Chikamatsu MonzaemonA man of culture who supported Edo's Kabuki and Joruri culture

The Edo period also became a time of peace after the time of the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, and emphasis shifted from the previous culture that valued military power to an entertainment culture that the common people could enjoy. Among these, Kabuki, Bunraku puppet theater (present-day Bunraku), and Noh theater flourished.

While actors were highly praised, one of the artists who became popular was the ukiyo-e artist, or artist of the works he painted. This time, we will introduce his life.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon's origins and real name

In fact, his real name was Sugimori Nobumori. He was also known by other names such as Heiando, Sorinshi, and Fuisanjin, but in this article we will refer to him as Chikamatsu Monzaemon.
The origin of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's name "Chikamatsu" is not clear.

One theory is that it is due to a connection to a temple called "Chikamatsu-ji." One theory that comes from the Chikamatsu-ji temple in Otsu, Omi Province, is that "...he first served in the Dojo clan's upper chambers, and later visited Chikamatsu-ji temple in Omi, so he was given this surname."

Also, "... a man from Echizen, when he was young, he studied at Chikamatsu-ji Temple in Karatsu, Hizen, and later lived in Kyoshi" suggests that the name originates from Chikamatsu-ji Temple in Karatsu, Hizen Province. Furthermore, "Gizairoku" states, "A young monk, Kogan, of Chikamatsu Zen Temple in Karatsu, Hizen, became a resident monk due to his great learning, and changed his name to Gimon... His brother, Okamoto Ippo, a great Confucian physician, lived in Kyoto, so he stayed there and returned to secular life and served in the Dojo..." This indicates that Chikamatsu Monzaemon was originally a monk, but later returned to secular life and served a nobleman. There is also a story that "Chikamatsu" was his mother's surname (Chikamatsu Shun'yakuken, "Chikamatsu Monzaemon Den").

However, all of these theories date back 50 to 100 years after the death of Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Rather, it is said that they are legends that were added later because the two share the same name, Chikamatsu.

From birth to adulthood

Chikamatsu Monzaemon was born as the second son of Sugimori Nobuyoshi, a samurai in Echizen Province (present-day Fukui Prefecture). His mother was Yoshiri, the daughter of Okamoto Tamechiku Hogen, who was the personal physician to Matsudaira Tadamasa and was from a family of doctors.

His childhood name was Jirokichi, and after coming of age he was called Nobumori. He had two brothers, Tomoyoshi and Itsune, who shared the same mother.
There have been various theories about his birthplace, including Karatsu in Hizen Province, Yamashiro Province, and Hagi in Nagato Province, but the current theory that it was Echizen Province has been established.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon's father, Sugimori Nobuyoshi, served Matsudaira Tadamasa, the third lord of the Fukui domain, and after Tadamasa's death, he served his son Matsudaira Masachika, who was given the Yoshie domain (present-day Sabae city) as a divisional domain.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon was born in 1653, but Masachika entered Yoshie in 1655. It is believed that Masachika and his vassals lived in Fukui before moving to Yoshie, and Chikamatsu Monzaemon, the son of Nobuyoshi who served Masachika, is also said to have been born in Fukui City.

However, research into documents relating to the Fukui domain from that time has revealed that Masachika had been living in Edo since 1646, and that his vassals had already moved to Yoshie and were carrying out duties related to the domain's administration before Masachika, the lord of the domain, moved to Yoshie. This has led to the view that Nobuyoshi and other vassals were also living in Yoshie from this period, and that Chikamatsu Monzaemon was born in Yoshie, i.e. in Sabae City.

Moved to Kyoto after coming of age

After the 4th year of the Kanbun era (1664), my father, Nobuyoshi, left the Yoshie domain and became a ronin (masterless samurai). After leaving Echizen Province, he moved to Kyoto.

The reason why his father, Nobuyoshi, left the domain is not clear.
The details of what happened to Chikamatsu Monzaemon during this period are not known, but Yamaoka Genchin's "Treasure House" (published in 1671) contains a haiku that Chikamatsu Monzaemon composed along with his parents and others, titled "White clouds and the shameless mountains."

In the death essay that Chikamatsu Monzaemon wrote in his later years, he wrote, "Though I was born into a family of armor for generations, I left the martial arts world and served Sankaikyu-kyo for a few years," and it is believed that he lived in Kyoto in his youth and lived in service to a high-ranking nobleman. It is believed that the knowledge and culture he gained while serving the nobleman in Kyoto was of great use to him when he later wrote the scripts for Joruri.

