The Love Suicide at Amijima
A Study of a Japanese Domestic Tragedy by Chikamatsu Monzaemon

Donald H. Shively

Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991 [1953]; Pages: 173

Review © 2001 Branislav L. Slantchev

The classic study of the famous play by one of the most prominent Japanese playwrights has lost none of its appeal in the last half century. This monograph is divided in two parts, the first being a long introduction to the play, and the second a new translation of the original text supplemented with copious end notes. Originally published in 1953, the book is kept in print by the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Michigan.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725) is one of the best-known and most loved dramatists, who specialized in jôruri (puppet plays), which was the more serious medium of theatrical expression compared to kabuki. The LOVE SUICIDE AT AMIJIMA is one of his enduring domestic plays, or sewamono, which are almost entirely his invention. These plays deal with the everyday life of the chônin (townspeople of Osaka), and usually depict a conflict between an affair of the heart (illicit affair, love for prostitute) and the requirements of duty (obligations derived from the social system), frequently attended by financial difficulties. The present play shares all of these trappings.

Jihei, a paper merchant, is married to Osan, his niece, and has two young children. He has fallen hopelessly in love with Koharu, a prostitute in the Gay Quarter. They have vowed eternal love but because he is unable to redeem her, have been promising each other to commit suicide at the first available opportunity. Osan, fearing exactly this, writes a letter to Koharu in secret imploring her to sever her relationship with Jihei and thus save his life. The giri (sense of duty) to a fellow woman compels Koharu to discharge her obligation and she pretends to disavow her promise. The distraught Jihei renounces their love and returns home. When his wealthy rival in love, Tahei, buys Koharu off, Jihei faces a public humiliation that he cannot bear. At the same time Osan realizes that Koharu will commit suicide rather than go off with Tahei because she is not unfaithful (as Jihei thinks) but has been prevented from killing herself only by Osan's plea, which will no longer bind her. Osan, the epitome of the faithful wife, urges Jihei to pawn their last clothes and buy Koharu off to save both her life and his dignity. At this moment, Gonzaemon, Jihei's father-in-law appears and forcefully takes Osan away, ending the marriage. Jihei and Koharu manage to slip away at night, journey (michiyuki) along the bridges to the Amijima, and commit suicide.

The story has been masterfully translated to the screen by Shinoda Masahiro in his 1969 DOUBLE SUICIDE. It is a fairly faithful rendition of the play and is the definitive statement, which combines elements of bunraku and modern cinematography. Very stylized and subtle, it retains all the tragic qualities of the play but manages to makes them more effective through the skillful exploitation of the medium.

Sively's study is very thorough. He begins by outlining the history of jôruri and its relationship to kabuki and nô (the classical serious theater). The fascinating analysis is intertwined with an introduction to the gay quarters of Osaka circa 1720, which provides the background necessary to fully appreciate the play. He then discusses the style of the play and one gathers the unpleasant sense that the English translation will be a pale imitation of the original (a foreboding confirmed by the extensive notes, which list allusions, puns, references, double meanings, all lost in the translation). The subject matter is also elucidated in the introduction, which is very useful to Western readers, especially ones not familiar with the Japanese customs of the time.

July 13, 2001. BLS

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@BOOK{shively-53:suicide,
    TITLE     = {The Love Suicide at Amijima:
                 A Study of a Japanese Domestic Tragedy by Chikamatsu Monzaemon},
    AUTHOR    = {Donald H. Shively},
    YEAR      = {1991 [1953]},
    PUBLISHER = {The University of Michigan},
    ADDRESS   = {Ann Arbor},
    SERIES    = {Michigan Classics in Japanese Studies, No. 5}
    ISBN      = {0-939512-51-3 (pbk.)},
    NOTE      = {Pp. 173, index}
}