Shinju

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Shinjū ( Japanese 心中 , dt. About: “in someone's heart”), also Jōshi ( 情 死 , dt. About “love death”), in Japan describes the joint suicide of two lovers who see no other possibility of remaining united . The term has been used synonymously with Shinjūshi ( 心中死 ; with additional 死 , English "death") since the 17th century , the common suicide as an extreme demonstration of mutual loyalty. In contrast to Seppuku , Shinjū is not strictly ritualized.

Cultural meaning

Shinjū is seen in Japanese art, theater, and literature as a highly romantic death and not necessarily as a deplorable end to a tragedy . The Bunraku -Stück Sonezaki Shinju ( "Love-in Sonezaki") of chikamatsu monzaemon is one of many Japanese puppet theater pieces that use the motif of Shinju. The story was filmed in 1981 under the same title (English: "The Love Suicides at Sonezaki").

Legal issues

The Supreme Court of Japan had a case (Shōwa 31 [a] 2220) to decide in 1958 in which one of the parties involved had only feigned willingness to commit suicide . After he had first handed the poison to his partner, he refrained from following her into death, as intended from the start. In all three instances this was assessed not only as a less serious accessory to suicide, but also as manslaughter , and the perpetrator was sentenced to six years in prison.

literature

  • Steven Heine: Tragedy and Salvation in the Floating World: Chikamatsu's Double Suicide Drama as Millenarian Discourse . In: The Journal of Asian Studies , Vol. 53, No. 2, 1994, pp. 367-393.
  • Yoshitomo Takahashi, Douglas Berger: Cultural Dynamics and the Unconscious in Suicide in Japan . In: Antoon A. Leenaars, David Lester (Eds.): Suicide and the Unconscious . Jason Aronson, Northvale 1996, ISBN 1-56821-724-2 , pp. 248-258 ( japanpsychiatrist.com ).

swell

  1. ↑ Sonezaki Shinjū , german.imdb.com
  2. ↑ 昭和 31 (あ) 2220 . Supreme Court, accessed August 22, 2014 (Japanese).

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