Bunraku: Japanese Puppet Theater

Japanese theater · puppets · traditional art · teamwork

Three performers work together. Each bunraku performance needs puppeteers who control the dolls, chanters who tell the story with their voices, and shamisen musicians who play along. Sometimes drummers and other musicians join in to make the performance even more exciting.

Started in Osaka long ago. Bunraku was founded in Osaka, Japan during the early 1600s, which makes it over 400 years old. It has been performed continuously ever since and is still popular in Japan today.

Music and voices tell the tale. The combination of chanting and shamisen music is called jōruri, and it's the heart of bunraku. The chanter's voice and the musician's playing work together like best friends to help the audience understand what's happening in the story.

The dolls are called ningyō. The word ningyō means puppet in Japanese. These aren't simple hand puppets, but special dolls that take real skill to control and make look lifelike on stage.