Bunraku

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Bunraku (Japanese: 文楽) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater. Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:

Puppeteers
Chanters
Shamisen players

The combination of chanting and shamisen playing is called jōruri. Since the Japanese word for puppet is ningyō, bunraku is sometimes called ningyō jōruri.

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

1 History
2 Development
3 Modern Day Bunraku Theatre
4 The Training and Artistry of a Modern-Day Master Puppeteer
5 Sources
6 External links

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History

The Japanese puppet theater known today as “Bunraku” developed before 1600. The term “bunraku” originally referred specifically to the puppetry tradition of City of Osaka, but now the term is used generally in Japan to describe the three-man form of puppet manipulation.

Bunraku is probably the most sophisticated form of puppetry in the world. It is closer in style to the English Punch and Judy shows than to the Pinocchio marionette form, as there are no strings. In its early days, the puppeteers were hidden behind a curtain. The puppets are large - usually about one-half life size - and the main characters are operated by three puppeteers. Many bunraku plays are historical and deal with the common Japanese theme of giri and ninjo - the conflict between social obligations and human emotions. The greatest works by Japan's most famous playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) are bunraku plays, many of which are written around this kind of conflict.

Bunraku is actually the name commonly used for ningyō jōruri—“ningyō” meaning “puppet” and “jōruri” being a kind of chanted narration. Puppet plays are believed to have their origins in the 10th or 11th century. Itinerant entertainers, many from Awaji Island in the Seto Inland Sea, presented plays in the nearby cities of Osaka and Kyoto.

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Development

Early on, competition between rival theatres was fierce, which led to innovations in puppet manipulation and design. Until the end of the 17th century, the puppet had been a simple creation operated from beneath by a single puppeteer. But, in 1703 audiences were astonished to see the puppeteers appear in full view of the audience. Eventually, the chanter and samisen player were also removed from behind the curtain and given their own small stage to the right of the main puppet stage. Later years saw puppet design become more sophisticated with the appearance of movable eyes and hands. In 1734, the system of three-man operation, in which the main puppeteer operates the head and right-hand, a second puppeteer manipulates the left hand and the third moves the feet, became the standard.

The four-foot high puppets require three people to operate them; puppeteers train from childhood in the art. The “omozukai,” or primary puppeteer, manipulates the head and facial features and the right arm, while the two lower-ranked puppeteers operate the left arm and the legs (with a 10-year long apprenticeship on each leg before becoming an omozukai). The omozukai is visible to the audience—he is the star of the show, after all—and often colorfully dressed while the other operators are “invisible.” Actually, they're just cloaked in black robes and hoods. Puppets of female characters usually don't have legs, as they are clad in full-length kimono.

The stories are taken from a repertory of puppet plays from the 17th and 18th centuries, illustrating such themes as the conflict between personal desire and duty (love versus loyalty to family). Since antiquity, Japan has had oral traditions of chanted narrative (katarimono) that feature texts set to music (fushi). Perhaps the oldest of these is the genre known as heikyoku, which was originally performed by blind monks called biwa hōshi and relates stories from the medieval war epic Heike Monogatari (Tale of the Heike) to biwa (lute) accompaniment. With the development of other vocal traditions such as Nō chant, kōwaka (ballad dramas) and sekkyō bushi (early puppet plays with moralistic Buddhist themes), heikyoku lost some of its popularity. Practitioners of the art responded by incorporating improvements and expanding the types of stories they presented. One of the texts added to the repertory—called Jōruri Jūnidan Zōshi (The Tale in Twelve Episodes of Jōruri), or alternately Jōrurihime Monogatari (Tale of the Lady Jōruri)—became very popular, and its music, called jōruri bushi, was then applied to other texts. Initially, jōruri pieces continued to use the biwa as accompaniment, or singers would simply beat the rhythm out with their fans. Then, in the middle of the 16th century, a new three-stringed instrument made its way to Japan via the Ryukyu Islands in the south.

The Japanese made improvements to this instrument to create the shamisen, which soon became the instrument of choice in the performance of jōruri. With the introduction of the shamisen, the vocal component took another great leap forward, and jōruri entered a new era as one of Japan’s major performance genres. Ningyō jōruri, the combination of jōruri with puppetry, caught on like wildfire, so that by the beginning of the 17th century it was performed not only in Kyoto and Edo (present-day Tokyo), but throughout Japan. At that time, however, the venues were temporary shacks, and the puppets were very simple, operated by just one person. The chanting, too, was still quite monotonous, and the stories tended to be unsophisticated tales about the miraculous doings of Buddhas and gods.

