June 2003

Kinga Klein

Bunraku is considered to be a national form of the puppet theatre in Japan and is one of many ways for people to experience Japanese culture.
In my country, Hungary, puppet theatre is mainly for children. It has been a long time since I last saw a puppet theatre performance in my country but in Japan, children are rarely part of a Bunraku audience. Usually Bunraku is for adults. Some of the Bunraku plays can also be performed on Kabuki stages. For me it is very fascinating to compare the two styles. Whenever I visit the Osaka Bunraku Gekijo, There are patrons from a variety of nationalities. Bunraku seems to attract visitors to Japan and I noticed they enjoyed the play as much as I did. Even if the Taiyu (the traditional story-teller) chants in old Japanese, which is barely understandable, the play can be interesting for foreigners. There are many things which make the Bunraku play a form of good amusement. First of all, the Taiyu makes the play unforgettable. The way he chants the story is fascinating, sometimes funny or sad. He is the voice of every character, in addition to the voice of the narrator.

Now let?fs have a look to the stage. For me, the Bunraku stage was very odd. I had never seen a similar one before. The auditorium is the shape of a trapezium. The Taiyus and Shamisen players sit on the right of the auditorium (a Shamisen is a traditional stringed instrument, similar to a three-stringed guitar) There are plenty of them sitting on the stage, everyone has a part in the story to perform. Whoever has finished disappears by the art of stage technology (there is a spinning door, which hides the musician or storyteller who has finished his work immediately). Furthermore, through the magic of technology, the spinning door brings to us the new storytellers, and musicians. I like the Shamisen players as well, but forgive me I cannot write more in detail about them. To me storytellers and puppet manipulators are the real heroes.

Every storyteller has his own style; they cry and laugh together with the characters. They give voices to the old woman, or young children. Many times I realize that I forget to watch the Taiyu, while on the stage, puppet-characters are fighting, living or dying.
The puppet manipulators like Taiyu, are the kings of Bunraku in my eyes. They fill the puppets with life. Three actors manipulate each of the puppets and these are the main heroes and heroines of the play (I will sometimes call puppet manipulators, actors.) Three people are needed, because these puppets are quite heavy.
Even with three people in a team, puppet manipulators need to be in very good physical condition to withstand the rigors of a long performance.

One moves the legs; his rank is the lowest in the puppet manipulators hierarchy. Usually they are at the beginning of the study phase, which takes years. Another actor moves the left hand. While the main actor moves with his right hand the right hand of the puppet, his left hand manipulates the head of the puppet. The puppet head is on a stick. The manipulator holds this stick with the left hand, and there is a place where he has to put his finger to be able to move the eyes of the puppet. These manipulators are the most experienced. Usually they don't wear a veil, while the other manipulators wear one. But they wear high Geta, (traditional wooden shoes) which makes their work harder. They need to be taller then the other two assistants, because they hold the upper part of the puppet. Walking in these high Geta needs practise. There are various movements on the stage; carelessness can cause an accident. Usually manipulators are dressed in black.
Puppet manipulators are like the slaves of the puppets, like servants who do what the lord demands. The puppet really comes to life in the hands of good actors. I once had a chance to lift a puppet, and at that time I really understood how difficult it was to move naturally under the pressure of this weight. Besides the weight, much practice and hard work is needed to move a puppet as if it were a human being.

There is just one thing which disappoints me concerning Bunraku. It is that women are not welcomed among the official Bunraku actors. Bunraku is a ?gman?fs art?h. But, even given this circumstance

I heard of a puppet club where all the members are women. They are amateurs, but the love and effort they put towards animating the puppets brings excellent results. They practice together twice a week and they are practising for performances. Members range in age from forty to eighty and everyone is active. What I would like to say is that these women find a way to do what they like. Fortunately not just in this club, but also in other places, women nowadays can be found being manipulators, Taiyu, or Shamisen players. This is how it is in Awaji which has a Bunraku group of men and women. I liked the Awaji puppet theatre performance. As far as I could rate the program, the ability of the theatre?fs actors, storytellers, and Shamisen players was good. Here women and men work together, which for me is the most natural combination.

If you live in Wakayama, and want to see a Bunraku play, probably the Osaka Kokuritsu Bunraku Gekijo is the closest to visit. Although this troupe is male-only, I have to admit that they are really good. I highly reccomend it to you. One day maybe they will work with women too! But you should not wait until that time.

Usually they have a morning and an afternoon performance and both take around 3 hours. In each show, there are usually three acts which form a whole play. Between each part there is a break. Before sitting to watch the programme, a booklet about the play is available, and it?fs worth buying. You can find information about Bunraku, and about the artists. The whole text of the stories is written, so if you you can read Japanese, you can follow along with the storyteller. There is also an English summary about the plays. The price of a ticket is cheaper than most Kabuki performances so, if you have not seen Bunraku yet, give it a chance!
For more information on Bunraku, visit:
http://jin.jcic.or.jp/access/bunraku/history.html

Posted on June 2003 in the following categories: Opinions, Stories and Information | TrackBack(340)