Namiki SÅ suke (Japanese: 並木宗è¼"; 1695 â€" c. 1751), also known
as Namiki Senryū, was a prominent Japanese playwright who wrote for
both kabuki and bunraku (puppet theater). He produced around 47
bunraku plays,[1] nearly 40 of them composed for jÅ ruri, a particular
form of musical narrative, and 10 kabuki plays.[2] He is considered
the second greatest Japanese playwright after Chikamatsu
Monzaemon.[3]SÅ suke was born in Osaka in 1695[4] and for the early
part of his life he was a buddhist monk in the JŠjūji temple in
Mihara, Bingo province.[5] He then left priesthood and settled in
Osaka to become a playwright, starting as a disciple of Nishizawa
Icchū in the Toyotake-za theatre.[6]Collaborating with a number of
other playwrights, including Takeda Izumo I and Miyoshi ShÅ raku,
Namiki SÅ suke created some of the most famous traditional Japanese
plays. Among them are Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami (1745, Summer
Festival: Mirror of Osaka), Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (1746, The
Secrets of Sugawara's Calligraphy), Yoshitsune no senbonzakura (1747,
The Thousand Cherry Blossoms of Yoshitsune), and Kanadehon
chūshingura (1748, The Treasure of the Loyal Retainers). Namiki died
while writing Ichinotani futaba gunki (1751, The Chronicle of the
Battle of Ichi-no-Tani), but it was completed by some of his
collaborators.[7]One of his plays has been translated into English,[8]
Summer Festival: Mirror of Osaka (1745, translated by Julie A. Iezzi)
in Kabuki Plays on Stage I: Brilliance and Bravado, 1697â€"1770,
edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter.
as Namiki Senryū, was a prominent Japanese playwright who wrote for
both kabuki and bunraku (puppet theater). He produced around 47
bunraku plays,[1] nearly 40 of them composed for jÅ ruri, a particular
form of musical narrative, and 10 kabuki plays.[2] He is considered
the second greatest Japanese playwright after Chikamatsu
Monzaemon.[3]SÅ suke was born in Osaka in 1695[4] and for the early
part of his life he was a buddhist monk in the JŠjūji temple in
Mihara, Bingo province.[5] He then left priesthood and settled in
Osaka to become a playwright, starting as a disciple of Nishizawa
Icchū in the Toyotake-za theatre.[6]Collaborating with a number of
other playwrights, including Takeda Izumo I and Miyoshi ShÅ raku,
Namiki SÅ suke created some of the most famous traditional Japanese
plays. Among them are Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami (1745, Summer
Festival: Mirror of Osaka), Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (1746, The
Secrets of Sugawara's Calligraphy), Yoshitsune no senbonzakura (1747,
The Thousand Cherry Blossoms of Yoshitsune), and Kanadehon
chūshingura (1748, The Treasure of the Loyal Retainers). Namiki died
while writing Ichinotani futaba gunki (1751, The Chronicle of the
Battle of Ichi-no-Tani), but it was completed by some of his
collaborators.[7]One of his plays has been translated into English,[8]
Summer Festival: Mirror of Osaka (1745, translated by Julie A. Iezzi)
in Kabuki Plays on Stage I: Brilliance and Bravado, 1697â€"1770,
edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.