Bunraku

On Wednesday night, I went to a bunraku performance. Bunraku is basically Japanese puppet theater, but the puppets are 3/4 lifesize and are operated by three men. The first man is wearing traditional Japanese clothes and he operates the head and right hand. The other two puppeteers are dressed in black hooded outfits (like black KKK capes). One operates the feet, and the other operates the left hand and props. The puppeteers are silent throughout the performance. A narrator and shamisen player sit off to the side of the stage and provide all the sound.

The sets were beautiful, as were the puppets and their costumes. The stories, however, were incomprehensible. I did a bit of online research beforehand so I would understand the plot, but found very little information on the internet. It was even more difficult to follow because the puppeteers did not do the voices for their puppets. The narrator did all the voices and emotion, so I had to constantly look to him to see what was happening.

I think we saw two short plays and a third longer play, but I'm not even sure of that! The first short play had the same scene as shown this picture from the wikipedia bunraku webpage.
I have no idea what was happening in the third play. Something about a blind girl who could play the koto (Japanese harp). I caught the words "samurai", "dangerous", and "vacation/rest". Then at the end someone committed ritual suicide, and the blind girl might have drunk poison, I'm not really sure. (Love stories that end in suicide are classic bunraku plays.)

But even without being able to follow the stories, the 2 and 1/2 hour performance flew by!

Photos were not allowed during the performance. The photo above is from a website. And here are a couple more websites with more information and photos: http://www.bunraku.or.jp/english.html

http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/bunraku/en/index.html