Bunraku
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- This article is about the traditional form of Japanese puppet theatre. For the 2009 film, see Bunraku (film).
Bunraku (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.
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 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.
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[edit] History
Originally, the term "Bunraku" referred only to the particular theater established in 1872 in Osaka, which was named the Bunrakuza after the puppeteering ensemble of Uemura Bunrakken, an early 19th century puppeteer on Awaji, whose efforts revived the flagging fortunes of the traditional puppet theater in the 19th century.
The later prominence of the National Bunraku Theater of Japan, which is a descendant of the theater founded by Bunrakken, has popularized the name "Bunraku" in the twentieth century to the point that many Japanese use the term to refer generically to any traditional puppet theater in Japan.
However, almost all of the traditional puppet troupes currently in existence outside Osaka were founded and named long before the appearance of Uemura Bunrakukken and his theater, so they generally do not use the word to describe themselves. The exception is the few troupes that were organized by puppeteers from the Bunraku-za or its successors who left Osaka to found theaters in the provinces.
[edit] 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.
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 upside down side to left 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 used in bunraku has a sound which is 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.
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 companies, performers, and puppet makers have been designated "Living National Treasures" under Japan's program for preserving its culture.
[edit] 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.
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 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.
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.
[edit] 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 exists.
[edit] 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
[edit] 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
