Tokubei (44) and Ohatsu (45)

Rank 44th and 45th on The Fictional 100

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"Ah, did you count the bell? Of the seven strokes

That mark the dawn, six have sounded.

The remaining one will be the last echo

We shall hear in this life." (Tokubei)

"It will echo the bliss of nirvana." (Ohatsu)

The following books will introduce you to Tokubei and Ohatsu, who said these words in Chikamatsu's Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Donald Keene, trans.).

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• Chikamatsu, Monzaemon. Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu (Donald Keene, Trans.). Columbia University Press, 1997.
  • The poetic Love Suicides at Sonezaki (1703) is by Japan's greatest dramatist, Chikamatsu, often called the "Shakespeare of Japan." Tokubei, assistant to a soy-sauce merchant, and Ohatsu, a prostitute, are common folk, but the purity and depth of their feelings elevate them in the end to full tragic dignity as their hopes in life are thwarted. This insight into the sufferings of ordinary people was one of Chikamatsu's greatest innovations and contributions. This book (which samples the Major Plays of Chikamatsu, below) also includes The Love Suicides at Amijima, The Battles of Coxinga (his popular history play), The Uprooted Pine (another domestic drama), and Keene's informative introduction to Chikamatsu, the meaning of his plays, and their performance tradition.
    
• Chikamatsu, Monzaemon. Major Plays of Chikamatsu (Donald Keene, Trans.). Columbia University Press, 1990.
  • Keene introduces and translates eleven major plays by this remarkable artist. This edition is enhanced by many photographs (taken by Keene in Japan) of live-actor and puppet performances of the plays.
    
• Gerstle, C. Andrew. Circles of Fantasy: Convention in the Plays of Chikamatsu. Harvard University Press, 1996.
  • Chikamatsu's plays, although often performed by live actors, were actually written for the Japanese puppet theatre. As Gerstle points out, however, the puppet performance can often bring the audience more easily to tears. This book explores the music, poetry, costume, and subtle movement that join to produce these exquisite plays, giving the reader a window into appreciating them.

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