Akemi's Blog

An easy way to take a peek at Bunraku

Say you happen to be in Osaka when the bunraku performance is going on. If you want to just take a peek at Bunraku, is there a way?

The National Bunraku Theatre website shows you how to do just that. Called "Makumi-seki (幕見席), you get to see only part of the performance at a discounted price.

The Makumi-seki tickets are available only at the box office of the theatre on the day of the performance. The tickets are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. After purchasing a ticket, you go up to the second floor 10 minutes before the door opens.  

The usher will escort you to your seat. And the English audio guide is available as well.

English Books and Archives on Bunraku

For those of you who have an academic interest in Bunraku, here is a list of English books written by non-Japanese Bunraku experts: Donald Keene and Barbara Curtis Adachi. 

Bunraku: The Art of the Japanese Puppet Theatre (1974, by Donald Keene)

Voices and Hands of Bunraku (1979, by Barbara Adachi)

Backstage at Bunraku: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Japan's Traditional Puppet Theatre (1985, by Barbara C. Adachi (Author), Joel Sackett (Photographer))

Donald Lawrence Keene (born June 18, 1922) is an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene is University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he taught for over fifty years. Soon after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, he retired from Columbia, moved to Japan permanently, and acquired citizenship under the name Kīn Donarudo (キーン　ドナルド, "Donald Keene" in the Japanese name order). - Wikipedia 

Barbara Curtis Adachi (1924-2004) lived most of her life in Tokyo, where she witnessed her first Bunraku performance in 1935, at the age of eleven. Her extensive involvement with the troupe began in the 1960s and continued throughout the rest of her life. She attended over four decades of Bunraku performances, conducted over one hundred interviews of Bunraku performers and behind-the-scene craftsmen, and took thousands of photographs. Ms. Adachi lectured widely both in and out of Japan on Bunraku and wrote several books including The Voices and Hands of Bunraku (1978) and Backstage at Bunraku (1985). - Columbia University

Barbara Adachi donated her rich collection of Bunraku materials to Columbia University. Thanks to her, today you can see various photos and other archives online: Barbara Curtis Adachi Bunraku Collection at C.V. Starr East Asian Library of Columbia University.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Traveling Shikoku? How about enjoying Bunraku at Uchiko-za (内子座)?

As you see the annual performance plan, Tokyo and Osaka are the two main venues for Bunraku performance.

There is one unique place that holds a Bunraku play once a year. It's a 100-year old play theatre in a small town called Uchiko (内子) in Ehime prefecture. The town's website has nice panoramic photos of the theatre. You can easily imagine how intimate it would feel inside the theatre.

This year the bunraku performance will be held on August 20 and 21. If you are planning to visit Ehime this summer, you might want to include Bunraku play in your itinerary. Here is the ticket ordering information.

 

 

Osaka - The Birth Place of Bunraku

Out of four major national theatres, only the National Bunraku Theatre is in Osaka. You may wonder why.

That's because Bunraku originated in Osaka. The first Takemoto Gidayu (竹本義太夫), a well-known narrator and the founder of Takemoto-za, collaborated with Chikamatsu Monzaemon to create a Bunraku play in 1684.

Osaka Prefecture has long been supportive of Bunraku, but in recent years it has significantly cut down on the amount of subsidy. In order to become more financially independent, the Bunraku troupe now tries to visit new places in Japan.

A Little Tricky Process for Purchasing Bunraku Tickets

You can obtain Bunraku tickets online as well as by phone and at the box office.

Japan Art Council (JAC) website compiles all the performances held at the following national theatres:

• National Theatre in Tokyo
• National Engei Hall in Tokyo
• National Noh Theatre
• National Bunraku Teatre in Osaka

JAC has an instruction page on how to buy a ticket. It looks like the image below. Since the purchase process is rather confusing, this instruction comes handy.

Usually tickets go on sale a month in advance.

 

 

Bunraku Performance Schedule - 2016

So you are interested in Bunraku and would like to see a play when you visit Japan. Then questions arise such as where and when you can see the play and how you purchase tickets. You start searching on the Internet.

So did I. I found that some of the important information is not fully translated into English. Here I will try to fill the gap by translating what I think is important information into English, so that you will find it easier to enjoy Bunraku.

I will start with the schedule.

Bunraku-Kyokai (association) posts an annual schedule, from April to March, on its website. Here is a rough translation:

2016

4/2 - 24: April Bunraku Performance
Venue: National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka
Off: 4/13

5/11 - 23: May Bunraku Performance
Venue: National Theatre (Small) in Tokyo
Title: Ehon Taikouki / Bunraku for Beginners

5/23: Discover Bunraku (Bunraku for foreigners)
Venue: National Theatre (Small) in Tokyo

5/28, 29: Chunichi Bunraku
Venue: Chunichi Theatre in Nagoya

6/3 - 16: June Performance
Venue: National Bunraku Theature in Osaka

6/18, 19: Bunraku by Young Performers
Venue: National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka

6/25, 26: Bunraku by Young Performers
Venue: National Theatre in Tokyo

7/23 - 8/9: Summer Performance
Venue: National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka

8/20, 22: Uchiko-za Bunraku
Venue: Uchiko-za in Ehime

9/3 - 19: September Performance
Venue: National Theatre (Small) in Tokyo

10/1 - 19: October Performance
Venue: various

11/1 - 20: November Performance
Venue: National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka
Off: 11/9

12/3 - 19: December Performance
Venue: National Theatre (Small) in Tokyo

 

2017

1/3 - 26: New Year Performance
Venue: National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka
Off: 1/16

2/4 - 20: February Performance
Venue: National Theatre (Small) in Tokyo

2/24 - 3/21: March Performance
Venue: various

 

Seeing is Believing: I enjoyed Bunraku in Osaka

I had a chance to see the latest Bunraku performance in Osaka with my mother, who is a long-time Bunraku fan and used to take narration lessons.

Inside the theater there is a room on the first floor where the puppet heads of the maincharacters, Shamisen (三味線: the three-string musical instrument), and other props used on the stage are on display. Volunteers are there to answer any questions you may have.

The play lasted from 3:30pm until 7:00pm, with a 30-minute intermission. Taking photos and videos were not permitted, but at least I found a teaser video clip on the National Bunraku Theatre website.

It's just amazing how real all the puppets look and how expressive their body language is. I highly recommend you see this unique performance.

How a Bunraku Puppet expresses its emotions

Bunraku puppets cry, laugh, get angry, get sad --- They are so expressive that you almost feel like you are watching a real human being.

I was always wondering how exactly the bunraku puppets are operated, until I saw the video below. Kudos to whomever first invented the mechanism to manipulate different parts of the puppet's body.

 

Bunraku ( 文楽) -- Puppets that act more lively than human actors

The tragedy Sonezaki Shinju (曽根崎心中) was first performed as bunraku in 1703.

What is bunraku?

The UNECSO website describes bunraku as follows:

"Ranking with Nô and Kabuki as one of Japan's foremost stage arts, the Ningyo Johruri Bunraku puppet theatre is a blend of sung narrative, instrumental accompaniment and puppet drama. This theatrical form emerged during the early Edo period (ca. 1600) when puppetry was coupled with Johruri, a popular fifteenth-century narrative genre."

In which city is the National Bunraku Theater located?
What kind of musical instrument is played for bunraku?
What is a narrator called?
How large is a puppet?
How many people operate one puppet? How?
How male puppets and female puppets differ?

After watching the video below, you should be able to answer all these questions. Also, you will find how lively each puppet looks. Enjoy!