Lovers committing double suicide believed that they would be united again in heaven, a view supported by feudal teaching in Edo period Japan, which taught that the bond between two lovers is continued into the next world,[1] and by the teaching of Pure Land Buddhism wherein it is believed that through double suicide, one can approach rebirth in the Pure Land.
In this usage it literally means "heart-inside" or "oneness of hearts", probably reflecting a psychological link between the participants.
The tragic denouement is usually known to the audience and is preceded by a michiyuki, a small poetical journey, where lovers evoke the happier moments of their lives and their attempts at loving each other.
[4] In the preface for Donald Keene's book Bunraku, writer Jun'ichirō Tanizaki complained about the too-long endings known to be common in double suicide plays.
In his novel Some Prefer Nettles, he parodies the notion of shinjū and gives it a social and sensual double suicide with no clear ending.