93
See also: First Folio 82–89 ■ The Well Cradle 102 ■ The Temple of the Golden
Pavilion 263K
abuki and Bunraku are
both forms of traditional
Japanese theater that
originated in the 17th century.
Kabuki dealt with ribald material
and was performed by wandering
troupes of women who were often
available as prostitutes. Bunraku is
a form of puppet theater, in which
each puppet has a lead puppeteer
who moves the right hand, another
the left, and a third the legs and
feet. The three men remain in full
view of the audience, although they
are often dressed in black. There
is usually a single chanter, who
portrays different characters by
changing his pitch.Japan’s national bard
The greatest dramatist in either of
these forms remains Chikamatsu
Monzaemon (1653–1725). He was
born into the samurai class but
chose instead to write drama,
and in time became Japan’s most
famous playwright. His work often
features individuals caught in
a conflict between ethical and
personal demands.Produced as Bunraku and adapted
for Kabuki, Chikamatsu’s play The
Love Suicides at Sonezaki is his
masterpiece; it was written within
two weeks of the real event it was
based on—that of a young couple
who took their lives in a forest.
In his play, Chikamatsu created
two characters who, like William
Shakespeare’s star-crossed couple
Romeo and Juliet, have become
synonymous with the theme
of ill-fated lovers. Tokubei
is a young man whose family
has received a dowry, but he
refuses to marry the chosen
bride because he loves Ohatsu,
a prostitute. A rival for her favors
threatens to frame him as a thief.
Unable to do his duty to his family,
Tokubei can neither redeem
his honor, nor have a future with
Ohatsu, and so the two decide to
make a death pact. The play and
similar ones provoked a spate of
copycat lovers’ suicides, leading to
a ban on the genre for a period after- However, the play’s language
is considered to be some of the most
beautiful in Japanese literature. ■
RENAISSANCE TO ENLIGHTENMENT
NONE WILL HINDER
AND NONE BE HINDERED
ON THE JOURNEY TO THE
MOUNTAIN OF DEATH
THE LOVE SUICIDES AT SONEZAKI (1703),
CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON
IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Kabuki and BunrakuBEFORE
c.1603 Kabuki drama—an
unruly theatrical form that
blends song, dance, action,
and mime—originates with
a female dancer named Okuni,
an attendant at the Shinto
shrine of Izumo.c.1680 Bunraku develops as a
form of musical puppet theater
in which half-life-sized puppets
act out a chanted romantic
narrative called j oˉ r u r i.AFTER
1748 Chuˉ shingura, or The Tale
of the 47 Ronin, by Takedo
Imuzo, Namiki Sosuke, and
Miyoshi Shoraku, is performed.
Composed as Bunraku and
adapted into a Kabuki, it is the
closest rival to Chikamatsu’s
work for popularity.1963 Osaka’s Bunraku
Association rescues the joˉruri
theatrical form from decline.US_092-093_Road_Suicides.indd 93 08/10/2015 13:04