What is shinju, which Inazuma spoke of committing when she was forbidden to marry the man she loved?
(UY Vol 3, #6) Shinju, or lovers’ suicide, had become particularly fashionable toward the end of the 17th century when there were a series of highly successful puppet dramas glorifying it. Lovers who couldn’t marry due to family opposition, differences in class, etc., chose suicide in the hopes that they would spend eternity together in the Buddhist paradise. They were often buried together, but the authorities regarded shinju as a crime and the bodies were publicly exposed as was the practice with executed criminals to disgrace the dead and discourage the practice. Those who were unsuccessful and survived suicide were from then on regarded as hinin, or “non-human,” a small step above the eta class as hinin had a hope of returning to “legitimate society.
(UY Vol 3, #6) Shinju, or lovers’ suicide, had become particularly fashionable toward the end of the 17th century when there were a series of highly successful puppet dramas glorifying it. Lovers who couldn’t marry due to family opposition, differences in class, etc., chose suicide in the hopes that they would spend eternity together in the Buddhist paradise. They were often buried together, but the authorities regarded shinju as a crime and the bodies were publicly exposed as was the practice with executed criminals to disgrace the dead and discourage the practice. Those who were unsuccessful and survived suicide were from then on regarded as hinin, or “non-human,” a small step above the eta class as hinin had a hope of returning to “legitimate society.
