was a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
tist of
jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as
bunraku
(also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...
, and the live-actor drama,
kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
. The ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
'' has written that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatist".
His most famous plays deal with double-suicides of honor bound lovers. Of his puppet plays, around 70 are ''jidaimono'' (時代物) (historical romances) and 24 are ''sewamono'' (世話物) (domestic tragedies). The domestic plays are today considered the core of his artistic achievement, particularly works such as ''
The Courier for Hell
''The Courier for Hell'' or ''Courier of Hell'' (''Meido no hikyaku'' 冥途の飛脚) is a love-suicide play by the Japanese writer Chikamatsu Monzaemon, written in 1711. It follows a similar storyline to some of his other love-suicide plays, i ...
'' (1711) and ''
The Love Suicides at Amijima
''The Love Suicides at Amijima'' (''Shinjū Ten no Amijima'' or ''Shinjūten no Amijima'' 心中天網島) is a domestic play (''sewamono'') by Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Originally written for the ''bunraku'' puppet theatre, it wa ...
'' (1721). His histories are viewed less positively, though ''
The Battles of Coxinga
is a puppet play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. It was his most popular play. First staged on November 26, 1715, in Osaka, it ran for the next 17 months, far longer than the usual few weeks or months. Its enduring popularity can largely be attributed t ...
'' (1715) remains praised.
Biography
Chikamatsu was born Sugimori Nobumori
[.] to a
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
family. There is disagreement about his birthplace. The most popular theory
[.] suggests he was born in
Echizen Province
was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga, Wakasa, Hida, and Ōmi Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abbreviated form ...
, but there are other plausible locations, including
Hagi Hagi, Hadži, or Hadzhi (Хаджи) is a name derived from hajji, an honorific title given to a Muslim person who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca, which was later adopted by Christian peoples as a word for ''pilgrim''.
People Surname ...
,
Nagato Province
, often called , was a province of Japan. It was at the extreme western end of Honshū, in the area that is today Yamaguchi Prefecture. Nagato bordered on Iwami and Suō Provinces.
History
Although the ancient capital of the province was Shimono ...
. His father, Sugimori Nobuyoshi, served the ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
'' Matsudaira in Echizen as a medical doctor. Chikamatsu's younger brother became a medical doctor, and Chikamatsu himself wrote a book on health care.
In those days, doctors who served the ''daimyōs'' held samurai status. But Chikamatsu's father lost his office and became a ''
rōnin
A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's ...
'', a masterless samurai. At some point in his teens, between 1664 and 1670, Chikamatsu moved to Kyoto with his father
[.] where he served for a few years as an obscure page for a noble family, but other than that, little is known about this period of Chikamatsu's life. He published his first known literary work in this period, a
haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...
that appeared in 1671.
After serving as a page, he next appears in records of the
Gonshō-ji (近松寺) temple (long suggested as the origin of his pen name "Chikamatsu", which is
kun reading
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequent ...
of 近松) in
Ōmi Province
was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countrie ...
, in present-day
Shiga Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...
.
With the production in 1683 of his puppet play in Kyoto about the Soga brothers (''
The Soga Successors
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' or "The Soga Heir"; ''Yotsugi Soga''), Chikamatsu became known as a playwright. ''The Soga Successors'' is believed to have been Chikamatsu's first play although sometimes 15 earlier anonymous plays are contended to have been by Chikamatsu as well. Chikamatsu also wrote plays for the
kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
theatre between 1684 and 1695, most of which were intended to be performed by a famous actor of the day,
Sakata Tōjūrō refers to a family of kabuki actors in Kyoto and OsakaNussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sakata Tōjūrō''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File. and it is the ...
(1647–1709).
After 1695, and until 1705, Chikamatsu wrote almost exclusively Kabuki plays, and then he abruptly almost completely abandoned that genre. The exact reason is unknown, although speculation is rife: perhaps the puppets were more biddable and controllable than the ambitious kabuki actors, or perhaps Chikamatsu did not feel kabuki worth writing for since Tōjūrō was about to retire, or perhaps the growing popularity of the puppet theater was economically irresistible.
C. Andrew Gerstle argues that Chikamatsu's collaborations with various performers affected his development as a playwright. His collaborations with kabuki practitioners led to more realistic characters, while his later collaboration with Takeda Izumo led to a heightened theatricality.
