The
monument is large and very impressive; it is dedicated to Monzaemon Chikamatsu,
a joruri playwright in the mid-Edo period. The inscription says that the
monument was originally located in Tennoji Park, but that local landowner
Shozaburo Murogami obtained permission for it to be relocated to its current
position as part of the 5th Domestic Industrial Exposition in 1901. Meanwhile,
Nekozuka ("burial mound for cats") was built by Murokami in
the same year. It was created using financial donations from local entertainers
for the healthy rearing of cats, whose skin was used to cover the body
of shamisen, a stringed musical instrument. The monument itself is very
unique; it is shaped like the body of a shamisen.
Location : inside Matsunoki Daimyojin Shrine; 2-3-19, Taishi |