Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, whose real name was Sugimori Nobumori, was born into a minor samurai family in Nagato province. He was at first a monk, then returned to secular life and established himself at Osaka. Starting at around age 30, he would become one of Japan's most prolific and beloved playwrights, composing as many as 160 plays for the Kabuki and Bunraku (puppet) theatres. Many of his pieces were historically based and as many were on contemporary subjects that appealed to the common people. One of his favored devices was the tragic love between either a samurai or a townsman and a courtesan. In most of his plays, he presented a moral dilemma - the hero was presented with the conflict of duty (giri) and emotion (ninjô) - of what society expected and with what the hero felt in his heart. Among his most famous works were the shinjû, or "love-suicide" plays. It may be that part of his ability came from the demands of writing for the Bunraku - he once commented that writing for that stage required him to make his dialogue as compelling and vivid as possible, given that, after all, the audience was looking at simple puppets.
References
- Initial text from Samurai-Archives.com FWSeal & CEWest, 2005
