Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2010

Courtesy of The National Theater of Japan

The iconic Japanese art of bunraku puppetry is also one of its more obscure. Kabuki and masked noh plays are often staged overseas, but bunraku remains stubbornly less well-known.

One woman aims to change this. Over the last few years, Eriyo Watanabe of the Center for Arts and Wellness has been leading backstage tours of bunraku performances at the National Theater. The next takes place in February, with more planned for the spring and fall.

The tours grew out of Watanabe’s friendship with puppeteer Bunshi Yoshida, a member of one of the clans who for generations have devoted their lives to mastering the complicated art of manipulating bunraku puppets.

Thought to have had its beginnings in the 15th century, bunraku didn’t reach its present form until the Meiji period (1868-1912), making it one of Japan’s younger performing arts. It unites three art forms: a tayu, or narrator, who tells the story; shamisen players who provide musical accompaniment; and three zukai puppet manipulators who move the dolls to match the words of the story.

The most important puppeteer, the omo-zukai, is responsible for the right arm and head of the puppet, while the hidari-zukai is responsible for moving the left arm and the ashi-zukai the puppet’s feet. The division of labor makes possible more intricate and subtle movements. Puppeteers start their apprenticeship with the feet, and it can take up to 30 years to become an omo-zukai.

With the Japanese audience for bunraku aging rapidly (Watanabe says it consists of “Japanese people probably between 50-80 years old”), the form is reaching out to an international audience. “The very feminine and elegant expression of the lady puppet, which is manipulated by three men, is something that foreigners are moved by,” according to Watanabe.

The upcoming tour will take in a performance of one of Japan’s most famous plays, Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s Sonezaki Shinju, a vintage double-suicide story about a pair of star-crossed young lovers that will resonate for anyone familiar with Romeo and Juliet.

First performed in 1703, the drama by “Japan’s Shakespeare” depicts the ill-fated romance between a young orphan merchant clerk named Tokubei and his lover Ohatsu. Misfortune upon misfortune follows the pair after Tokubei’s boss (and uncle) arranges for him to marry his wife’s niece, and ultimately they commit bloody suicide at Sonezaki shrine.

The performance will start from 6:30pm and the backstage tour from around 6pm. Due to the harried pre-performance state of the puppeteers, the tour will last only 15 minutes, but during that time Watanabe says visitors will be able to touch the puppets, some of them taller than 1m, and feel their heft. They will enter from the performers’ entrance (gakuya) and learn about the puppets directly from the puppeteers. The tour ends with a look at the stage props and gadgets used to manipulate the puppets.

February Bunraku Performance
Classic puppetry performances including Sonezaki Shinju. Feb 5-21, various times, ¥1,500-¥5,700. National Theatre of Japan, Hanzomon. Tel: 03-3230-3000 (Japanese). For bunraku backstage tour, please contact Eriyo Watanabe, eriyo@arts-wellness.com, TEL: 080-6552-4709