PRESS RELEASE

2013, 30 May

No. 897

Sugimoto Bunraku“Sonezaki Shinju: The Love Suicides at Sonezaki“
2013 European Tour - Madrid / Rome / Paris
The Japan Foundation and the Odawara Art Foundation proudly
present the European tour of the Ningyo Joruri Bunraku (Japanesepuppet theatre) performance “Sugimoto Bunraku Sonezaki Shinju:
The Love Suicides at Sonezaki” over a one-month period from
September to October, 2013.
The new version of Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s highly acclaimed
drama was premiered in August 2011 at the Kanagawa Arts Theatre.
The piece is normally shortened from its original text byChikamatsu due to production constraints, but this version—directedby visual artist Hiroshi Sugimoto with lyrical and musicalaccompaniment composed by Living National Treasure Seiji
Tsurusawa—is a faithful reproduction of its original form, and has
been highly praised by a number of audiences and critics in Japan.
The European tour, the first overseas performances of the work, will
start in Madrid as part of the commemoration of the “400thAnniversary of Japan-Spain Relations.” Celebrating the 400th year
since the Keicho Delegates reached Europe and cultural exchange
between Japan and Spain began, the piece will be shown at Madrid’sTeatro Español. After Madrid, the show will move to Rome and be
performed as part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of© Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy of Odawara Art Foundation
the Istituto Giapponese di Cultura in Rome, which opened in 1962
as the first Japan Culture Center to be founded abroad. The venue,
the Teatro Argentina, is one of the most prestigious theatres in Rome, known as the venue of the premiere of
Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville.” And finally, eleven perfomances will be given at the Théâtre de la Ville inParis as part of the main program during the Festival d'automne à Paris, a world-famous festival of the performingarts.
Working closely with other institutions and organizations, the Japan Foundation has been implementing a wide
range of international and cultural exchange programs across all regions of the world, with its headquarters in Tokyo,
a branch in Kyoto, two affiliate organizations (Japanese-Language Institutes in Urawa and Kansai), and 22 overseas
offices established in 21 countries. The Japan Foundation acknowledges the long-term relationships with different
institutions in these countries that have enabled this valuable opportunity to present such a creative and outstanding
performing art to audiences in Europe at the above-mentioned historical, prestigious theatres.

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Sugimoto Bunraku European Tour
Madrid: September 27th (Fri) and 28th (Sat), 2013. *Total of 2 performances at Teatro Español.
Rome: October 4th (Fri) and 5th (Sat), 2013. *Total of 2 performances at Teatro di Argentina.
Paris:October 10th (Thu) to 19th (Sat), 2013. *Total of 11 performances at Théâtre de la Ville, Paris.
Organizers:Planning and production:
In cooperation with:
Supported by:* currently being arranged

The Japan Foundation, The Odawara Art Foundation
The Odawara Art Foundation
The Japan Arts Council (The National Theatre of Japan/The National Bunraku Theatre),and Bunraku-Kyokai
Osaka Prefecture **, Osaka City **** application being arranged

MadridSugimoto Bunraku: Sonezaki Shinju (Los amantes suicidas de Sonezaki)
Organizers:
The Japan Foundation, The Odawara Art Foundation, Teatro Español
Co-organizer:
The Embassy of Japan in Spain
Supported by:
Mitsubishi Corporation, Nippon Express Co.
Venue:
Teatro Español[Commemorating the 400th Anniversary of Japan-Spain Relations]

Rome
SUGIMOTO BUNRAKU: SONEZAKI SHINJU
Doppio suicidio d'amore a Sonezaki
Organizers:
Co-organizer:
Supported by:
Supported by:

The Japan Foundation, The Odawara Art Foundation, Teatro di RomaThe Embassy of Japan in Italy
Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Italy
Yoko Nagae Ceschina, Chizu Suzuki, H.I.S., Fuji Television Network, Inc.,
Alcantara S.p., Mitsukoshi Italia S.p.A., Bridgestone Technical Center Europe S.p.A.,
Shiseido Company, Limited, Alphanet s.r.l., m&m medeiaservices s.r.l., Miki TravelAgency Italia s.r.l., Viajes Hanshin S.a., YKK Mediterraneo S.p.A
Venue:
Teatro Argentina[Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Istituto Giapponese di Cultura in Rome]

Paris
Sugimoto Bunraku Sonezaki Shinju –Double suicide à Sonezaki d’après Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Organizers:
Supported by:

Co-production:
Advisor:
Venue:The Japan Foundation, The Odawara Art Foundation
Boucheron Paris, Fondation d’Entreprise Hermès, Fondation Franco-Japonaise
Sasakawa, Fondation pour l’étude de la langue et de la civilisation japonaises sousl’égide de la Fondation de FranceThéâtre de la Ville, Festival d'automne à ParisEmmanuelle de Montgazon
Théâtre de la Ville〒160-0004

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Production Details
Sugimoto Bunraku: Sonezaki Shinju tsuketari Kannon meguri(The Love Suicides at Sonezaki with "Kannon Pilgrimage")
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Production Title:
Sugimoto Bunraku: Sonezaki Shinju
Original Text:
Sonezaki shinju tsuketari Kannon meguri written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon(from Shin-Nihon koten bungaku taikei, Iwanami Shoten Publishers)
Producer / (Artistic) Director: Hiroshi SugimotoComposer / Director:
Tsurusawa SeijiChoreography:
Waka Yamamura
Video:
Tabaimo, Hiroshi Sugimoto
Cast:
Tsurusawa Seiji, Yoshida Minosuke, Kiritake Kanjuro and 24 others
Running time:
145 minutes (including 20-minute intermission)

