Bunraku Theatre

The name of a puppet theater and troupe. It began when Uemura Bunrakuken, a native of Awaji, set up a Joruri hut near Osaka's Kozubashi Bridge during the Kansei era (1789-1801). Later, Bunraku-o IV moved to Matsushima, Osaka in 1872 (Meiji 5) and put up a sign saying "Officially Licensed Bunraku Puppet Theater." The name Bunraku-za began here. In 1884, Toyosawa Danpei II and others led the Hikoroku Theater, which opened in the grounds of Bakuro-cho Inari in Osaka, so the theater moved to the grounds of the rival Goryo Shrine, and was called Goryo Bunraku thereafter. From then on, Bunrakuza enjoyed its heyday, but due to the failure of its owner, management was transferred to Shochiku General Partnership in 1909 (Meiji 42). Shochiku started out with a new performance format, but in 1926 (Taisho 15), Goryo Bunrakuza burned down. In 1930 (Showa 5), ​​the old Chikamatsuza in Yotsubashi was renovated and opened, prospering greatly, but in 1945, it burned down again in an air raid during World War II. It quickly recovered in February of the following year, but in the chaos of the post-war period, Bunrakuza as a theater company split into two factions, the Chinami-kai and the Mitsuwa-kai, and the company went through a difficult period of 15 years. During that time, in 1981, the Bunrakuza Theatre moved to a new building in Dotonbori and became the headquarters of the Inkai, but the company's business began to decline, and in 1988, its management was finally taken over by Shochiku to the Bunraku Association, a foundation, and the two factions merged, with Bunrakuza Theatre changing its name to Asahiza Theatre. Since then, Bunrakuza Theatre has continued to exist only as the name of the company, until April 1984, when the National Bunraku Theatre opened in Nipponbashi, Osaka, and began to serve as a theatre exclusively for Bunraku.

[Jiro Yamamoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

人形浄瑠璃(じょうるり)の劇場名および劇団名。淡路出身の植村(うえむら)文楽軒が寛政(かんせい)年間（1789～1801）に大坂高津橋(こうづばし)そばに浄瑠璃の小屋を設けたのが始めで、のち4世文楽翁が1872年（明治5）に大阪松島に移り「官許人形浄瑠璃文楽座」の看板を掲げた。文楽座の座名はここに始まる。84年2世豊沢(とよさわ)団平らの彦六(ひころく)座が大阪博労町稲荷(ばくろうちょういなり)境内(けいだい)に開場したため、対抗上御霊(ごりょう)神社境内に移転、以後、御霊文楽とよばれた。以来文楽座の全盛時代を迎えたが、座主の失敗のため1909年（明治42）に経営は松竹合名会社に譲渡された。松竹は新しい興行形式で出発したが、26年（大正15）に御霊文楽座が焼失。30年（昭和5）に四ツ橋の旧近松座を改装して開場し大いに栄えたが、45年に第二次世界大戦中の空襲でふたたび焼失した。翌年2月いち早く復興したが、戦後の混乱で劇団としての文楽座は因(ちなみ)会と三和(みつわ)会の二派に分裂し、15年にわたり苦難の時期を過ごした。その間56年、道頓堀(どうとんぼり)に文楽座が新築移転して因会の本拠となったが、劇団の経営が振るわなくなったため、ついに63年その運営は松竹から財団法人文楽協会に引き継がれ、両派は合同、文楽座は朝日座と改称した。以来文楽座は劇団名としてのみ存続していたが、84年4月、大阪日本橋(にっぽんばし)に国立文楽劇場が開場し、文楽の専用劇場としての役割を果たすことになった。

［山本二郎］

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