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Bunraku - a start, rest tomorrow
{{Japanese characters}}
'''Bunraku''' (文楽) is the traditional puppet theater of [[Japan]]. However, it only assumed the name ''Bunraku'' towards the end of the Meiji era. Prior to that it was known as ''ningyō jōruri'' (人形浄瑠璃 "puppet narrative drama") or ''ayatsuri jōruri shibai'' (操り浄瑠璃芝居 "puppet drama plays"). The name ''Bunraku'' is taken from the theater in which this puppet drama was performed, but gradually it came to be used as the name of the art itself and is today used as the official name of the puppet theater.
''Jōruri'' also refers to a form of ''shamisen'' (a three-stringed lute-like instrument) music, and the name reflects that the puppet plays are performed to a ''jōruri'' accompaniment. It is the combination of its high-quality artistic technique, the high level of its ''jōruri'' music and the unique nature of manipulating the puppets (each puppet requires three puppeteers to bring it to life), that have led to Bunraku's world renown.
Two things differentiate ''Bunraku'' from other forms of puppet theaters around the world. The first is the duration of each play. Whilst most puppet theaters portray simple stories such as myths and legends, only ''Bunraku'' requires an entire day for its long, serious drama to play out.
Secondly, in most of the world's puppet theaters, great pains are taken to hide the manipulation of the puppeteers from the audience. This is done by either suspending the puppet from strings attached to the ceiling, as with marionettes, or placing a hand within the puppet and moving it with the fingers, as with ''guignol'' puppets; or by casting shadows upon a screen, as with the ''wayan kulit'' shadow puppets. In Bunraku, however, the puppet's manipulators appear openly, in full view of the audience.
==Also see==
* [[Kabuki]]
* [[Noh theater]]
[[category:Japanese culture]][[category:Theater]]
'''Bunraku''' (文楽) is the traditional puppet theater of [[Japan]]. However, it only assumed the name ''Bunraku'' towards the end of the Meiji era. Prior to that it was known as ''ningyō jōruri'' (人形浄瑠璃 "puppet narrative drama") or ''ayatsuri jōruri shibai'' (操り浄瑠璃芝居 "puppet drama plays"). The name ''Bunraku'' is taken from the theater in which this puppet drama was performed, but gradually it came to be used as the name of the art itself and is today used as the official name of the puppet theater.
''Jōruri'' also refers to a form of ''shamisen'' (a three-stringed lute-like instrument) music, and the name reflects that the puppet plays are performed to a ''jōruri'' accompaniment. It is the combination of its high-quality artistic technique, the high level of its ''jōruri'' music and the unique nature of manipulating the puppets (each puppet requires three puppeteers to bring it to life), that have led to Bunraku's world renown.
Two things differentiate ''Bunraku'' from other forms of puppet theaters around the world. The first is the duration of each play. Whilst most puppet theaters portray simple stories such as myths and legends, only ''Bunraku'' requires an entire day for its long, serious drama to play out.
Secondly, in most of the world's puppet theaters, great pains are taken to hide the manipulation of the puppeteers from the audience. This is done by either suspending the puppet from strings attached to the ceiling, as with marionettes, or placing a hand within the puppet and moving it with the fingers, as with ''guignol'' puppets; or by casting shadows upon a screen, as with the ''wayan kulit'' shadow puppets. In Bunraku, however, the puppet's manipulators appear openly, in full view of the audience.
==Also see==
* [[Kabuki]]
* [[Noh theater]]
[[category:Japanese culture]][[category:Theater]]