Bunraku (文楽, Bunraku^?), also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684. A puppet is a representational object manipulated by a puppeteer. ... Osaka Castle (ÅŒsaka-jō) Location in Japan Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan) Osaka railway station The Osaka Tower (TsÅ«tenkaku) Osaka City   listen? (大阪市; ÅŒsaka-shi) is the third-largest city in Japan, with a population of 2. ...

A bunraku puppet's head. This particular puppet is a head used in Sanbaso performances

Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance: Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

• Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai - Puppeteers
• Tayū - the chanters
• Shamisen players

Occasionally other instruments such as taiko drums will be used. A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object — a puppet— in real time to create the illusion of life. ... Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. ... Kitagawa Utamaro, Flowers of Edo: Young Womans Narrative Chanting to the Samisen, ca. ... It has been suggested that Japanese_Taiko_Drumming be merged into this article or section. ...

The most accurate term for the traditional puppet theater in Japan is ningyō jōruri. The combination of chanting and shamisen playing is called jōruri and the Japanese word for puppet is ningyō.

 MIKE HAWK 

Elements of the form

Bunraku puppets range in size from two-and-a-half to four feet tall or more, depending on the age and gender of the character and the conventions of the specific puppet troupe. Of the many theaters across Japan, the puppets of the Osaka tradition tend to be somewhat smaller overall, while the puppets in the Awaji tradition, where most performances were originally held in large spaces outdoors, are some of the largest. Awaji Island (Jp. ...

The heads and hands of traditional puppets are carved by specialists, while the bodies and costumes are often constructed by puppeteers. The heads can be quite sophisticated mechanically. In plays with supernatural themes, a puppet may be constructed so that its face can quickly transform into that of a demon. Less complex heads may have eyes that move side to side and close, and noses, mouths, and eyebrows that move.

Controls for all movements of parts of the head are located on a handle that extends down from the neck of the puppet and are reached by the main puppeteer inserting his left hand into the chest of the puppet through a hole in the back of the torso.

The main puppeteer, the omozukai, uses his right hand to control the right hand of the puppet. The left puppeteer, known as the hidarizukai or sashizukai, depending of the tradition of the troupe, manipulates the left hand of the puppet with his own right hand by means of a control rod that extends back from the elbow of the puppet. A third puppeteer, the ashizukai, operates the feet and legs.

All but the most minor characters require three puppeteers, who perform in full view of the audience, generally wearing black robes. In some traditions, all puppeteers also wear blacks hoods over their heads, while others, including the National Bunraku Theater, leave the main puppeteer unhooded, a style of performance known as dezukai.

Usually a single chanter recites all the characters' parts, altering their pitch in order to switch between various characters. However, sometimes multiple chanters are used. The chanters sit next to the shamisen player on a revolving platform, and from time to time, the platform turns, bringing replacement musicians for the next scene.

The shamisen of bunraku has a sound that's different from other shamisen. It is lower in pitch, and has a fuller tone.

Bunraku shares many themes with kabuki. In fact, many plays were adapted for performance both by actors in kabuki and by puppet troupes in bunraku. Bunraku is particularly noted for lovers' suicide plays. The story of the forty-seven ronin is also famous in both bunraku and kabuki. The oldest Kabuki theatre in Japan: the Minamiza in Kyoto The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... Incense burns at the burial graves of the 47 Ronin at Sengakuji. ...

The character Osono, from the play Hade Sugata Onna Maiginu, in a performance by the Tonda Traditional Puppet Troupe of Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture.

Bunraku is an author's theater, as opposed to kabuki, which is a performer's theater. In bunraku, prior to the performance, the chanter holds up the text and bows before it, promising to follow it faithfully. In kabuki, actors insert puns on their names, ad-libs, references to contemporary happenings and other things which deviate from the script. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...

The most famous bunraku playwright was Chikamatsu Monzaemon. With more than one hundred plays to his credit, he is sometimes called the Shakespeare of Japan. Statue of Chikamatsu Monzaemon at Amagasaki, Hyogo Chikamatsu Monzaemon (Japanese: 近松門左衛門; real name Sugimori Nobumori, 杉森信盛, 1653–6 January 1725) was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. ...

Bunraku performers, and makers of the puppets, might become "living national treasures" under Japan's program for preserving its culture.