At the very least, it does not appear that they were living in poverty, so the prevailing theory is that it is natural to assume that they acquired a variety of the latest cultural and cultural knowledge in Kyoto.

Active as a composer of Joruri and Kabuki plays

Having left the life of serving the nobility, Chikamatsu Monzaemon began writing Joruri under the tutelage of Uji Katayu (later Uji Kagajo), a Joruri storyteller who was highly acclaimed in Kyoto at the time.

The details of what prompted this are also unknown, but according to the account in "Okinagusa" (written by Kamizawa Moriguchi, an essayist, historian and haiku poet from the mid-Edo period), when Chikamatsu Monzaemon was serving the nobleman Masagimachi Kinmichi, he went to Uji Kaga no Jo on Kinmichi's messenger, which led to him starting to write joruri.

Kaga no Jō established a puppet theater troupe in Shijō, Kyoto in 1675, where he performed Jōruri. It is not clear when Chikamatsu Monzaemon began writing Jōruri for Kaga no Jō.

It was customary at the time not to make the names of the composers of Joruri and Kabuki plays public. During this time, his elder brother Tomoyoshi and younger brother Ikue were employed by the Uda Matsuyama Domain in Yamato Province. Ikue was adopted by the Hirai family, who were doctors at the domain, and later changed his name to Ippo Okamoto (Tametake).

In 1683, the third year of the Tenwa era, "Yotsugisoga," a play depicting the aftermath of the Soga brothers' revenge, was performed by Kaga no Jo troupe. The following year, Takemoto Gidayu, a disciple of Kaga no Jo, became the zamoto (show manager) and founded the Takemotoza in Dotonbori, Osaka, where he performed "Yotsugisoga," earning a great reputation.

Although there is no author's name in "Yotsugu Soga," there is no doubt that it was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, based on the description in the preface to "Ougagasoma," a collection of excerpts from Joruri performed by Gidayu.

From then on, Gidayu began to recite Joruri written by Chikamatsu at the Takemotoza Theatre, and the play "Isse Kagekiyo" written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, which was performed at the Takemotoza Theatre in 1685, is said to be the beginning of early modern Joruri.

In 1686, the third year of the Jokyo era, the name "Chikamatsu Monzaemon" was first used as the author in the play "Sasaki Daikan" performed at the Takemotoza Theatre.
In 1692, at the age of 40, he married the daughter of Matsuya, a merchant in Osaka (although it is said that this was not his second marriage; not much is known about his first marriage), and they had one daughter and one son.

One of the sons, called Tamon, became an artist. From 1693 (Genroku 6), Chikamatsu became a kabuki playwright and worked at the Mandayuza Theatre in Kyoto, writing the scripts for plays starring Sakata Tojuro. After about ten years, he returned to joruri, and the ideas of kabuki that he had learned as a kabuki playwright were incorporated into his joruri works.

In 1703, they performed "The Love Suicides at Sonezaki". In 1705, Gidayu Takemoto Chikugonojo handed over his position as head of the troupe to the first Takeda Izumo, who performed "Yomei Tenno Shokunin Kagami" in the Kaomise performance. At this time, Chikamatsu Monzaemon became the resident playwright for the Takemoto troupe, and moved to Osaka to concentrate on writing joruri.

In 1714, Chikugonojo passed away, but Chikamatsu Monzaemon continued to write joruri for the Takemotoza Theatre. In 1715, "Kokusenya Kassen" became a huge hit, running for 17 months from the first performance.

Old age and death

In 1716, his mother, Kiritaka, passed away. In the same year, he joined the group that rebuilt Kosai-ji Temple in Kukuchi Village, Kawabe County, Settsu Province. In his later years, Chikamatsu Monzaemon became ill and revised the joruri works written by the first Izumo and Matsuda Kazuyoshi (later Bunkodo). In 1717, he died in November after completing his final work, "Kanhasshu Tsunagiuma." He was 72 years old at the time of death, and was given the posthumous Buddhist name Ano Mokuiichi Gusoku Koji.

His death poems are, "So these are my death poems, if only the cherry blossoms that remain would still bloom and smell sweet," and "It is foolish to think that they will remain, so I write these on the rotten wood while the buried fire remains."
His grave is located at the site of Homyo-ji Temple, Tanimachi 8-chome, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture.

