Bunraku: Japan's Three-Person Puppet Theater and Its Osaka Home

On a stage in Osaka, a puppet half the size of a person lifts a sleeve to hide a tear. Its eyelids flutter, its fingers close slowly around a letter, and its shoulders sag with a quiet sigh. Behind it stand three men, two of them dressed in black from head to foot, moving together so smoothly that after a few minutes the audience forgets to look at them at all. This is bunraku, Japan's classical puppet theater, and it is among the most moving stage arts in the world.

This guide explains how bunraku works, what the three puppeteers, the chanter, and the shamisen player each do, and how a combined art of sound and motion grew out of the merchant culture of Osaka. It also introduces the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, some of the most famous plays, UNESCO's recognition of the art, and practical advice for seeing a performance at the National Bunraku Theatre.

A Theater of Sound and Motion

Bunraku belongs to the family of ningyo joruri, a stage art that combines puppetry with joruri, a dramatic narrative chanted to the music of the shamisen (a three-stringed lute). It is counted alongside noh and kabuki as one of Japan's foremost stage arts. The chanter, called the tayu, sits on a raised platform to one side of the stage and speaks every role, male and female, young and old, changing voice and intonation for each. Beside him the shamisen player supplies rhythm, mood, and emotion on a larger, lower-pitched instrument known as the futozao.

The platform, called the yuka, can revolve, so that a fresh pair of performers rotates into view at the end of a scene. This keeps the pace smooth in plays that last several hours. The result is an art in which text, music, and movement all carry equal weight and in which a single chanter can carry a whole drama with the voice alone.

The Three Puppeteers

Each main puppet is operated by three people, and they stand in full view of the audience behind a waist-high screen. The omozukai (main puppeteer) holds the head and controls the puppet's right hand. The hidarizukai (left-hand puppeteer) operates the left hand, and the ashizukai (foot puppeteer) moves the legs and feet, or the hem of the kimono on female characters. At the National Bunraku Theatre, the main puppeteer often appears with his face uncovered, while the assistants wear black robes and hoods that make them nearly invisible to the eye.

The training is famously long. Puppeteers typically spend about ten years each on the feet, the left hand, and secondary heads before they are trusted with the head of a main character. Puppets themselves are works of craft. The heads, called kashira, and hands are carved by specialists. There are roughly 80 broad types of head, and the Japan Arts Council lists 129. Some have built-in tricks, such as a head that can change a gentle woman into a demon, or one that can reveal a nine-tailed fox.

Origins in Osaka

Puppetry in Japan goes back many centuries, to traveling performers known as kugutsu-mawashi in around the 11th century. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, puppetry joined with joruri chanting and the shamisen, and the modern art took shape in Osaka. In 1684 the chanter Takemoto Gidayu established a puppet theater in the city, and his collaboration with Chikamatsu Monzaemon made the form a sensation. Until the 18th century the puppet handlers were hidden, but they gradually came into view, and by the middle of that century the art had its characteristic style.

The word bunraku itself did not originally mean the whole art. It first referred to a theater opened in Osaka in 1805, the Bunrakuza, named after the troupe of Uemura Bunrakuken. Over time the name came to stand for the tradition as a whole. In 1963 two rival troupes merged to form the Bunraku Kyokai, which today is the organization that presents the art.

Chikamatsu and the Great Plays

Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who lived in the 17th and early 18th centuries, wrote more than 100 plays for the puppet stage and is often called the Shakespeare of Japan. About 70 of his puppet plays are jidaimono (historical dramas), and 24 are sewamono (domestic dramas about ordinary townspeople). The domestic plays are now considered the heart of his achievement. The Love Suicides at Sonezaki, from 1703, was one of the earliest domestic plays for the puppet stage and was a hit that helped revive the Takemoto Theater.

His historical drama The Battles of Coxinga, from 1715, ran for seventeen months and became a model for later history plays. The Love Suicides at Amijima, from 1721, is generally regarded as his finest domestic work. Another landmark is Kanadehon Chushingura, an 11-act play composed in 1748 about the loyal retainers of a wronged lord, which was quickly adapted for kabuki. These works deal with conflict between love and duty, and many of them remain regular parts of the repertoire.

UNESCO and the Modern Stage

UNESCO proclaimed Ningyo Johruri Bunraku a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003, and the art was placed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Performers, puppet makers, and the troupe itself have been designated Living National Treasures in Japan's system for preserving culture. A 2004 performance at UNESCO's headquarters brought the art to an international audience.

Beyond Osaka, regional puppet traditions continue. Puppets from Awaji are among the largest, because productions there are often held outdoors, while Osaka puppets are somewhat smaller. The Bunraku troupe also tours within Japan, performs in Tokyo, and occasionally travels abroad, and the art keeps attracting new young puppeteers and fans.

How to Follow a Play

The plots draw on two broad worlds: historical dramas set in the age of the samurai, and contemporary stories about townspeople caught between personal feelings and social duty. UNESCO describes these as plays about love and obligation, and that tension drives much of the emotion. The language of the chanter can be hard even for Japanese listeners, so a little preparation goes a long way.

Watch the puppet first and the puppeteers second. The chief handler controls not only the head and right hand but also fine details such as the eyes, eyebrows, lips, and fingers, and the tiny movements are where much of the acting happens. A raised eyebrow or a trembling hand can say more than a line of text. After a while, the black-clad assistants fade from attention, a convention the audience shares with the performers, and the puppet seems to breathe by itself. Listen as well to the shamisen, which often signals a change of mood a moment before the chanter does.

Plan Your Visit

The National Bunraku Theatre is at 1-12-10 Nipponbashi in Chuo Ward, Osaka. It opened in 1984 as Japan's fourth national theater, and its main hall has roughly 700 seats. The resident troupe presents day-long runs four times a year, in January, April, July or August, and November, and the performances then move to the National Theatre in Tokyo. Because programs and ticket details change each season, check the official site of the Japan Arts Council for current schedules and booking information.

A few tips make a first visit easier. Look into whether English explanatory materials are available at the theater, and read a short synopsis of the play beforehand so the story is easy to follow. Arrive early to see the stage and the program, since the stories can be intricate. Many programs are divided into acts, so you may be able to choose a performance that fits your schedule. Photography and recording are usually restricted during shows, and quiet and respectful behavior in the auditorium is expected.