Monzaemon Chikamatsu (1653–1724,) sometimes referred to as the “Japanese Shakespeare,” is arguably Japan’s greatest dramatist. He wrote about 100 puppet theater and kabuki stage plays, most of which have survived only in summary form. His plays are infused with the teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism.
Born Sugimori Nobumori in Fukui, Chikamatsu was the son of top-ranking samurai. The testimony of his plays and his familiarity with not only Chinese philosophical writings but also Japanese Buddhist texts suggest that he received a good education, perhaps by priests at a temple from which he took his nom de plume, Chikamatsu. His experience in 17th-century Japan’s three foremost, non-peasant social ranks—samurai, nobility, and merchants—gave him a wide-ranging view of the highly stratified Japan society.
Chikamatsu is best known for tragedies such as Kokusenyā Kassen (The Battles of Coxinga, 1715) and Shinjū ten no Amijima (Love Suicides at Amijima, 1721) that portray ordinary Japanese middle-class men and women. In Chikamatsu’s plays, natural human emotions keep the characters animated as their human passions digress from the rational principles and ethics that serve as the society’s foundation. His plays reflect on human weakness and the need for sustaining dignity in the face of crisis.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Monzaemon Chikamatsu
Art is something that lies in the slender margin between the real and the unreal.
—Monzaemon Chikamatsu
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