Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Since the play "Sonezaki-shinjū" (double suicide in Sonezaki) by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, "michiyuki" has been associated with double suicide: a couple consider killing each other at the end of their journey. There, character psychology is brought to the fore, and the description of the landscape becomes a background. Later, a new style becomes in vogue: a peddler or a street artist intervenes during the couple's journey, remonstrating with them because they will commit a double suicide: "Ochiudo" (Act IV of the play by kabuki "Kanadehon Chūshingura"), "Umegawa", "Osome".