Bunraku

Japanese: 文楽 - ぶんらく

This puppet theater originated in Osaka during the Edo period, and was formerly called Ningyo Joruri. It is a musical drama in which a tayu and a shamisen player recite Joruri to a musical tune called Gidayubushi, and three puppeteers perform the puppets in a trinity. The tayu, shamisen player, and puppeteer are called the Sangyō (three arts). Currently, there are 90 of them. Among them, the tayu plays an important role in describing the scenes of the story alone and reciting the lines of the many characters. The early days of puppet theater began when Takemoto Gidayū opened the Takemotoza in Osaka in 1684 and began performing puppet theater in the Gidayubushi style, a new style of storytelling. In the mid-18th century, it entered its golden age, producing masterpieces such as "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami," "Yoshitsune Senbonzakura," and "Kanadehon Chushingura." In the Meiji period, Uemura Bunrakuken called itself the Bunrakuza, and after the rival Hikorokuza lineage collapsed in the Taisho period, Bunraku became the official name for this puppet theater. In 1955, it was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan, and in 1963 the Bunraku Association was established as a foundation by the national government, Osaka Prefecture and City, and in 1984 the National Bunraku Theatre was built in Osaka specifically for Bunraku. The puppets are operated by three people: a main puppeteer, a left puppeteer and a foot puppeteer. Originally, each puppet was operated by a single puppeteer, but in 1734, Yoshida Bunzaburo came up with the modern three-person puppet system for the performance of "Ashiya Doman Ouchi Kagami" at the Takemotoza Theatre. The puppet movements became more realistic, and they were able to perform complex and skillful expressions that were unparalleled anywhere in the world.

(Kenichi Yamamoto, theater critic / 2007)

Bunraku

Please see the "Tsubamesan Succession" page.

Source : "Chiezo" published by Asahi Shimbun Publications Co., Ltd. About Chiezo

Japanese:

江戸時代に大坂で生まれた人形芝居で、昔は人形浄瑠璃と呼ばれた。太夫と三味線が浄瑠璃を義太夫節という音曲で語り、人形遣いが3人で遣う三位一体となった音楽劇。太夫、三味線、人形遣いを三業(さんぎょう)という。現在は三業で90人いる。中でも太夫が、ひとりで物語の情景を描写し、多くの登場人物のせりふを語り分ける重要な役を務めている。竹本義太夫が1684年に大坂に竹本座を開き、新しい語り口である義太夫節の人形浄瑠璃を始めたのが草創期。18世紀半ばには「菅原伝授手習鑑」「義経千本桜」「仮名手本忠臣蔵」などの名作を生み、黄金時代を迎えた。明治時代に植村文楽軒が文楽座を名乗り、これに対抗した彦六座系統が大正時代に滅びてからは、文楽がこの人形浄瑠璃を指す正式名称になった。1955年に国の重要無形文化財に団体指定され、63年に国、大阪府・市などにより財団法人文楽協会が設立され、84年には大阪に専用の国立文楽劇場がつくられた。人形は主遣い、左遣い、足遣いの3人遣い。最初は1人遣いだったが、1734年に竹本座での「蘆屋道満大内鑑」の時に、吉田文三郎が今の3人遣いを考案した。人形の動きはよりリアルさを増し、世界でも例を見ない複雑で巧みな表現ができるようになった。

(山本健一演劇評論家／ 2007年)