Bunraku
Traditional Japanese puppetry
Bunraku is traditional Japanese puppet theater, featuring large puppets operated by multiple visible puppeteers dressed in black.
The art form combines narration, music from a three-stringed shamisen, and elaborate puppetry requiring years of training.
Puppets are typically half to two-thirds life-size, with one master puppeteer controlling the head and right hand while assistants manage the left hand and legs.
Ritual vocalist
- shamisenJapanese three-stringed plucked instrument
- narrationVerbal account delivery
- recitationOral delivery from memory
- stageRaised performance platform
Osaka · National Theatre · performance · drama · tragedy · repertoire · act · scene
Controlled performing figure
- marionetteString-controlled theatrical figure
- dollToy human figure
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- stringsThin flexible lines
rods · puppeteer · articulation · gesture · movement · headpiece · hands · costuming
Cultural arm of UN
- intangibleNot physically present
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
master · apprentice · lineage · school · Yoshida · Japanese · cultural · artform
chanter
Ritual vocalist
- shamisenJapanese three-stringed plucked instrument
- narrationVerbal account delivery
- recitationOral delivery from memory
stage · Osaka · National Theatre · performance · drama · tragedy · repertoire · act · scene · curtain
puppet
Controlled performing figure
- marionetteString-controlled theatrical figure
- dollToy human figure
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
strings · rods · puppeteer · articulation · gesture · movement · headpiece · hands · costuming · lifelike
UNESCO
Cultural arm of UN
- intangibleNot physically present
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
preservation · master · apprentice · lineage · school · Yoshida · Japanese · cultural · artform · national treasure
historical
Of documented times
- domesticOf the home
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
- scriptWritten words for performance
adaptation · literary · melodrama · conflict · fate · duty · emotion · tragedy · romance · samurai
- puppetryhand puppet, hand puppets, puppet shows, puppet show, marionette
- puppet showsPunch and Judy, shadow puppetry, Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, toy theater
- Japanese theaterkabuki, noh, kyogen, gagaku, kagura
- OsakaUniversal Studios Japan
- Japanese storiesfolktales, ghost stories, samurai tales, Genji
- Japanese poetrywaka, tanka, haiku, senryu, hokku
Bunrakuhuman performance
How well people execute tasks
solo performance · monodrama · one-man show · stand-up comedy · mime