Monzaemon Chikamatsu
A Japanese dramatist of Kabuki and Joruri, representing the Genroku culture. Sonezaki Shinju (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki) is one of his most important works.
Monzaemon Chikamatsu (1653-1724) was a Japanese dramatist of Kabuki and Joruri, representing the Genroku culture (a period during which the arts flourished). He was born the second son of a samurai in the feudal domain of Yoshie. After his father became a ronin (masterless samurai), the family moved to Kyoto where they served the aristocracy. While the exact date of the occurrence is unknown, Chikamatsu soon started training to be a dramatist under Kaganojo Uji at his theater, Uji-za. He later met Gidayu Takemoto there, with whom he established Gidayu-bushi Joruri (musical narrative style). He published his first known play, Yotsugi Soga (The Soga Successors) in 1683 when he was 31 years old. This play became very popular at the Uji-za Theater, and it was later played at the opening of Gidayu Takemoto’s Takemoto-za Theater. With Yotsugi Soga, Chikamatsu made a name for himself as a dramatist. Chikamatsu later joined Sakata Tojuro’s Kabuki theater, Miyako Mandayu-za, a well-known theater during the Genroku period. He worked as a staff playwright and honed his skills at creating kabuki plays. Making the most of the experience of playwriting in the Kabuki style, he produced the Joruri play Sonezaki Shinju (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki), which is one of his most important works. When the play led to a social phenomenon of love-suicides, the government banned ‘love-suicide plays’ in 1722 to prevent couples from committing suicide together.
After the launch of Sonezaki Shinju, Chikamatsu became a staff playwright at the Takemoto-za Theater and moved to Osaka. During his lifetime, Chikamatsu devoted himself to the prosperity of Joruri plays – he left 150 known works. (over 100 works for Joruri and over 30 works for Kabuki)
Related People, Things and Events
Books
本人の著作
伝記・評伝など
Related Works
Institutions Holding Related Materials
兵庫県尼崎市にある「近松門左衛門」の国指定史跡墓所がすぐそばにある。
External Links
近松門左衛門文楽作品の解説サイト。
References
- 和泉書院
- 河竹繁俊 著,吉川弘文館
- 集英社
