Letter of Chikamatsu Monzaemon

A letter in Chikamatsu’s own handwriting dated the last day of April in Shotoku 6 (1716). It is a letter of appreciation for the present of Imose-nori seaweed, a local special product of Wakanoura in Wakayama, while in the latter part of the letter, the commemorable long-run joruri drama Kokusenya kassen staged then at Takemoto-za theater was written down in detail. Chikamatsu also reported proudly that there were people chanting Kokusenya from everywhere, which shows us the tremendous success of Kokusenya kassen back then vividly. Donated by novelist Taniguchi Junichiro.