aleutian Islands. Having overcome numerous difficulties later on, Kodayu appealed to Catherine the Great （Queen Ekaterina II) and obtained her permission to return to Japan after ten years on February 29, 1792.