ブーメラン効果：2023年9月5日（火）

2012年に放映されたNHK大河ドラマ『平清盛』の物語の中で，史実では検証されていないフィクション（ただし『平家物語』には禿（かむろ，かぶろ）の記述はある）として，平清盛（もしくは平時忠）の発案により，300人ほどの14-5歳の童を揃え，髪をかむろ（おかっぱ）にし，赤い直垂を着せて，京都市中に秘密警察（スパイ）として放したという話の一幕がある。

　平清盛は，平安時代末期の12世紀に日本で初めて武家政権を打ち立てた武将，公卿，棟梁である。1185年に平家は源氏の源義経に壇ノ浦の戦いで敗れて滅亡した。

　京都の市中に放たれた秘密警察の禿（かむろ）たちは，「平家を悪く言う者があればその家に乱入し，家財を全部取り出してしまい，悪口を言った本人を捕らえて六波羅へと連れて行った」と言われている。このため，人々は平家の悪事を見たり知ったりしても口にすることはなかったという。

　このドラマでは，平清盛の郎党で意気投合していた海賊王の兎丸が酒に酔った勢いで平家の悪口を口走ったところを，市中にいた禿たちに見つかり殺害されてしまう。平清盛としては，自ら仕掛けた言論統制が「ブーメラン効果」として我が身に跳ね返り，自分の足許を掬われた格好となり，大きな衝撃を受けたというストーリーとなっている。

Boomerang Effect：September 5th(Tuesday)

In the story of NHK's historical drama "Taira no Kiyomori," which aired in 2012, there is a fictional episode that has not been verified in historical records (although there is a mention of "kamuro" or "kaburo" in "Heike Monogatari"). According to this fiction, it is said that under the initiative of Taira no Kiyomori (or Taira no Tokitada), approximately 300 children aged 14 to 15 were gathered. Their hair was cut into "kamuro" style (a bobbed hairstyle), and they were dressed in red straight-hemmed garments. They were then secretly deployed throughout the city of Kyoto as a secret police force (spies).

Taira no Kiyomori was a samurai, court noble, and prominent figure who, in the late 12th century during the late Heian period, established the first warrior government in Japan. In 1185, the Taira clan was defeated and destroyed by Minamoto no Yoshitsune in the Battle of Dan-no-ura.

The kamuro, the secret police released in the streets of Kyoto, were said to "break into the homes of anyone speaking ill of the Taira clan, confiscate all their belongings, and capture the person who made the derogatory remarks, taking them to the Rokuhara," as the story goes. Therefore, people refrained from speaking out about any wrongdoings of the Taira clan, even if they witnessed or knew about them.

In this drama, the story unfolds with the incident where Usagi-maru, the pirate king who had bonded with the henchmen of Taira no Kiyomori, in a drunken stupor, let slip derogatory remarks about the Taira clan. He was discovered by the kamuro and subsequently killed. For Taira no Kiyomori, this turns out to be a storyline where the censorship he initiated comes back to haunt him as a "boomerang effect," leaving him vulnerable and deeply shaken as his own words come back to haunt him, ultimately leading to a profound impact on his life.