Like Dew and Porcelain: A Chikamatsu Requiem at Ikukunitama Shrine for Kasane Izutsu

Inspired by Chikamatsu Monzaemon's "Ikutama Shinju" / "Shinju Kasaneizutsu" (1702)

Perhaps from around 1702. This is one of Chikamatsu's early works about double suicide, following "Sonezaki Shinju."

The setting is the area around Ikutama Shrine (now Ikukunitama Shrine) in Minami, Osaka, and a pottery shop.

A distinctive feature of this work is that the obstacles to love are not only money and the rules of the brothel, but also a conflict with a wicked stepmother.

Since the protagonist's family is a pottery merchant, the story is permeated with a sense of transience, suggesting that "human relationships and lives are as fragile and delicate as china." Kaheiji, the adopted son of an Osaka pottery merchant, is an earnest young man, but is shunned by his stepmother. In order to have her own son take over the shop, the stepmother plots to drive out Kaheiji, using his close relationship with Osawa, a prostitute she frequents, as an excuse to accuse him. Caught between his obligation to his parents and his love for Osawa, Kaheiji is further isolated from the world by his stepmother's sinister schemes. "We no longer have a place in this world." Driven to the brink, the couple sneak into the grounds of Ikutama Shrine. In the silence of the shrine at night, they swear to be together in the next life and plunge their blades into each other. Their appearance is as ephemeral as the beautiful shattered white porcelain. Excerpts from the actual script:
"Namu... Amida..."
"Namu... Amida..."
"Like the pine trees withering..."
"In front of the living jewel..."
"Even the leaves of my vows have withered..."
"This is..."

"Disobeying my parents..." "My stepmother... how cruel..."
"My stepmother... how wicked..."
"What a harsh world... a china shop..."

"It's easy to split... to continue our friendship..."
"Even the bonds... have now rotted..."
"Will my fate be... darkness... or hell..."

"Bird..." Get out of your comfort zone (
"Shatter like china..."
"Disappear like dew..."
"Disappear like bubbles..."

"Namu... Amida..."
"Namu... Amida..."

"I will never regret... I will never regret..."
"But still, love... But still, love..."
"Both obligations and people Even my feelings... are hidden in the darkness...
"All that remains... are two... souls..."
"It's sad to be stabbed..."
"It's joy to be stabbed..."
"The coldness of the blade..."
"The warmth of my blood..."

"Namu Amida Butsu..."
"Namu Amida Butsu..."