Bunkaru is the common name for Ningyo Jururi, or traditional Japanese puppet theater, where ningyo is Japanese for “puppet” while jururi is a Japanese term for a chanted play. Bunkaru was used to refer only to a specific theater in Osaka, but the term eventually applied to all ningyo jururi. This ain’t your kid’s puppetry: bunkaru is the most developed puppet theatre in the world, and commonly deals with mature themes like  conflict, loss and death by suicide. Like Kabuki, Bunkaru is the layman’s Noh, as the latter is reserved for the aristocracy.

Bunraku puppets reach up to half a person in height, and up to 80 appear onstage in a single performance. These puppets are manipulated without strings; instead, a three-man crew directly operates the dolls by hand onstage. The senior one (omozukai) operates the head and right hand, the hidarizukai moves the left hand, while a junior puppeteer (ashizukai) operates the legs.  All three must work in flawless harmony or risk creating an unnatural motion for the ningyo. Nevertheless, the omozukai is the star of the show and gets to wear colorful attire, while the rest wear black robes (kurogo) and remain obscure. Bunkaru itself has three kinds of performers: the puppeteers; tayu, the chanter who narrates the story in a lively and emotional manner; and the shamisen player, who accompanies the tayu (the shamisen is a three-stringed musical instrument traditionally played in Japan). The tayu has his work cut out for him: not only does he recite the dialogue for all the characters, but he also describes the spectacle of the scenes and explains the background behind the events taking place. And each character’s voices must be differentiated in terms of age, profession and personality. Backed by the playing of the shamisen and the graceful movement and gestures of the puppets, bunraku is able to stir deep emotions from lifeless objects, an ability cherished in the country.

Unlike Kabuki, Bunraku is an author’s theater, performed without ad-libs or improvisation from the performers. At the start of the play, the tayu will hold up his copy of the script and swears he will adhere faithfully to the text. The most famous Bunraku play is Chusingura, or The Treasury of Faithful Retainers. This dramatizes the true story of 49 samurai who avenges their lord’s death, even with the threat of seppuku, or ritual suicide. Many other puppet plays are written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, called the “Shakespeare of Japan”. Most of them are historical and deal with giri and ninjo - the conflict between social obligation and personal feelings.

Sadly, the popularity of Bunraku has waned after World War II, and only with intervention by the government are performances still maintained. Even worse, the puppet craftsmen, tailors and operators and dying out, and the country’s youth do not hold interest for the long apprenticeship required for these essential tasks (an apprentice may take 30 years to advance to chief puppeteer). There are two main places in Japan where you can still catch performances:  The National Bunraku Theater in Osaka and The National Theater in Tokyo. The National Theater has 4 puppet performances every year, and many flock to each show.

The National Bunkaru Theater is located along Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku in Osak while the National Theater is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo.

Posted in Attractions, Japan

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