''The Love Suicides at Amijima'' (''Shinjū Ten no Amijima'' or ''Shinjūten no Amijima'' 心中天網島) is a domestic play (''

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 ...

'') by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese 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 ...

. Originally written for the ''

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 ...

'' puppet theatre, it was adapted into

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 ...

shortly after its premiere on 3 January 1721. It is widely regarded as one of his greatest domestic plays and was hailed 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 ...

as “Chikamatsu’s masterpiece”.

Adaptations

The Japanese new wave filmmaker

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 ...

directed a stylized adaptation of the story 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 ...

'' in 1969. Milwaukee, WI-based Dale Gutzman (book, lyrics) and Todd Wellman (score) debuted the musical adaption ''AmijimA'' in 2007. Listen to th
WUWM interview
with the creative team. The Australian National University's

Za Kabuki Za Kabuki ( ja, ザ歌舞伎), founded in 1976 at the Australian National University, is the longest running Kabuki troupe outside Japan. Directed by Shun Ikeda of the ANU Japan Centre, with a cast and crew consisting mainly of ANU Japanese stud ...

performed a version of the play in 2005, directed by Mr. Shun Ikeda.

References

* pg 170–208 of ''

Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu ''Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu'' is a collection of four major dramas by the famous Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The four plays were first translated by Donald Keene in 1961, and have appeared in various collections and books over t ...

'' * Chikamatsu Monzaemon, ''The Love Suicides at Amijima'', in Haruo Shirane, ed., ''Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600–1900'' (Columbia University Press, 2002), pp. 313–47. .

External links

The Love Suicide at Amijima: A Study of a Japanese Domestic Tragedy by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
of manuscript at

Waseda University Library The collections of Waseda University Library (早稲田大学図書館; ''Waseda Daigaku Toshokan'') form one of the largest libraries in Japan. Established in 1882, they currently hold some 5.6 million volumes and 46,000 serials. History The W ...

Kabuki plays Bunraku plays 1721 plays Edo-period works Japanese plays adapted into films Buddhist plays {{1720s-play-stub

Adaptations

References

Further reading

External links