[As is the case of many operas, the libretto for Madama Butterfly comes from a number of different sources. The official librettists, Guiseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, worked from the David Belasco play, Madame Butterfly, which Puccini saw in London on one of his frequent trips abroad. The play was based upon a short story by John Luther Long which was also, in part, based upon the story Madama Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti. This article traces some of these sources to the opera. - NMR]
The theme of women being deserted by foreign men is universal. There have been many 'Butterflies' in both fiction and real life.
One story from Okinawa tells of Minamoto Tametomo, a twelfth century Japanese samurai warrior who sailed to Okinawa to avoid trouble at home. He became notorious, his wild ways annoying the king and nobles. They sought to rid themselves of him, but one of the lords, Takimini took Tametomo in as his guest. Takimini had a beautiful daughter whom Temetomo wooed and won. Soon they had a son, Shunten. After a while, Tametomo tired of domestic tranquility on Okinawa, and decided to return to Japan. With many promises to return, he sailed away, leaving wife and child behind. For the rest of her life, the faithful woman kept a daily vigil on the beach in vain Word of her plight soon spread throughout Okinawa and the place she waited became known as Machiminato, the Waiting Port. It is still known by that name today. Her story has been told in Japan and Okinawa for 800 years. When he grew up, the son, Shunten, overthrew the king, in the so-called Ryukuan revolution and brought law and order among the island's feuding lords. The chain of which Okinawa is a part still bears the name 'Ryuku Islands'.
The first extant novel to record a foreigner's affair with a Japanese woman is the 1887 Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti, a French naval officer who served in the Far East. His real name was Julien Marie Viaud, and he wrote some forty novels. The narrator of Madame Chrysanthème has two ambitions, first to find a Japanese temporary wife to live with in "a little paper house" and second, a tattoo. (The marriage broker's was Kangourou which would become Goro in later stories.) He gets his first wish, an eighteen-year-old temporary bride, O-Kiku-san, for the two and a half months he is in Nagasaki. Their house on a hill had paper walls and a splendid view of Nagasaki harbor. The wife is a purely business transaction, but she acts the part; during his five-day absence, she watches for his ship and decorates the house for his return. The story is extremely racist; the Japanese are "monkeys" and "toys" and he desires "a little yellow-skinned woman with black hair and cat's eyes". Soon the narrator finds his wife tiresome and longs to get rid of her. When his ship leaves she goes through the appropriate sighs and wailings of farewell, but she has known all along that the arrangement was temporary and carefully tests the money he gives her to make sure it is genuine.
Loti was in Nagasaki in 1885 and while there married a 17 year-old girl name O-Kane-san whom he left without regret. He kept a diary and used it to create his novel. He carefully notes that the girls who entered these temporary marriages were neither geishas nor prostitutes. His book was very popular, with 23 edition in five years, and it was translated into several languages, including English. Messager turned it into an opera which opened in Paris is 1893. He wrote most of the music while staying at the Villa d'Este near Como, Italy. One of the guests at the time was Puccini who most probably knew of it.
In the late nineteenth century, Mrs. Sarah Jane Correll, the wife of a missionary, lived for a while in Nagasaki. Across the street from her lived a sweet and delicate tea-house girl named Cho-san, Miss Butterfly. She had a lover, a nice, but moody young man. He left Cho-san and her baby, promising to come back, even arranging a signal so she would know when his ship returned. She waited for hours every night, but he never returned. Mrs. Correll told the story to her brother, John Luther Long, who worked all night writing the short story which was published in 1898. (NOTE: The complete text of this novella may be found in the ENO Guide.)
In Long's version, Pinkerton and his friend Sayre discuss the Japanese marriages. With the help of the marriage broker, Goro, he marries Cho-Cho-san, but he does not allow her relatives to come to the house which he has rented for 999 years. The relatives, who had originally approved of the marriage, then disowned her. The bride understood the contract and its provisions, including the price. After Pinkerton leaves, she has her baby and she, Suzuki and Trouble live in the house but with little money. She refuses Prince Yamadori and consults Sharpless who informs Pinkerton of his child. When the ship returns Cho-Cho-san and Suzuki prepare the house, then wait days in vain. She sees Pinkerton with a blond woman, and after his ship leaves, Adelaide, Pinkerton's wife, comes and tries to take the baby. Cho-Cho-san starts to commit suicide, but Suzuki interrupts her and binds up her wounds. When Mrs Pinkerton comes to collect the child, the house is empty. Butterfly has fled with her son and her end is not known. Suzuki marries the consul.
Long's Butterfly is not very bright and is easily misled, but she has firm opinions. She knows she is being paid for her services but assumes Pinkerton knows she loves him. After all, he did not divorce her and has promised to come back. She toys with the idea of Christianity but in the end reverts to her Japanese traditions. Pinkerton's role in the story is very short. He appears on only four of the thirty-two pages. Many of the details are borrowed from Loti. Only Adelaide and Yamadori are original with Long.
Long's knowledge of Japan was extensive. Details such as the 999 years and the description of the suicide attempt are very accurate. He knew that neglect of the rites for ancestors would provoke their anger. For this reason Butterfly considered converting to protect herself.
'Treaty-port marriages' had existed for centuries on the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay where there was a Dutch trading post as early as 1630. Families could not be brought there so the marriage business started. Some men left money for their 'wives' and children when they returned home and remained responsible for the rest of their lives. One month treaty-port marriages were common, especially in Nagasaki. They cost $4 for a license plus $15-$25 for a house and $10 for a servant. For some women it became a way of life, a career of serial 'marriages'. At the same time, there were also many regular interracial marriages.
Such temporary marriages still exist in some parts of the world. Called sigheh in Iran, a couple signs a contract for as long as ninety-nine years or as short as a few minutes. This contract can specify a dowry and how much time they will spend together.
Not all of the men were sailors. There was a German medical doctor, Philip Franz von Siebold. who arrived in 1823, gave lessons in western medicine and performed the first cataract surgery in Japan. He "married" Kusumoto Taki, whom he called her O-Taki-san and they had a daughter. As an amateur botanist he named a hydrangea after her: Hydrangea otaksa. After returning to Europe he wrote several books about his experiences. Commodore Perry learned from them before sailing in 1853 to demand opening of the country. Von Siebold continued to correspond with Taki, returned in 1859, and met his Japanese family. His 'wife' had remarried twice, their daughter was 32 years old and a midwife. He arranged for her to study medicine, and she became the first female doctor in Japan.
Attempts have been made to identify the real-life Pinkerton in Long's story. One candidate is William B. Franklin who, as an Ensign, entered Nagasaki harbor at the time Correll was there and stayed three weeks the first time and six and one-half the second. Many of the details of his visit fit the story. However, in Nagasaki temporary marriage registrations were periodically discarded; any pertinent records are long gone.