In 1705, Chikamatsu became a "Staff Playwright" as announced by early editions of ''The Mirror of Craftsmen of the Emperor Yōmei''. In 1705 or 1706, Chikamatsu left Kyoto for Osaka, where the puppet theater was even more popular.
[.] Chikamatsu's popularity peaked with his domestic plays of love-suicides, and with the blockbuster success of ''
The Battles of Coxinga
is a puppet play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. It was his most popular play. First staged on November 26, 1715, in Osaka, it ran for the next 17 months, far longer than the usual few weeks or months. Its enduring popularity can largely be attributed t ...
'' in 1715, but thereafter the tastes of patrons turned to more sensational gore fests and otherwise more crude antics; Chikamatsu's plays would fall into disuse, so even the actual music would be lost for many plays. He died January 6, 1725, in either
Amagasaki
file:Amagasaki Castle Tenshu 20181125.jpg, 270px, Amagasaki Castle
file:Amagasaki city center area Aerial photograph.1985.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center
file:Amagasaki st03s3000.jpg, 270px, Amagasaki Station
is an industrial Citi ...
in
Hyōgo,
[Chikamatsu Monzaemon]
. 2006. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''. 12 November 2006. or
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
.
In 1706, he wrote a three-act puppet play entitled ''Goban Taiheiki'' ("A chronicle of great peace played on a chessboard"), based on the story of the
Forty-seven rōnin
The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is on ...
; this became the basis of the later and much better-known ''
Chūshingura is the title given to fictionalized accounts in Japanese literature, theater, and film that relate to the historical incident involving the forty-seven ''rōnin'' and their mission to avenge the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the ...
''.
Chikamatsu was the first known Japanese playwright who did not act in the pieces he wrote. Currently, 130 plays have been verified to have been authored by Chikamatsu, with another 15 plays (mostly early Kabuki works) suspected to also have been penned by him.
Quotations
* "Art is something that lies in the slender margin between the real and the unreal." — Chikamatsu Monzaemon, ''Naniwa Miyage''
Reception
Chikamatsu's ''bunraku'' (
''jōruri'') pieces, of which 24 are ''
sewamono
''Sewamono'' (世話物) is a genre of contemporary setting plays in Japanese traditional theatre. The term applies to both bunraku and kabuki. The genre is in contrast to "period setting plays" or jidaimono. Though the distinction between "histo ...
'' (domestic plays), came to be regarded as high literature in the
Meiji and
Taishō eras. Many have argued that his genius was “his masterful depiction of the passions, obsessions, and irrationality of the human heart.” While Chikamatsu's ''jidaimono'' (history plays) were considered more important in his own time, the domestic tragedies are now “the main focus of critical attention and the more frequently performed”, praised as deeply drawn in their portrayals of commoners. ''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'' (1703), one of the earliest domestic plays in puppet theater, was a hit that revived the fortunes of the Takemoto Theater in Osaka. While it is not considered as strong as his later play ''
The Love Suicides at Amijima
''The Love Suicides at Amijima'' (''Shinjū Ten no Amijima'' or ''Shinjūten no Amijima'' 心中天網島) is a domestic play (''sewamono'') by Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Originally written for the ''bunraku'' puppet theatre, it wa ...
'' (1721),
Donald Keene
Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japan ...
praised the death passage as “one of the loveliest passages in Japanese literature”. Also, it was written in ''Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900'' that ''The Drum of the Waves of Horikawa'' (1707) is “of considerable interest for its exploration of female sexuality and its implicit critique of the life of lower-level samurai”. Rei Sasaguchi listed the same play as one of Chikamatsu's most striking ''bunraku'' works along with ''The Couriers of Love to the Other World''.
''The Love Suicides at Amijima'' is generally regarded as the greatest of his domestic plays, though ''
The Courier for Hell
''The Courier for Hell'' or ''Courier of Hell'' (''Meido no hikyaku'' 冥途の飛脚) is a love-suicide play by the Japanese writer Chikamatsu Monzaemon, written in 1711. It follows a similar storyline to some of his other love-suicide plays, i ...
'' (1711), ''
The Uprooted Pine
''The Uprooted Pine'' (''Nebiki no Kadomatsu'') is a play by Chikamatsu. It is a ''sewamono'' play (based on a real incident) like ''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'', written for the puppet theater. It was first performed on 1 February 1718.
