Major Plays of Chikamatsu

by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Donald Keene (Translator)

Major Plays of Chikamatsu gives Western readers a fascinating look at seventeenth-century Japanese culture. Like other playwrights before him, Chikamatsu created characters who are members of a society driven by its mores. However, unlike those of other playwrights of the period, Chikamatsu's characters have multidimensional personalities and unconventional voices, making his art more realistic and complex.

Includes The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Sonezaki Shinjū), The Drum of the Waves of Horikawa (Horikawa Nami no Tsuzumi), Yosaku from Tamba (Tamba Yosaku), The Love Suicides in the Womens Temple (Shinjū Mannensō), The Courier for Hell (Meido no Hikyaku), Gonza the Lancer (Yari no Gonza), The Uprooted Pine (Nebiki no Kadomatsu), The Girl from Hakata or Love at Sea (Hakata Kojorō Namimakura),
The Love Suicides at Amijima (Shinjū Ten no Amijima), The Battles of Coxinga (Kokusenya Kassen), The Woman-Killer and the Hell of Oil (Onnagoroshi Abura Jigoku)

Genres: Plays, Japan, Japanese Literature, Theatre

485 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 1961

About the author

Born in Japan in 1653 with the name of "Sugimore Nobumori", Chikamatsu Monzaemon was to become perhaps the greatest dramatist in the history of the Japanese theatre.
Chikamatsu is said to have written over one hundred plays, most of which were written for the bunraku or puppet theatre. His works combine comedy and tragedy, poetry and prose, and present scenes of combat, torture, and suicide on stage. Most of Chikamatsu's domestic tragedies are based an actual events. His Sonezaki shinju (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki), for example, was based on reports of an actual double suicide of the apprentice clerk and his lover.
But he wrote some famous historical plays, too.

In 1705, Chikamatsu moved to Osaka where he became a writer for Takemoto Gidayu's puppet theatre and remained here until his death in 1725.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of these plays years ago, and you can see my general thoughts on Chikamatsu here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Here are my thoughts I re-read them:

The Battles of Coxinga *** -- In many of the jōruri/kabuki plays of Japan, one of the most difficult things for westerners to understand are the suicides – many, if not most, simply for the sake of appearance. In this play for example, the cavalry general Kanki says he must kill his wife because it must not appear that he’s helping the true emperor simply because of this wife. When he’s (thankfully stopped), he then says he can’t help the emperor. So, his wife kills herself. Problem solved.

Coxinga’s mother kills herself because … uh … something about dishonoring Japan. I didn’t quite follow that one. It’s a very complicated code similar to the honor plays of the Spanish Golden Age and the tales of the knights of chivalry. Trying to keep track of the unwritten rules of honor is difficult.

Once you get past those elements, the play is sweeping in scope. The narrated story allows the play to do more and show more than traditional theater makes possible. I particularly liked act 4 scene 3 in which two ancients play the game of Go as a metaphor for the political fortunes of the world. That is done very well and it would be a fascinating scene to see performed.

For drama lovers, this is probably a must read as Chikamatsu’s most famous and highly valued history plays.

[Graham]

I read the intro (great and informative), plus The Love Suicides at Sonezaki and The Courier for Hell. I plan on reading more one day in the future. Its hard to read play after play, though, as they're all pretty depressing. Hence my indefinite break. They are good, though! And I will eventually return!

[Antonia Chiruţa]

Mesagerul Iadului. Acum vreau sa mai citesc de la el si alte piese.