Hanji Chikamatsu

Japanese: 近松半二 - ちかまつ・はんじ

Year of death: Tenmei 3.2.4 (1783.3.6)
Year of birth: Kyoho 10 (1725)
A joruri composer in the mid-Edo period. His real name was Hozumi Shigeaki (according to one theory, Kisho). He was the second son of Hozumi Ikan, a disciple of Ito Togai. His father was a local Confucian scholar of the Kogi school, and also had close ties with the Takemotoza theater, known for recording the artistic theories of his friend Chikamatsu Monzaemon in Naniwa Omiyage (1738). It must have been the influence of his father that caused Hanji to aspire to become a joruri composer in later years. Hanji's family was scholarly, with his older brother Yasuaki also a Confucian scholar, and his grandfather and uncle both mathematical scholars, but he himself led a dissolute life from an early age, and then became a disciple of the second Takeda Izumo of the Takemotoza theater, eventually becoming a resident composer for the theater, and taking the surname Chikamatsu after his idol, Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Hanji's name first appeared in "En no Gyoja Omine Sakura" in 1751, when he was 27 years old, and it is said that he wrote the prologue under the direction of the playwright Izumo. Around the time of Izumo's death in 1756, he gradually began to show his individuality, and was the central figure in collaborations such as "Hidakagawa Nyuuai Kao" and "Oshu Adachigahara". In 1780, he became the playwright himself, and for the next 20 years or so he produced many masterpieces that are still frequently performed today, such as "Honcho Nijūshi Kō", "Omoseyama Onna Teikin", "Shinban Utasaibun", and "Igagoe Dochū Sugoroku", and was active as the last great playwright to resist the trend in the world of Jōruri, which was losing its vitality for creating new works at that time. He wrote 57 Jōruri pieces and an essay, "Dokusetsu". The distinctive feature of his style was the development of a splendid and sophisticated dramaturgy based on the free use of various elements, such as grandiose concepts, mysterious plots, contrasting character settings, strong-willed protagonists, contrapuntal scene structures, and the introduction of Kabuki techniques. Also noteworthy are his interest in the internal conflicts between father and son, and his critical perspective on the state of politics of the time. There are differing theories as to his birth and death years. <References> "Outline of Joruri Works (3) Chikamatsu Hanji" edited by the National Theatre Performing Arts Research Office, "The Microcosm of Joruri" by Moriyama Shigeo, "The 18th Century History of Joruri" by Uchiyama Mikiko, "Special Feature: The Man and Works of Chikamatsu Hanji" (Quarterly Kabuki, No. 18)

(Michio Hara)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：天明3.2.4(1783.3.6)
生年：享保10(1725)
江戸中期の浄瑠璃作者。本名穂積成章(一説には季昌)。伊藤東涯の門人穂積以貫の次男。父は古義学派の町儒者であるとともに,竹本座とも深い関係を持ち,親交のあった近松門左衛門の芸論を『難波土産』(1738)に筆録したことでも知られる。後年,半二が浄瑠璃作者を志したのも,そうした父の影響が大きかったに違いない。半二の生家は兄安章も儒者,祖父と叔父は算法家という学者一家だったが,彼自身は早くから放蕩の生活を送ったのちに竹本座の2代目竹田出雲に入門,やがてその座付作者となり,私淑する近松門左衛門にちなんで近松姓を名乗るようになった。半二の名の初出は,27歳の寛延4(1751)年の「役行者大峰桜」で,立作者出雲の下で序段を執筆したといわれている。出雲の没した宝暦6(1756)年ごろから次第に個性を発揮し始めて「日高川入相花王」「奥州安達原」などでは合作の中心となり,さらに13年からは立作者となって,以後約20年,「本朝廿四孝」「妹背山婦女庭訓」「新版歌祭文」「伊賀越道中双六」等々,今日なお上演頻度の高い傑作を数多く発表して,新作創造の活力が失われつつあったこの時期の浄瑠璃界の趨勢に抗する最後の大作者として活躍した。57編の浄瑠璃と随筆『独判断』がある。その作風の特色は,雄大な構想,謎の多い筋立て,対照的な人物の設定,意志的な主人公の造型,対位法的な場面構成,歌舞伎的技巧の導入等々の多彩な諸要素の自在な駆使に基づく華麗で巧緻な作劇法の展開にあった。また,父子間に生ずる内的葛藤への関心や同時代の政治のあり方に対する批判的視点のみられることなども注目されてよいだろう。なお生没年には異説もある。<参考文献>国立劇場芸能調査室編『浄瑠璃作品要説(3) 近松半二篇』,森山重雄『浄瑠璃の小宇宙』,内山美樹子『浄瑠璃史の十八世紀』,「特集近松半二の人と作品」(『季刊歌舞伎』18号)

(原道生)

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