2009/10/03

Bunraku (Japanese traditional puppet play) – Osaka

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All-time story of Men and women…
Let’s go to “Bugraku (Japanese traditional puppet play)”!

“Bugrake” is a traditional Japanese performing art with more than 300 years of tradition and it　has also been designated as a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO…
You may think the performance will be difficult to understand and may be too high (both in formality and price) to enjoy?
Well, you would better to watch it once.
It is amazing entertainment that brushes off your worries in an instant burst.
Listen to the emotional and unique narration of Tayu (the narrator) and the playful tunes of the Shamisen (a three-stringed musical instrument) that sounds powerful and gentle depending on the narration.
Enjoy watching the breathtaking feminine charms of a female puppet that is manipulated by puppeteers.
Puppets are alchemized! disappear! And they also fly away!?
It is pretty, graceful, delicate, gorgeous, dynamic and funny.
All of these adjectives and more describe the performance…

Let’s go to “Bunraku”!

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Bunraku performances consist of three operating roles these are Tayu, the narrator, Shamisen, and the puppeteers. As for puppeteers, three people operate one puppet; one puppeteer manipulates the puppet’s head and right hand, one the left hand, and one the feet. From the day that a program is decided to the actual performance, backstage is very busy.

When a script and casts are set, Kashira (The heads) are assigned. Each Kashira will be operated by a chief puppeteer. At the “Kashira-beya (room for the heads), kashira-garari (staff in charge of the heads) repair, repaint the heads and put make up on every head. A full-scale repair treatment that takes all the aleurone off the heads, puts wood patches in them, and repaint the heads as well as new heads. This is repeated every 20 years, so there are some dolls that are 100-years old! Kanjuro Kiritake who finds the head that he will operate in the next performance. It is impressive that he carefully and thoroughly watches the head from right to left, from top to bottom, from side with angle and vis-à-vis. Then Kazura (the Wigs) and Tokoyama (hair stylists) create wigs and put the hair up, including putting in hair accessories. Copper and aluminium are used for the base of the wig, then, plaited hair is sewn onto the base. It seems that every hair style and hair accessory reflects the interpretation and style to suit the age of the doll.

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The costume room is crammed with a lot of piled-up costumes. There are only two differences in the costumes for the dolls compared to human’s costumes. They have openings in the back so that the puppeteer can insert his hands, and they are also smaller than life-size costumes. Isho-gakari (costumer) creates the costumes right from the dyeing to the sewing; every stitch is made by hand. Up to 70-80 dolls appear on stage in one performance. Isho-gakari makes some alterations to the costumes such as putting some cotton into the costume for more volume. They also prepare a serious of vanity items such as Obi (sash) and Obijime (obi band).

From the scenery to the art of the costume, they devote a great deal of time and care to the performance. Everything involves special art and technique!

Osaka / National Bunraku Theater

Photo by Yuji Tozawa

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