As time went on, the number of performers increased, and they began to set up troupes that competed with each other, each troupe trying out different innovations to attract audiences. It was in this context that Takemoto Gidayū established the Takemoto-za troupe in the Dotonbori district of Osaka in 1684. Taking the best aspects of all the different jōruri troupes that had developed up to that time, and adding innovations of his own, he gathered together some master hands, including playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, shamisen player Takezawa Gonemon, and puppeteer Tatsumatsu Hachirobei, and rapidly gained the highest popularity throughout Osaka. Gradually, the other forms of jōruri declined, and the term gidayū bushi (the “music of Gidayū”) became synonymous with jōruri. With the unparalleled talent of Chikamatsu, the value of the plays as literature increased considerably, and the emphasis shifted from unsophisticated tales about supernatural beings and martial heroics to a gorgeously romantic and intimate portrayal of human emotions.

Also, through the creation of a new “real-life” genre called sewamono (domestic plays), as typified by Sonezaki Shinjū (Love Suicides at Sonezaki), the content grew more in tune with the lives of the audience. Meanwhile, puppeteers such as Yoshida Bunzaburō worked hard at making improvements in the puppets themselves, incorporating sleight-of-hand techniques, and constructing movable eyes, eyebrows, mouths, hands, and feet. Finally, for the role of Yakanbei in the play Ashiya Dōman ōuchi Kagami (The White Fox of Shinoda) performed in 1734, Bunzaburō proposed for the first time that three puppeteers operate a single puppet, thus putting the finishing touch on the art of Bunraku as we know it today. With the freer movement made possible by the development of more sophisticated puppets, the plays written in later years increasingly emphasized surface effects at the expense of content. This, along with the fact that Kabuki, which had temporarily been depressed by the popularity of jōruri, immediately began to incorporate elements of jōruri’s popular comical numbers into its repertory and managed to revive its flagging fortunes, contributed to the eventual decline in the popularity of jōruri.

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Modern Day Bunraku Theatre

After World War II, the Bunraku-za Theater was rebuilt by the production company Shochiku at Yotsuyabashi in Osaka, but labor disputes resulted in the break-up of the Bunraku performers into two separate troupes in May 1948: the Chinami-kai and the Mitsuwa-kai, which both struggled to survive. In 1963, the Bunraku Society was founded with grants provided by the national government, Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, and the Hōsō Bunka Foundation (originally NHK), and the two troupes were merged. The first performance at the Dotonbori Bunraku-za theater was presented that same year. In 1966, the National Theater opened in Hayabusa-cho, Chiyoda ward in Tokyo. It contains a small hall (630 seats) that is ideally designed for Bunraku, which is performed there regularly four times a year. The theater has succeeded in drawing a younger audience and has initiated a training program for Bunraku artists who can carry on the tradition. Successive performances in Europe, North America, and other places overseas have also earned unexpected accolades, further cementing Bunraku’s reputation as the world’s greatest puppet theater.

With all of this success, it was only natural for people to begin talking about constructing a theater devoted solely to Bunraku in its home region of Osaka. In 1984, their heartfelt dream was realized with the opening of the National Bunraku Theater in Nipponbashi, Osaka, with a seating capacity of 753. The locus of the training program for young Bunraku artists has been shifted there. Today, in 2003, Bunraku has embarked on a new golden age, led by five living national treasures: puppeteers Tamao Yoshida, Minosuke Yoshida III, and Bunjaku Yoshida; chanter Sumidayū Takemoto VII and shamisen player Kanji Tsuruzawa VII. With these masters at the helm, Bunraku has once again claimed its rightful place as one of the most refined and polished theatrical traditions in the world.

Beginning in the Meiji Period (1868-1912), when Western culture became increasingly popular in Japan, Bunraku had been in decline. In postwar Japan the art form has relied on government sponsorship to supplement revenue from the National Theater in Tokyo and the National Bunraku Theater in Osaka. In the late twentieth century the tradional Japanese puppet theater has enjoyed something of a renaissance in interest and popularity. While there has been a decline in the number of artists skilled in the carving of puppet heads, the number of young applicants to the Bunraku performance training program at the National Bunraku Theater has climbed dramatically and the National Bunraku Theater has greatly increased its performance schedule at its home theater in Osaka, the National Theater in Tokyo, as well as on tour domestically and abroad.

