Chikamatsu Monzaemon - References in Popular Culture

References in Popular Culture

• In the fictional world of Naruto, the first ninja puppeteer is named Chikamatsu Monzaemon, a reference to Chikamatsu's puppet plays.
• Sasori, of Naruto has claimed that he wants to fight, Chikamatsu Monzaemon demonstrating that the art of puppets is very powerful, as for Chiyo could be the inheritor of his puppets.
• In the Digimon multimedia franchise, a puppet Digimon by the name of Monzaemon - an obvious homage to Chikamatsu - was one of the first characters in the original line of virtual pets.
• Masahiro Shinoda's celebrated 1969 film, Shinjû: Ten no amijima (billed in English as Double Suicide) employs cinematic techniques based on Bunraku conventions and takes its basis in a Chikamatsu play.