Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/41

Rh sewa mono or dramas of life and manners, of which he wrote twenty-four, was warmly welcomed by the public. In 1703 appeared the Sonezaki Shinjū. This drama deals with the shinjū or double suicide of a couple of young lovers. This was the first of the so-called shinjū-mono, or dramas of double suicide; and it was so enthusiastically received by the public, that this subject became a favourite theme for the work of contemporary dramatists. Shinjū, it must be remarked en passant, often takes place in Japan. When a pair of passionate young lovers despair of obtaining their parents' permission for their marriage, or when any other circumstance prevents them from attaining their purpose, they, instead of eloping, often commit suicide together. By doing this, they hope to be united in the next world. And it is said that the Sonezaki Shinjū, the Tenno Amijima, and other shinjū mono by Monzayemon, which describe this tragic suicide in beautiful language, interested the hearers to such an extent, that after their appearance the number of cases of suicide among lovers increased to an alarming extent. This was, if it was a fact, surely an evil influence of Monzayemon's dramas; but it is undeniable that his