Outside Osaka, hundreds of other professional, semi-professional, and amateur traditional puppet troupes also performed across Japan until the late 1800s. Since the end of World War II, the number of active troupes has dropped to fewer than 30, many of which perform only once or twice a year, often in conjuction with local festivals. A few regional troupes, however, continue to perform extensively. The Awaji Puppet Troupe, located on Awaji Island southwest of the city of Kobe, offers short daily performances and more extensive shows at their own theater and has toured abroad, including the United States and Russia. The Tonda Traditional Bunraku Puppet Troupe of Shiga Prefecture, founded in the 1830s, has toured United States and Australia on five occasions, in addition to frequent performances in Japan. In the city of Iida in Nagano Prefecture, the Imada Puppet Troupe, which has toured France and Taiwan, and the Kuroda Puppet Troupe both boast histories of more than 300 years. These two troupes perform frequently and sponsor training for the next generation of traditional puppeteers in programs at local schools. The Tonda, Imada, and Kuroda troupes have also been active in hosting academic programs in Japan for American university students who wish to train in traditional Japanese puppetry.

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The Training and Artistry of a Modern-Day Master Puppeteer

Tamao Yoshida (b. 7 January 1919) is a master puppeteer in the performance of the Bunraku puppet theater. Going beyond the mere transmission of puppetry techniques, he has succeeded in adding original and creative insight in puppet movement, with a virtuosity and rich sensibility that have been cultivated over the course of many years and through a deep knowledge of the stories. Capable of emotional depictions that surpass the abilities of human actors, Tamao is a great stage artist who has helped Bunraku achieve its current status as the world’s most highly developed and refined form of puppet theater.

Bunraku requires the combined artistry of three types of performer: gidayū chanters, shamisen (three-stringed Japanese lute) players, and puppeteers. Accompanied by the shamisen, the chanter expressively intones every word of the text, as each puppet is manipulated by three puppeteers. These three types of performer must be completely in tune with each other to achieve the wonderful emotional expressiveness that transcends what human actors can convey.

Along with the theatrical traditions of Nō and Kabuki, Bunraku is one of Japan’s three major classical stage arts. Its origins can be traced back to the 17th century, when the famous chanter Takemoto Gidayū established his own ningyō jōruri (puppet plays accompanied by musical narratives) troupe, the Takemoto-za, and welcomed the great playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, the preeminent dramatic author of the time, as their company writer. Nearly all puppet theater genres throughout the world have gained popularity by taking advantage of the special characteristics of puppets to present fairy tales and fantasies that would be impossible for human actors to perform. Chikamatsu and Takemoto, in contrast, set their sights on manipulating puppets to depict human emotions that go beyond what can be expressed by a human being.

Many of the masterpieces written by Chikamatsu, who is known as Japan’s counterpart to Shakespeare, are familiar to audiences as Kabuki plays. However, most of his works were originally written for the Bunraku stage, with a high standard of quality as literature that boasts a richness of content surpassing live drama. Although the essence of the Bunraku art lies in using puppets to express human emotions, the puppets have their own special beauty and movement which, in the hands of skilled puppeteers, can be incorporated into their presentation with remarkable effectiveness. Although some puppeteers play to the crowd through a showy display of movements and set poses, Tamao has always been primarily concerned with exploring the expression of the human condition described in the jōruri (musical narrative) texts. Even in scenes that have traditionally been used as flamboyant show-stoppers, he has removed anything that rings false in terms of human expression. This is why Tamao’s art has gained a reputation for a special kind of refinement. The high acclaim he has won for his sensitive portrayal of the Heian-period courtier Sugawara Michizane (Kanshōjō) in Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami (Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy), which is noted for its lack of movement, is due in part to his modest refusal to pander to the crowd, coupled with his earnest dedication to his art.

The audience for Bunraku declined after World War II, at which time labor disputes led to the temporary break-up of the Bunraku performers into two separate troupes. These unfavorable conditions persisted for many years, plunging the art into repeated crises as master performers grew old and passed away. Through it all, Tamao remained a central member of the Bunraku community, bringing a rich sensibility to the art and engaging in constant innovation. Under the discerning eyes of his audience, he modestly polished his artistry, touching the hearts of many and surmounting all crises. In 1997, Tamao Yoshida was designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government.

Now, at the age of 87, he continues to lead the way as the ultimate master of Bunraku puppeteering, with a technique that, far from withering away, grows ever more succinct and sharply defined. His excellence on stage has also earned enthusiastic accolades in the many performances he has given abroad. Through Bunraku, Mr. Tamao Yoshida has brought the expression of the human spirit to new heights, and has earned a place among the world’s greatest artists.

It takes three puppeteers to operate one full-sized Bunraku puppet. The head puppeteer (omozukai) uses his left hand to support the torso of the puppet and operate its head, and his right hand to move the puppet’s right arm; the first assistant (hidarizukai) operates the puppet’s left arm; and the second assistant (ashizukai) operates the puppet’s feet. Working together, the three puppeteers can make the puppet move in complex ways and depict subtle psychological states, making Bunraku the most emotionally charged form of puppet theater in the world.

