Oume and Kumenosuke, Scene from the Joruri “Shinju mannenso” by Chikamatsu Monzaemon 

Hirose Choko exhibited his art from around 1900 onwards, mainly in the exhibitions of the Kojikai, a group led by Yasuda Yukihiko and Imamura Shiko. This work is thought to have been included in Kojikai’s 13th exhibition.
A draft of this same work includes the words "Mannenso: Oume and Kumenosuke," suggesting that it is based on a scene from the Chikamatsu Monzaemon joruri Shinju mannenso (The Love Suicides of Stonecrop). The play is a dramatization of the double suicide at Nyonindo by Kumenosuke, a temple page in Mount Koya, and Oume, the daughter of the inn-keeper at Saikaya at the foot of the mountain. Perhaps Kumenosuke, with the so-called sumimaegami hairstyle, is wiping his mouth after sharing a final cup of water with Oume before their untimely deaths. The name Oume means plum, and the decorations on her kimono provide several clues as to the identity of the people depicted. The plum pattern refers to Oume’s name, while the characters for "treasure" (pronounced "ho," a reference to the era of Hoei) and "rat" (pronounced "ne," a reference to the zodiac Year of the Rat) suggest the time at which the incident is thought to have taken place.
(KASHIWAGI Tomoh)