Bunraku

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Bunraku (Japanese: 文楽), also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃), is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.

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:

Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai - Puppeteers
Tayū - the chanters
Shamisen players

Occasionally other instruments such as taiko drums will be used

The combination of chanting and shamisen playing is called jōruri. Since the Japanese word for puppet is ningyō, bunraku is sometimes called ningyō jōruri. Originally, "Bunraku" referred only to one particular theater in Osaka, called the Bunraku-za, and to the troupe and style of that one theater. The terms ningyō jōruri and ayatsuri-shibai were used to refer to the genre of puppet theater as a whole. Only with the gradual disappearance of every other theatre and style, and the resulting dominance of the Bunraku-za, did the term "bunraku" come to refer to the puppet drama genre as a whole; every traditional (Japanese-style) puppet troupe and theatre remaining in Japan today is derived from the style of the Bunraku-za troupes.

The puppeteers manipulate the puppet by means of handles located inside. All but the most minor characters require three puppeteers: one for the head and right arm, the omo-zukai, a second for the left arm, the hidari-zukai, and a third to operate the feet and legs, the ashi-zukai. The puppeteers, who perform in full view of the audience, wear black robes, and the lower-ranking left arm and foot puppeteers wear a black hood over their heads, known as the kurogo. The main puppeteer, however, usually performs unhooded in most Bunraku traditions, called de-zukai.

Outside of Japan, the word "Bunraku" is used loosely to refer to any style of puppetry where a full-bodied puppet is manipulated by any number of visible puppeteers who may or may not be dressed in black. This is primarily to distinguish such manipulation from other puppetry styles (hand puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, etc.) but critics assert that this is not true Bunraku.

Many sources state that the puppets are 4/5 life size. This may not be precisely accurate, but they are at least half the height of an adult or 3 feet tall. Bunraku puppets can be quite mechanically sophisticated. In plays with supernatural themes, for example, a puppet may be constructed so that its face can quickly transform into the face of a monster.

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's lower in pitch, and has a fuller tone.

Bunraku shares many themes with kabuki. In fact, several 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.

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.

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.

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

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. 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. The Imada Puppet Troupe, which has toured both France and Taiwan, and 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.