Online dictionary of history and traditions in Japan: Chikamatsu Monzaemon

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French version

Chikamatsu Monzaemon

近松門左衛門
alternative words: Monzaemon Chikamatsu
keywords: famous person , kabuki , theater , writer
related topics: Edo period , Kabuki , Bunraku , Ronin
related web sites: http://www.sonoda-u.ac.jp/chikamatsu/ , http://www.kosaiji.org/chikamatsu/ , http://www.kosaiji.org , http://www.d1.dion.ne.jp/~soyama/menu.htm
explanation: Born in 1653 in a samurai family of Fukui prefecture. As his father became a ronin, he worked as servant in a Kyoto's aristocrat and learnt to write. Becoming a popular scenario writer at the age 30, he worked most of time for Takemoto Gidayu's bunraku theater and Sakata Tojuro's kabuki theater. His favorite theme is men and women who suffer from a rigid social structure such as "Sonezaki shinju", "Meido no hikyaku", "Shinju ten no amijima". He died in 1724.