Statue of Chikamatsu Monzaemon at Amagasaki, Hyogo

Chikamatsu Monzaemon (Japanese: 近松門左衛門; real name Sugimori Nobumori, 杉森信盛, 1653–6 January 1725) 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. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Amagasaki (尼崎市; -shi) is a city located in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. ... Events February 2 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 359 days (360 in leap years) remaining. ... Events February 8 - Catherine I became empress of Russia February 20 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Jōruri is a type of sung narrative with shamisen accompaniment, typically found in Bunraku, a traditional Japanese puppet theatre. ... Bunraku (Japanese: 文楽), also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684. ... The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ...

Chikamatsu is known as the "Japanese Shakespeare" for his assortment of plays staged by puppets in the early era of bunraku stage plays and for the greatest of his work: Encyclopedia Britannica writes that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatist."^[1] He wrote plays mainly for theaters in Kyoto or Osaka, most of them notable for their double-suicides. Shakespeare redirects here. ... 1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt — look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelled with æ, the ae-ligature) was first published in 1768–1771 as The Britannica was an important early English-language general encyclopedia and is still... Kyoto )   is a city in the central part of the island of HonshÅ«, Japan. ... Osaka )   is the capital of Osaka Prefecture and the third-largest[1] city in Japan, with a population of almost 2. ...

Biography

Chikamatsu was born "Sugimori Nobumori"^[2] to a samurai family. There is disagreement about his birthplace. The most popular theory^[3] suggests he was born in Echizen province, but there are other plausible locations, including Hagi, Nagato province. His father, Sugimori Nobuyoshi, served the daimyo Matsudaira in Echizen as a medical doctor. Chikamatsu's younger brother became a medical doctor, and Chikamatsu himself wrote a book on health care. Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. ... Echizen (越前国; -no kuni) was an old province of Japan, which is today the northern part of Fukui prefecture. ... Hagi (萩市; -shi) is a city located in Yamaguchi, Japan and was founded on July 1, 1932. ... Nagato (Japanese: 長門国, Nagato no kuni), often called Choshu (é•·å·ž, ChōshÅ«), was a province of Japan. ... Daimyo Matsudaira Katamori visits the residence of a retainer. ...

Tomb of Chikamatsu at Kousai Temple

In those days, doctors who served the daimyos held samurai status. But Chikamatsu's father lost his office and became a ronin, or masterless samurai. At some point in his teens, between 1664 and 1670, Chikamatsu moved to Kyoto with his father^[4] where he served for a few years as an obscure page for a noble family, but other than that, little is know about this period of Chikamatsu's life. He published his first known literary work in this period, a haiku that appeared in 1671.^[4] After serving as a page, he next appears in records of the Chikamatsu Temple (long suggested as the origin of his stage name "Chikamatsu") in Omi Province, in present-day Shiga Prefecture. Download high resolution version (502x793, 77 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (502x793, 77 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Graves of 47 Ronin at Sengakuji For other uses, see Ronin (disambiguation). ... Haiku )   is a mode of Japanese poetry, the late 19th century revision by Masaoka Shiki of the older hokku ), the opening verse of a linked verse form, haikai no renga. ... Categories: Japan geography stubs | Old provinces of Japan ...

With the production in 1683 of his puppet play in Kyoto about the Soga brothers, (The Soga Successors 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 theatre between 1684 and 1695, most of which were intended to be performed by a famous actor of the day, Sakata Tōjūrō (b. 1647, d. 1709).^[2] 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. The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ...

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,^[5] Chikamatsu left Kyoto for Osaka, where the puppet theater was even more popular.^[6] Chikamatsu's popularity peaked with his domestic plays of love-suicides, and with the blockbuster success of The Battles of Coxinga 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, Hyogo^[1] or Osaka. The Battles of Coxinga (Kokusenya Kassen) is a puppet play by Chikamatsu. ... Amagasaki (尼崎市; -shi) is a city located in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. ... Osaka )   is the capital of Osaka Prefecture and the third-largest[1] city in Japan, with a population of almost 2. ...

Chikamatsu was the first known Japanese playwright to not also act in the pieces he wrote.^{[citation needed]} Throughout his life it is thought that Chikamatsu wrote a total of around 130 plays.

Major works

Jōruri

• The Soga Successors or "The Soga Heir" (Yotsugi Soga) (1683)
• Kagekiyo Victorious (Shusse kagekiyo 出世景清) (1685)
• The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Sonezaki no shinjū 曾根崎心中) (1703)
• The Night Song of Yosaku from Tamba (Tamba Yosaku machiyo no komurobushi 丹波与作待夜のこむろぶし)
• The Courier for Hell (Meido no hikyaku 冥途の飛脚) (1711)
• The Battles of Coxinga (Kokusen'ya kassen 国性爺合戦) (1715)
• The Uprooted Pine (Nebiki no Kadomatsu) (1718)
• The Love Suicides at Amijima (Shinjūten no Amijima 心中天網島) (1720)
• The Woman-Killer and the Hell of Oil (Onnagoroshi abura no jigoku 女殺油地獄) (1721)

Ohatsu and Tokubei The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Sonezaki Shinjū) is a play by Chikamatsu. ... The Battles of Coxinga (Kokusenya Kassen) is a puppet play by Chikamatsu. ... The Uprooted Pine (Nebiki no Kadomatsu) is a play by Chikamatsu. ... 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. ...

Kabuki

• The Courtesan on Buddha Plain[1] (Keisei hotoke no hara けいせい仏の原) (1699)

Critical work

• Naniwa miyage (1738; written by a friend & preserves a number of statements by Chikamatsu on the art of the puppet theater)

Quotes

• "Art is something that lies in the slender margin between the real and the unreal." -Namba miyage^[1]

References in Popular Culture

• In the fictional world of Naruto, the first ninja pupeteer is named Chikamatsu Monzaemon, a reference to Monzaemon's puppet plays.
• A Digimon is named Monzaemon in the anime series Digimon. The reference is unclear.
• Masahiro Shinoda's celebrated 1969 film, Shinjû: Ten no amijima (billed in English as Double Suicide) employs cinematic techniques based on Bunraku conventions and takes its basis in a Chikamatsu play.

Masahiro Shinoda (篠田正浩 Shinoda Masahiro, born 9 March 1931 in Gifu, Japan) is a Japanese film director. ...

See also

• Japanese literature
• List of Japanese authors
• Gagaku

Japanese literature spans a period of almost two millennia. ... This is an alphabetical list of authors who are Japanese, or are famous for having written in the Japanese language. ... Gagaku (雅楽, literally elegant enjoyment) is a type of Japanese classical music that has been performed at the Imperial court for several centuries. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Chikamatsu Monzaemon." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 12 November 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b} pg 4, Introduction of Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu
3. ^ pg. 12-15 of Chikamatsu Monzaemon by Mori Shū.
4. ^ ^{a b} pg 3, Introduction of Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu
5. ^ The Encyclopedia Britannica states that "he moved in 1705 from Kyoto to Osaka to be nearer to Gidayu's puppet theatre, the Takemoto-za. Chikamatsu remained a staff playwright for this theatre until his death." although Keene states he moved in 1706.
6. ^ pg 4-6, Introduction 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. ... Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu is a collection of four major dramas by the famous Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. ... Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu is a collection of four major dramas by the famous Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. ...

Further reading

• Chikamatsu: Five Late Plays, translated by C. Andrew Gerstle. 2001.
• 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"