Nothing like Punch and Judy, Bunraku presents adult puppetry at its best. A storyline of heros and bad guys, it is a spectacle in itself.
Bunraku is the oldest of all Japanese theatre styles and possibly one of the most misunderstood. To describe it as simply "˜puppetry' fails to encompass the complexity of the stories and the artistry of the puppeteers. Like many Japanese traditional arts, the puppetry of bunraku can take years to master. In particular, working harmoniously and smoothly in conjunction with two other puppeteers to make the movements and expressions of the puppet as lifelike as possible takes a great deal of patience and practice. While the puppeteers are visible, a truly good performance will make you forget that they are even there.
The history of bunraku
Bunraku has been performed in Japan for almost a thousand years and, while certain elements have remained the same, much of what is now considered "˜traditional' bunraku, was not in place until the 17th century. Early puppets had few moving parts and were operated by a single person who remained hidden as did the musicians. The puppeteer also narrated the story. This gave the performance a much simpler feel while restricting the distractions for the audience.
In 1684, as well as changes to the mechanics of the puppets being made, two men contributed to even greater changes within bunraku. One of them was Gidayu Takemoto, a famous narrator of bunraku who added his own emotive style to performances and the other was Monzaemon Chikamatsu, a well known writer of kabuki. Chikamatsu began writing bunraku plays using the Confucian ideals of loyalty over personal feelings which are prevalent in kabuki. He also wrote plays about the merchant class, in particular, about current events or occurrences which affected them. As merchants made up a large part of the audience, his plays were a huge success and are still performed today.
During the 18th century, bunraku thrived and borrowed elements of kabuki's stylised movements to make the puppets appear more real. There was much interplay between kabuki and bunraku both from a movement and from a playwriting point of view and a number of plays were adapted one from the other. It was the heyday of the art with theatres in Tokyo as well as Osaka and interest by the Shogun. However, the end of that century saw bunraku head into a slow decline as the lack of good writers caused a drop off in audience numbers.
The mechanics
Bunraku puppets are around a metre tall and are cleverly designed to be operated by three people, unlike the original puppets which only required one. All three puppeteers are visible although shrouded in black. Of the three operators, the master operates the head and right hand, the key expressive areas of the puppet. Modern puppet heads include eyebrows, eyes and jaws which can be moved to portray feelings but require dexterity and coordination. The assistant works the left hand and the apprentice works the legs. The whole, moving in synchronicity, is truly a marvel of engineering and theatre.
Modern bunraku is usually a performance of an old and famous play which is performed either at the National Theatre in Tokyo or at the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka only four times a year although there are occasional performances in other locations around Japan. Props are minimal so that the entire focus is on the puppets themselves. This is not children's theatre, but rather theatre for adults, sometimes dramatic, sometimes moving, but always an experience.
