Shinju Ten no Amijima (Love Suicide of Amijima)

心中天網島~河庄・紙屋内

Shinju Ten no Amijima (Love Suicide of Amijima)

Overview

by Mizuochi Kiyoshi
Title

Shinju Ten no Amijima (Love Suicide of Amijima)

Writer Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Premiere

Bunraku: December 1720, Osaka

 

Kabuki: summer 1721, Edo

Overview

It is believed that the story was inspired by the joint suicide of the courtesan Kinokuniya Koharu and paper merchant Kamiya Jihei in a temple in Amijima, Osaka in October 1720, but the details are unknown. The suicide in the play features an affair between a courtesan and a man with wife and children, centering on the man’s sense of duty to his wife and the courtesan’s sense of compassion for the wife and relatives. It is considered the prolific Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s masterpiece.

 

●main graphic [from left]Kamiya Jihei(Nakamura Ganjiro)、Kinokuniya Koharu(Nakamura Jakuemon) October 2005 Kabukiza Theatre

 

●publication date November 2016