Today

Osaka is the home of the government-supported troupe at National Bunraku Theater. The Troupe offers five or more shows every year, each running for two to three weeks in Osaka before moving to Tokyo for a run at the National Theater. The National Bunraku Theater Troupe also tours within Japan and occasionally abroad.

Until the late 1800s there were also hundreds of other professional, semi-professional, and amateur troupes across Japan that performed traditional puppet drama.

Since the end of World War II, the number has dropped to fewer than 30, most of which perform only once or twice a year, often in conjunction with local festivals. A few regional troupes, however, continue to perform actively.

The Awaji Puppet Troupe, located on Awaji Island southwest of Kobe, offers short daily performances and more extensive shows at their own theater and has toured the United States, Russia, and elsewhere abroad. Awaji Island (Jp. ... This article is about the Japanese city. ...

The Tonda Traditional Bunraku Puppet Troupe of Shiga Prefecture, founded in the 1830s, has toured the United States and Australia on five occasions and has been active in hosting academic programs in Japan for American university students who wish to train in traditional Japanese puppetry. Tonda Traditional Japanese Bunraku Puppet Troupe (Japanese: 冨田人形共遊団, Tonda ningyō kyōyūdan), founded in the 1830s, is one of the most active groups performing traditional ningyō jōruri or Bunraku puppetry in Japan, and has been officially designated an Intangible Cultural Treasure. ... Shiga Prefecture from outer space. ...

The Imada Puppet Troupe, which has performed in France, Taiwan, and the United States, as well as the Kuroda Puppet Troupe are located in the city of Iida in Nagano Prefecture. Both troupes, which trace their histories back more than 300 years, perform frequently and are also active in nurturing a new generation of traditional puppeteers and expanding knowledge of puppetry through training programs at local middle schools and by teaching American university students in summer academic programs at their home theaters. Imada Puppet Troupe ) is a traditional Japanese puppet troupe in the style that is commonly known as Ningyō Jōruri (人形浄瑠璃) or Bunraku based in Iida, Nagano. ... Iida (IPA pronunciation: ) is a Japanese surname and can be written the following ways: 伊々田 伊井田 飯多 飯田 Iida, a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan IIDA, International Interior Design Association Iida Kaori, a Japanese singer and artist Categories: | ... Nagano Prefecture (長野県; Nagano-ken) is located on Honshu island, Japan. ...

The increase in interest in Bunraku puppetry has contributed to the establishment of the first traditional Japanese puppet troupe in North America. Since 2003, Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe, based at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, has performed at venues around the United States, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as in Japan. A performance by Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe of Keisei Awa no Naruto at the 2006 Iida Puppetry Festival in Iida, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. ... This article is about the university in Columbia. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: Country United States State Missouri County Boone Government  - Mayor Darwin Hindman Area  - City  59 sq mi (138. ... The Kennedy Center as seen from the Potomac River. ... The Smithsonian Institution Building or Castle on the National Mall serves as the Institutions headquarters. ...

The Term "Bunraku" in the West

In Europe and the Americas, the term "Bunraku" is often used among puppeteers to describe puppets that are manipulated in a way similar to those in traditional Japanese Bunraku theater, in contrast to hand puppets, rod puppets, shadow puppets, or marionettes. The characteristics of Western "bunraku" usually include multiple, visible puppeteers who manipulate the puppet directly. Other elements emulating traditional Bunraku theater may be present. The use of the term concerns some purists, but Western puppeteers have found the word useful to describe a style of puppetry that was inspired by the Japanese tradition for which no succinct English term exist. A hand munger is a type of puppet that is primarily controlled by a hand that occupies the interior of the puppet. ... Chinese Shadow Theatre figures Shadow play (Chinese: 皮影戏, pi ying xi) is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment using opaque, often articulated figures in front of an illuminated backdrop to create the illusion of moving images. ... A marionette is a type of puppet with strings controlled by a puppeteer from above. ...

References

• The Puppetry Home Page: A Brief Introduction to the History of Bunraku
• Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe
• Tonda Traditional Japanese Bunraku Puppets
• Bibliography on Chikamatsu
• Japan Arts Council Introduction to Bunraku
• BUNRAKU KYOKAI

External links

• Kiritake Masako's Maiden's Bunraku, article by Darren-Jon Ashmore in the electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies, 17 June 2005.
• Bunraku Puppets @ PuppetBuilding.com, information and tutorials on building Bunraku and Bunraku-style puppets.
• University of Missouri: Bunraku Puppetry Training Program for Non-Japanese Students