Japanese traditional -- BUNRAKU

With a history dating back 400 years, BUNRAKU is one of Japans' distinctive traditional performing arts. It combines puppet plays with joruri, stories narrated with musical a accompaniment. Duty and obligation, tragic love, the ties between parents and children.... BUNRAKU features themes like these that resonate strongly with the Japanese people.



The stories acted out bye the puppets are told through narration and music. ON the stage, a plat form can be seen on the right. It revoles to reveal the TAYU, or narrator, and a shamisen player. In most cases, there is only one TAYU and one shamisen player. The TAYU provides an explanation of the action on stage and also recites the dialogue of all characters. This is done with a unique cadence and vocal style known as GIDYU-BUSI. The TAYU and shamisen player are in place and the puppets are ready on stage. The performance begins.



Most of the puppets are operated by three puppeteers. Even though the faces of the principle puppeteers are visible, the audience focuses most on the intricate movements and the expressions of the puppets. There are many kinds of BUNRAKU puppets. They features a number of kinds of ingenious and mechanisms.



The head is the most important part of the puppet. There are around 30 different male heads and 10 female heads. Each BUNRAKU puppet consists simply of a head and torso. Male puppets have arms and legs connected with strings. While female puppets have no legs at all. It is the way that costumes are arranged over these parts, and the movements of the puppeteers that give the puppets the lifelike bodies.



The puppets' expressions are so vivid you imagine that you can hear them breathing. Sometimes they cry and sometimes they laugh. They are brought to life by the exquisite skill of the puppeteers. The way the head is moved can also change the expression. Tilting is downwards gives the face a rather sombre look. Cocking the head upwards produces a more cheerful look. Subtle changes like this can produce a wide range of expression.



On some of the head of woman, there is a pin fitted beside the mouth. It is used to hold a clothe or the sleeve of the woman's KIMONO in place. She(the woman puppet) seems to biting on the fabric while shaking her head,portraying a state of emotional suffering. In the much-loved BUNRAKU masterpieces, dramatic stores are hold though a combination of expert puppetry, the dynamic sound of shamisen, and the verbal virtuosity of the TAYU narrators.