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Ejima: From Ooku to 27 Years Confined in Takato
In 1714, the Ejima-Ikushima Affair exposed Ejima (1681-1741), senior lady-in-waiting to Lady Gekkoin, mother of the seventh shogun. After breaking curfew at a kabuki theater, she was caught up in factional politics and sentenced to 27 years of confinement in Takato, Shinano. The reconstructed Ejima Confinement House preserves her quarters today.
Ejima (1681-1741), senior lady-in-waiting in the Edo Shogunate’s Ooku, served Lady Gekkoin, mother of the 7th shogun Tokugawa Ietsugu. On January 12, 1714, returning from a memorial visit to Zojo-ji on Gekkoin’s behalf, she watched a kabuki performance starring Ikushima Shingoro at Yamamura-za theater and broke Ooku curfew at the after-banquet. The “Ejima-Ikushima Affair” was seized upon by the shogunate’s fudai faction to crush the Gekkoin/Manabe-Arai faction. Over 1,500 people were punished: Ikushima exiled to Mikurajima, the Yamamura theater closed, Ejima’s brother forced to commit seppuku. Ejima herself, initially sentenced to death, was instead confined for life to Takato Domain in Shinano (Nagano), where she lived 27 more years until her death at age 61. The reconstructed Ejima Confinement House and her grave at Renge-ji preserve her memory.
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Edo Castle Ooku — where Ejima served as senior lady-in-waiting
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Yamamura-za — kabuki theater where the affair began
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Takato Castle Park — site of Ejima's confinement, famous for cherry blossoms
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Ejima Confinement House — reconstructed modest quarters
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Ikushima Shingoro — popular kabuki actor exiled to Mikurajima
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
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