Cultural Foundations
Dolls displayed in family shrines
Kugutsu - simple stick puppets
8th C. - Shinto rituals & Sangaku entertainments
Mechanical dolls
Shinto ceremonies
15th C. - No & Kyogen plays
Marionettes
14th C. - Buddhist teaching device
Mechanical dolls
Playthings of aristocracy
Shinto festivals & parades
Early History - Puppet Theatre
Stick puppet theatre
1000 AD
Popular throughout rural Japan
Now only on Sado island
1 shamisen player, 1 narrator
1 puppeteer per puppet
Temporary stage
Early History - Joruri
Precursor form
16th C
Combined existing art forms:
Puppetry
Storytelling & chanting
Shamisen music
By 17th C
Traveling puppeteers
Small portable stages, hung around neck
Small hand puppets
Joruri Develops
Kanjin performances (audience paid)
Larger, less portable stages
Stories from feudal period - romantic poetry
Told by storytellers
Accompanied by lute (biwa)
Chanting/storytelling tradition
evolved into narrators of the Bunraku
Joruri Refinement
Commercial form
Developing concurrently with Kabuki
Serving same audience
Kabuki & puppet theatre become similar
Kabuki actors adopted puppet poses
Pirated scripts borrowed back & forth
Certain conventions remained distinct
Kabuki more stylized; spectacular
emphasized actor
Puppet theatre more realistic
emphasized narrator
Location & Development
Significant initial development in Kyoto
17th C - emphasis moved to Edo
1651 & 1657 - great fires in Edo
Puppet theatre moved to Osaka & Kyoto
Osaka main center of puppet theatre today
Early Characteristics
Puppeteers behind curtain
Narrator
Accompanied himself
Hidden behind curtain
Changes in musical accompaniment
Biwa fell out of favor
Jabisan introduced from Korea
Developed into Shamisen
Used for puppet theatre & Kabuki
Important Developments
1705 - Operators visible part of the time
1715 - moveable scenery added
1724 - 3-man manipulation system
1727 - greater articulation
eyes, mouths, fingers
1725 - 1780 - height of popularity
Later Characteristics
18th & 19th C
Puppet operators hooded in black
Narrator/chanter & shamisen players featured
Late 19th C
Head operators become famous
Wear formal Kamishimo; not hooded
Puppet articulation improves
Introduced from earlier mechanical dolls
Transitional Form - Joruri Shibai
Narration is most important
2nd importance - shamisen player
Least important - puppeteers
Narrator is scholar & performer
Narrator provides
Vocal variation for different characters
Formal voice for exposition of story
Stories - legends of feudal period
Upper classes - daimyos, samurai, ronin
Serious themes - revenge & honor
Play Text Characteristics
Groupings of characters (good/bad)
Melodramatic
Emphasis on human situation
Heavily emotional
Conflict between characters
Supernatural & animal characters
5-act play structure
High literary value (No tradition)
Collaborative authorship
Important Playwright
Chikamatsu Monzaemon - 1653 - 1725
Takemoto Za
Worked singly (no collaboration)
Greater literary value
Wrote for outstanding narrator
Takemoto Gidayu 1651 - 1714
Lifetime collaboration
Responsible for development & refinement of puppet theatre form
Narrative style, dramatic form, 3 operators
Bunraku Develops
Uemura Bunraku-ken 1737 - 1810
Came to Osaka - 1800
Formed Awaji Za
Prior conditions
Large found spaces
Large dolls (4’ - 5’), cruder craftsmanship
His contributions
Greater sophistication - visuals
Refined performance - best chanters, operators
Permanent theatre spaces - more intimate
Reduced size (3’) - improved craftsmanship
Bunraku Puppet Construction
Doll heads
Cedar wood
Halved, hollowed out, moveable parts added
Wigs & costumes
Wigs - carefully dressed & ornamented
Attached by groove along hairline
Costumes stitched to doll
Articulation
Facial features, legs, arms, hands & fingers
Male more elaborate articulation than female
Puppet Structure
Armature
Wood, bamboo, paper, cloth & string
Crude on inside
Toggle switches & pulleys
Toggles pivot on bamboo pins
Thin whalebone springs restore position of toggles
3 Puppet Manipulators
Omozukai
Operates head & right arm of puppet
Keeps puppet at correct height
Initiates movement
Usually visible, not hooded
Hidarizukai
Operates left arm of puppet
Follows music cues to coordinate
Ashizukai
Operates feet & legs
Manipulator Training
Each aspect requires 10 years of study
30 years before performing lead role
Senior omozukai trains new puppeteers
Apprentice system
Complex muscle memory
Can’t explain what they do
Puppet Preparation
Head manipulator prepares puppet
Assisted by 2nd manipulator
Considered a ritual
Head selected by character type & role
Wigs chosen & added to head
Costumes stitched on
Puppets not sacred
Considered theatre props
Movement
Furi - Realistic human actions
Kata
Technical movements related to martial arts
Mie
Males only
Static pose showing great strength
Adopted by the Kabuki
Ushiroburi - “Turning to the rear”
Female doll pose
Done on upstage exit - poignant dramatic effect
Bunraku Puppet Stage
Horizontal format
Similar to Kabuki
Scaled for size of dolls
30 - 40’ wide
Highest point - 8 to 12’
3 ledges - Tesuri
One foot wide
Increase in height, moving upstage
Tesuri Functions
1st Tesuri
Fore stage - generally black - no action
2nd Tesuri
7 feet of maneuvering room for operators
Low groundrow - visual baseline or floor
All important action here
3rd Tesuri
Lesser characters here
Upstage of 3rd Tesuri
Variable for needs of play
Background scenery
Optional hanamichi