Tamao Yoshida’s art is the fruit of an earnest lifestyle and many years of training and refinement. In 1933, at the age of 14, he became an apprentice to the Bunraku master Tamajirō Yoshida and assumed the stage name Tamao. A Bunraku apprenticeship starts with a period of menial labor and errand-running, during which students are expected to learn the content of jōruri plays through repeated hearing of the narratives.

From this they progress to the status of second assistant puppeteer and receive instruction from the head puppeteer on the character of each of the roles. Over the course of many years of difficult training, apprentices gradually acquire the skills needed to operate the puppets. “The first three years require great perseverance,” comments Tamao. “If you can make it through those three years, you can make it through ten. And if you can make it through ten years, you can make it through thirty.” At two different times in his life, he himself found he couldn’t stand the hardship and left the troupe. Still, he always came back. “I’m not much of a talker by nature,” he says, explaining his motives. “When you operate a puppet, there’s no need to talk. Also, I gradually grew very fond of the puppets.”

During his younger years, he would listen in when others were being scolded and apply the admonitions to himself to improve his own work. He also liked to arrive at the theater earlier than anyone else, hang up the feet from a puppet, and practice puppeteering, hoping that his elders would notice and give him some pointers. Then, just as he got the chance to study with one of his heroes, the famous puppeteer Eiza Yoshida, and began to appreciate the true fascination of Bunraku, he was drafted. It was 1939, and he was 21 years old. It was a painful blow to have five-and-a-half years taken away at that critical juncture in his career, but after the war he took up again as the first assistant to Yoshida Tamasuke, and eventually began to perform as a head puppeteer.

Tamao is best known for his roles with male puppets, including powerful warriors and historical figures. However, the role thought to best display his genuine talents is that of the young soy sauce shop employee Tokubei in Sonezaki Shinjū (Love Suicides at Sonezaki). Though considered to be Chikamatsu’s greatest domestic play, this work had not been performed on stage for almost 250 years when it was revived in 1955, and it thus needed numerous modifications to bridge the differences in stage size and music between the Chikamatsu’s time and today, as well as to compensate for the lack of defined gestures for the puppets.

The Tenmaya scene between Tokubei and his lover Ohatsu in particular evidences the kind of innovative interpretations Tamao brought to this play. Chikamatsu’s script reads that when Ohatsu—seated on a veranda beneath which her lover is hiding—questions Tokubei’s resolve with her foot, he “nods and, taking her ankle, passes it across his throat to let her know that he is bent on suicide.” However, in Bunraku, female puppets have no legs, as they would always be hidden under the folds of their kimonos. Showing bare feet was even more inconceivable. For a scene such as this, when a man clings to the hem of his lover’s kimono and vows to commit double suicide with her, the traditional approach would have been to manipulate the folds the kimono to the right and left in such a way as to suggest legs and feet. But at the first performance of Sonezaki Shinjū in 1955, an exception was made for this one scene, and the long-forbidden bare “white feet” were extended from Ohatsu’s kimono, an extraordinarily erotic gesture that created, as noted scholar Donald Keene recalls, “a terrifying moment.” It was the then 36-year-old Tamao who proposed this new treatment of the scene for the first revival performance of Sonezaki Shinjū. Forty-seven years later, in 2002, Tamao performed the Tokubei role for the 1,111th time, a prodigious record.

“The essence of a traditional art like Bunraku or Kabuki is to learn the forms and movements and pass them on to the following generations,” says Tamao. “But if you really look closely at the patterns, you discover many instances where the interpretation is strained, or where a certain method was adopted simply because it’s convenient or easy to perform. I believe that part of being a traditional performer involves correcting things like that and devising your own approach. Bunraku has a history of more than 300 years. It’s important to preserve the traditions that have been passed down by the many artists who have gone before us, but I also think it’s necessary to devise creative performance methods and develop new plays that are easy for contemporary audiences to understand. In the past, the focus was on the main characters, and peripheral characters were not depicted with as much care. But I’ve changed that. Bunraku is supposed to express the essence of what it means to be human, and unless you show all of the complexity in the heart of the character, the spirit of the art will not be conveyed to the audience. It’s not just about technique—it’s about heart. To plumb the depths of the human heart, I had the entire repertory of plays sent to me on the battlefield during the war and read them with complete absorption. Even now, I study every day. And through performance, I learn things from the audience, too. There’s no end point, no completion to the art of puppetry.”

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