The t ...
'' (1718), and ''The Woman-Killer and the Hell of Oil'' (1721) have also been praised as works “of exceptional power”. The last of the three initially was not well-received, and acquired a high reputation only in the late 19th century. Robert Nichols wrote that ''The Almanac of Love'' (1715) is highly regarded. Kenneth P. Kirkwood argued that the work is somewhat thin in texture but “nevertheless reveals the playwright’s skill in making a dramatic plot out of the slightest materials.” In a review of Gerstle's ''Chikamatsu: Five Late Plays'', Katherine Saltzman-Li praised the "depth of character" achieved in ''Twins at the Sumida River'' (1720) through the various allusions.
[
The histories are mostly considered weaker, with Nichols writing that character in them tends to be subordinated to plot. ''The Battles of Coxinga'' (1715), however, ran for seventeen months and became the classical model for later history plays. It remains in the repertoires of both the ''bunraku'' and ''kabuki'' traditions, and Donald Keene referred to it as the only ''jidaimono'' “with real literary value”. ''Keisei hotoke no hara'' (1699) and ''Keisei mibu dainembutsu'' (1702) are among the most renowned kabuki plays, though Keene argued that even they are “inferior in every respect” to the ''jōruri'' works written around the same period. Nichols listed ''The Courtesan’s Frankincense'', ''The Tethered Steed'', and ''Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem-Cards'' as the best histories. Anne Walthall at ]UC Irvine
UC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two
** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme
* Universal Century, one of the ti ...
said that the "vivid portrayal of interpersonal relations and individual personality n ''Love Suicides on the Eve of the Kōshin Festival''
N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...
provides excellent evidence why Chikamatsu's domestic plays have become more popular than his historical dramas." "Devil’s Island", the second scene of the second act of ''Heike and the Island of Women'' (1719), became part of the kabuki repertory in the 19th century and today is usually performed in jōruri and kabuki as a single play.
Adaptations
Film adaptations
* Kenji Mizoguchi
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...
's black and white film Chikamatsu Monogatari (literally, 'a story from Chikamatsu' but given titles in French "Les amants crucifiées" and in English "The Crucified Lovers"] is a 1954 film based on a domestic lover-suicide play by Chikamatsu called Daikyōji Mukashi Goyomi (1715).
* Masahiro Shinoda
is a retired Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s.
Early life
Shinoda attended Waseda University, where he studied theater and also partici ...
's celebrated 1969 film, ''Shinjū: Ten no Amijima'' (billed in English as ''Double Suicide
is a 1969 film directed by Masahiro Shinoda. It is based on the 1721 play ''The Love Suicides at Amijima'' by Monzaemon Chikamatsu. This play is often performed with puppets. In the film, the story is performed with live actors but makes use ...
'') employs cinematic techniques based on bunraku
(also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...
conventions and takes as its basis Chikamatsu's play ''The Love Suicides at Amijima
''The Love Suicides at Amijima'' (''Shinjū Ten no Amijima'' or ''Shinjūten no Amijima'' 心中天網島) is a domestic play (''sewamono'') by Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Originally written for the ''bunraku'' puppet theatre, it wa ...
.''
* ''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'' (1978 film)
* ''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'' (1981 film)
Opera
* Japanese composer Mayako Kubo
Mayako Kubo (born 5 December 1947) is a Japanese pianist and composer.
Biography
Mayako Kubo was born in Kobe, Japan, and studied piano at Osaka College of Music. In 1972 she continued her studies in composition with Roman Haubenstock-Ramati a ...
's opera ''Osan'', an adaptation of '' Shinjū: Ten no Amijima'' that premiered at the New National Theatre Tokyo
The is Japan's first and foremost national centre for the performing arts, including opera, ballet, contemporary dance and drama. It is located in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Since 1997 more than 650 productions were staged. There are about 300 pe ...
in February 2005.
References in popular culture
Other
*In the fictional world of Naruto
''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
, the first ninja puppeteer is named Chikamatsu Monzaemon, a reference to Chikamatsu's puppet plays.
* In the ''Digimon
, short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise encompassing virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures, who inhabit a "Di ...