The Background of Sonezaki shinju tsuketari Kannon meguri
Author: Chikamatsu Monzaemon
On April 7, 1703 (Genroku 16), Tokubei, a clerk to the soy sauce merchant Hirano-ya, and his lover Ohatsu, acourtesan from Dojima Shinchi, committed suicide together in the forest of Tenjin at the cape of Sone in Umeda. Amonth later, on May 7, 1703, this actual event was turned into a play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon entitled Sonezaki
shinju tsuketari Kannon meguri, which premiered at the Takemotoza theatre in Osaka. The play was so successful thatTakemotoza was able to repay all the debts it had at the time. Furthermore, Sonezaki shinju was the forerunner of thesewamono genre, which dramatized current events.

Artist’s Statement
Although a subject for poetry, the evocation of eros, that is, the portrayal ofamorous love was never a religious concern in Japan until the playwright
Chikamatsu Monzaemon first presented on the ningyo joruri puppet stage therevolutionary notion that by consummating their passion through double suicide(shinju) two lovers’ souls might be united in Amida’s Pure Land paradise.
The first act of Chikamatsu’s Sonezaki Shinju (Love Suicides at Sonezaki) finds
the courtesan Ohatsu on a pilgrimage to various Kannon temples (Kannon meguri)
saying “Let our love be a bridge to the Buddha realm,” foreshadowing her
ultimate resolve toward faith in the Bodhisattva of Mercy. When the play firstpremiered in the mid-Edo period, so powerful was its message that the“impossible loves” of this world might be realized in the next, it set off anexplosion of suicides among young lovers constrained by feudal morality. As aresult, in 1723 (Kyoho 8) the Tokugawa shogunate banned not only all performances of Sonezaki Shinju, but also
funeral services for all love suicides, the idea being to deny them the promise of Buddhist salvation. It wasn’t until
1955, some 232 years later, the play was finally revived, although in the intervening centuries we nearly lost all senseof how the lines were intoned or puppets handled in Chikamatsu’s time. All that remain are Chikamatsu’s yukahon
narrator’s script and puppet master Tatsumatsu Hachirobei’s movement diagrams.
Hiroshi Sugimoto〒160-0004

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Hiroshi Sugimoto Biography
Born in Tokyo in 1948. After graduating from Saint Paul's University, he moved to the United States in 1970 andstarted his career with photography in New York in 1974. Sugimoto has received international reputation as aphotographic artist through his solid technique and clear concept seen in the series such as Seascapes and Theaters,
and his works are collected by major art museums throughout the world. In 2008, Sugimoto held a solo exhibition at
the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, entitled History of History, which consisted of both hisown works and works from his collection of antiquities. In recent years he has been expanding his field of activity toliterary and architectural work, and in 2008 he published his second title of essays, Utsutsu-na-zo (Shinchosha). The
same year, he founded New Material Research Laboratory, and he was involved in the interior design and landscapingof the Izu Photo Museum, which opened in 2009. Most recently, he has designed the entrance space of oakomotesando in Tokyo, which is due to open on April 4, 2013. An appreciator of traditional arts, Sugimoto has also led
the direction of the sanbaso production “Kami hisomi iki” in 2011, was presented at the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum in New York in March 2013 and once again in Tokyo in April 2013.
His works have won many awards, including the Mainichi Art Prize in 1988, the Hasselblad Foundation InternationalAward in Photography in 2001, and the 21st Praemium Imperiale in 2009.

Contemporary artist Tabaimo’s animation to be screened
during the “Kannon Meguri” scene
Tabaimo’s original animation will serve as a fascinating accompaniment in
the background of Ohatsu’s dance scene “Kannon Meguri,” puppeteered
alone by Kiritake Kanjuro, creating a masterful marriage of traditional
theater and contemporary art.
© Tabaimo/ Courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi

Tabaimo Biography
Born in Hyogo prefecture, Japan, in 1975. In 1999, the animation video installation “Japanese Kitchen” (“Nippon noDaidokoro”) that she created as her graduation project in university was awarded the Grand Prize at the Kirin
Contemporary Award. In 2001, she participated in the first edition of Yokohama Triennale as the youngest artist.
Tabaimo has taken part in a number of international and collective exhibitions such as the Sao Paulo Biennale (2002),Sydney Biennale (2006), and Venice Biennale in 2011 as the representative of the Japanese pavilion. One of the mostsought-after video installation artists today, Tabaimo has had solo exhibitions: “YOROYORON” at the Hara Museumof Contemporary Art (Tokyo) in 2006, “TABAIMO” at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain (Paris) in 2006,“TABAIMO: DANMEN” at the Yokohama Museum of Art and National Museum of Art, Osaka in 2009–2010. A
large-scale solo exhibition is currently planned at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia (Sydney) in 2014.

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Images for press use
For press images, please contact Ms. Taira (masako@tmpress.jp ).

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credit： © Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy of Odawara Art Foundation

Information about the Performance
Yoko Kitagawa
The Japan Foundation
Europe, Middle East,and Africa section, Arts and Culture Dept.
Tel :+ 81-3-5369-6063 E-mail: Yoko_Kitagawa@jpf.go.jp

Press Contact
Masako Taira （TAIRAMASAKO PRESS OFFICE）
Tel:090－1149－1111 info@tmpress.jp〒160-0004

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