When the Tanimachi-suji road was expanded, the entire Homyo-ji temple cemetery was relocated to Terakawa, Daito City, Osaka Prefecture, but Chikamatsu's grave remained in the original location. A replica was also built at the new location as a memorial tomb. He also has a grave at Kosai-ji temple and a memorial monument at Tokyo Hosho-ji temple.

The anniversary of his death, November 22nd, is called Chikamatsu-ki, Surin-ko-ki, or Surin-ki, and is a winter seasonal word.

A contemporary rival of Chikamatsu Monzaemon

Chikamatsu Monzaemon's rivals included Ki Kaion and Takemoto Gidayu.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon and Ki Kaion are both representative joruri composers of the Edo period, and created joruri for a new era. Chikamatsu Monzaemon's masterpiece, "Isse Kagekiyo," is known for setting a new standard for contemporary joruri, distinguishing it from previous joruri.

Takemoto Gidayū was also a close friend of Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and when he was struggling to compete with his rival, he asked Chikamatsu to write a script for him. Based on an idea proposed by Takemoto Gidayū, Chikamatsu Monzaemon wrote "The Love Suicides at Sonezaki," which became a huge hit.

Currently, there are about 90 historical plays and 24 domestic plays that are considered to be the work of Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and about 40 Kabuki plays are recognized.

Sewamono are plays that deal with themes of obligation and human feelings in townspeople's society, and the most popular at the time were period pieces, with plays such as "The Love Suicides at Sonezaki" not being performed again until the Showa era.

During the same period, Ki Kaion also wrote a love suicide joruri based on the same subject as Chikamatsu Monzaemon, which inspired love suicides at the time, and in 1723, the Edo Shogunate completely banned the performance of stories about love suicides.

"Shusse Kagekiyo" - the beginning of early modern Joruri

"Shuse Kagekiyo" is a puppet theater piece written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, which premiered at the Takemotoza Theater in Osaka in 1685. It is a period piece consisting of five acts. It was later adapted into a Kabuki play.

Based on the Kōwakamai dance "Kagekiyo", it depicts the suffering of Akushichibei Kagekiyo, who survives after the downfall of the Heike clan and tries to defeat Minamoto no Yoritomo. It was also the first work written for Takemoto Gidayū by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who had previously provided works for Uji Kaga-no-jō.

In 1685, the second year of the Jokyo era, Takemoto Gidayu from Osaka and Kaga no Jō from Kyoto performed together at Dotonbori in Osaka. While Ihara Saikaku wrote two works, "Rekishi" and "Kaijin Yashima," for Kaga no Jō, there is a record that Gidayu countered with "Kenjo no Te-Haru and Shin-Rekishi" and Chikamatsu's new work "Shusse Kagekiyo."

Kagekiyo was a major subject that had been featured in "The Tale of the Heike," Noh theater, and Kōwakamai dance, but Chikamatsu Monzaemon is highly acclaimed for taking the tragic conflict from the story and turning it into a drama rich in humanity.
This work is also considered to be a groundbreaking work that marks the beginning of Gidayu-bushi, and it came to be distinguished from previous joruri, which was called "Kojoruri" and from which it was called "Toryu joruri."

His masterpiece, "The Love Suicides at Sonezaki"

"The Love Suicides at Sonezaki" is a type of sewamono joruri (a modern drama joruri from the Edo period). It is a one-act puppet joruri that premiered at the Takemotoza Theater in 1703 (16th year of the Genroku era). It was later adapted into a kabuki play. It is the story of a young couple who commit suicide together, and there is still a shrine called "Ohatsu Tenjin" in Osaka today.

The final section of the famous journey begins with, "Remains of this world. Remains of the night. Liken our dying bodies to the frost on the road to Adashigahara," and ends with, "They have become an example of love that has no doubt of attaining enlightenment in the future," portraying Ohatsu and Tokubei as beautiful people who risked their lives to fulfill their love.

In Osaka, there is the Ohatsutenjin shopping district, where there is a monument decorated with illustrations of the couple who committed suicide. Although Ohatsutenjin may not have a very good image due to the tragic love affair that took place there, it is highly popular as a spot for finding love.

Also, since it is located between a business district and a bar district, commuters and others often cross the temple grounds, making it a busy place with people coming and going at any time of the day or night.