Bunraku (文楽) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684, it is also known as Ningyō jōruri (人形浄瑠璃). Bunraku was originally the name of the theater in which this puppet drama was performed, but gradually it came to be used as the name of the art itself and is today used as the official name of the puppet theater.
Bunraku puppets are a half life size (4 feet tall) and are operated by three people:operator (the omozukai) and two assistants (The left puppeteer, known as the hidarizukai or sashizukai; the third puppeteer, the ashizukai); strings are not used in these performances. The puppeteers co-operate to maneuver the limbs, eyelids, eyeballs, eyebrows and mouths of the puppets, thereby producing life-like actions and facial expressions. The puppeteers are in full view of the audience, but are dressed in black to symbolize that they are to be taken as "invisible".
A single person narrates the story and is the voice of all the puppets, therefore this person must have a large range of vocal expressions to represent both genders and all ages. The pace of the narration is dictated by accompanying music, played on the shamisen.
The shamisen (三味線) is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument. The construction of the shamisen varies in shape and size, depending on the genre in which it is used. When used to accompany kabuki it has a thin neck, facilitating the agile requirements of that genre. The instrument used to accompany puppet plays and folk songs has a longer and thicker neck to match the more robust music of those genres.
Bunraku and kabuki often show stories based on adaptations of scripts with similar themes: classic tragic love stories, heroic legends and tales based on historical events are popular.
Nowadays, bunraku is mostly performed in modern theaters with Western style seats. A day's performance is usually divided into two segments (one in the early afternoon and one towards the evening), and each segment is further divided into acts. Tickets are usually sold per segment, although in some cases they are also available per act.
In 2010 an martial-arts action movie named Bunraku was made. To learn more, watch the movie.
It is delightful to watch the sophisticated puppets come to life as the performers create their intricate movements, synchronized with the narration and the music from the shamisen. If you get to see one of these shows don't hesitate to tell everyone about your experience.
-The more you know~
