''Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu'' is a collection of four major dramas by the famous Japanese playwright
Chikamatsu Monzaemon
was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' has written that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatis ...
. The four plays were first translated by
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 ...
in 1961, and have appeared in various collections and books over the years; ''Four Major Plays'' contains a Preface, an Introduction, and two appendices in addition, and is published by Columbia University Press.
The Preface gives a more popular account of matters, mentioning that Keene's translations of the plays have actually been performed; the lengthy introduction gives a brief biographical sketch of Chikamatsu and a discussion of various literary features and other background useful for understanding Chikamatsu's plays.
Contents
Plays
*''
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'')
*''
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 ...
'' (''Kokusenya Kassen'')
*''
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'')
*''
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'')
Appendices
The two appendices are:
*A Note on Prostitution in Chikamatsu's Plays
*Contemporary Puppet Performances of Chikamatsu's Plays
Chikamatsu, Major Plays
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