'' multimedia franchise, a puppet Digimon by the name of Monzaemon—an obvious homage to Chikamatsu—was one of the first characters in the original line of virtual pets.
Major works
Jōruri
* '' Kagekiyo Victorious'' (''Shusse kagekiyo'' 出世景清) (1685)
* ''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'' (曾根崎心中, ''Sonezaki Shinjū'') is a jōruri play by the Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The double suicides that occurred on May 22, 1703 inspired Chikamatsu to write this play and thus ''The ...
'' (''Sonezaki shinjū'' 曾根崎心中) (1703)
* ''The Night Song of Yosaku from Tamba
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
'' (''Tamba Yosaku machiyo no komurobushi'' 丹波与作待夜のこむろぶし)
* ''The Courier for Hell
''The Courier for Hell'' or ''Courier of Hell'' (''Meido no hikyaku'' 冥途の飛脚) is a love-suicide play by the Japanese writer Chikamatsu Monzaemon, written in 1711. It follows a similar storyline to some of his other love-suicide plays, i ...
'' (''Meido no hikyaku'' 冥途の飛脚) (1711)
*''The Almanac of Love'' (''Koi hakke hashiragoyomi'') (1715)
* ''The Battles of Coxinga
is a puppet play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. It was his most popular play. First staged on November 26, 1715, in Osaka, it ran for the next 17 months, far longer than the usual few weeks or months. Its enduring popularity can largely be attributed t ...
'' (''Kokusen'ya kassen'' 国姓爺合戦) (1715)
* ''The Uprooted Pine
''The Uprooted Pine'' (''Nebiki no Kadomatsu'') is a play by Chikamatsu. It is a ''sewamono'' play (based on a real incident) like ''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'', written for the puppet theater. It was first performed on 1 February 1718.
The t ...
'' (''Nebiki no Kadomatsu'' 寿の門松) (1718)
* ''The Love Suicides at Amijima
''The Love Suicides at Amijima'' (''Shinjū Ten no Amijima'' or ''Shinjūten no Amijima'' 心中天網島) is a domestic play (''sewamono'') by Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Originally written for the ''bunraku'' puppet theatre, it wa ...
'' (''Shinjū Ten no Amijima'' 心中天網島) (1721)
* '' The Woman-Killer and the Hell of Oil'' (''Onnagoroshi abura no jigoku'' 女殺油地獄) (1721)
Kabuki
* ''The Courtesan on Buddha Plain
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
(''Keisei hotoke no hara'' けいせい仏の原) (1699)
Critical work
* ''Naniwa Miyage'' (1738; written by a friend and preserving a number of statements by Chikamatsu on the art of the puppet theater)
Translations into English
* ''Major Plays of Chikamatsu'', translated and introduced by Donald Keene. NY: Columbia University Press. 1961/1990.
* ''Chikamatsu: Five Late Plays'', translated by C. Andrew Gerstle. 2001. Consists of:
** Twins at the Sumida River (Futago sumidagawa, 1720)
** Lovers Pond in Settsu Province (Tsu no kuni meoto-ike, 1721)
** Battles at Kawa-nakajima (Shinsh kawa-nakajima kassen, 1721)
** Love Suicides on the Eve of the Kishin Festival (Shinju yoigoshin, 1722)
** Tethered Steed and the Eight Provinces of Kanto (Kanhasshu tsunagi-uma, 1724)
See also
* Japanese literature
Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanes ...
* List of Japanese authors
This is an alphabetical list of writers who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language.
Writers are listed by the native order of Japanese names, family name followed by given name to ensure consistency although some ...
* Gagaku
is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794-1185) around t ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
Further reading
* ''Circles of Fantasy: Convention in the Plays of Chikamatsu'' by C. Andrew Gerstle. 1986 (a critical study of Chikamatsu's plays).
External links
"Chapter 4--Renaissance--CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON (1653-1725)"
"Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu"
English translation of ''The Tethered Steed'', translated by Asataro Miyamori and revised by Robert Nichols
{{Authority control
1653 births
1725 deaths
Bunraku
Kabuki playwrights
Japanese writers of the Edo period
17th-century Japanese dramatists and playwrights
18th-century Japanese dramatists and playwrights
17th-century male writers
18th-century male writers
Japanese male writers
Male dramatists and playwrights
17th-century pseudonymous writers
18th-century pseudonymous writers