Bunraku-za Playbill
A Collection of Representative Masterpieces, 1932
Cover
文楽座 十一月興行 人淨溜形淨
Bunraku-za, November performance, Puppet Theater
IHL Cat. #2737
The Goryō Bunraku-za 御霊文楽座 at Goryō Shrine 御霊文楽座
image source: The Sankei Shinbum https://www.sankei.com/article/20170225-JLENKKTV4RO4ZD4Z4CKKJDRWDM/
Goryō Bunraku-za 御霊文楽座, Interior, 1914
Insets top left - Calligraphy of the great dramatist of the puppet theater Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) and bottom right - Chikamatsu's grave at Myoho-ji temple.*
image source: National Diet Library https://www.ndl.go.jp/scenery/kansai/data/72/index.html
Yotsubashi Bunraku-za (四ツ橋文楽座 ), owned by Shōchiku Kogyo Co., Ltd. and completed December 1929
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BUNRAKU-ZA
"Bunraku (ningyō jōruri) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater characterized by almost life-sized puppets accompanied by narrative chanting and shamisen music. The name bunraku is derived from a puppet troupe founded by Uemura Bunrakuken early in the 19th century. The earliest form of bunraku was introduced by Japanese storyteller Takemoto Gidaya in 1684 when he set up his own theatre in Osaka, Japan.
Founded in 1872, the Bunraku-za (Bunraku Theater), was moved within the Goryō Shrine compound in Osaka in 1884. Sold to the Shōchiku entertainment conglomerate in 1909, the Goryō Bunraku-za burned down together with its puppets and costumes in November 1926 after what has been described as "an extremely difficult managerial era" and "lost interest" by the public in the late Taishō era.
Upon opening a new theater in 1930, the Yotsubashi Bunraku Theater, the Shōchiku introduced the custom, generally maintained to the present day, of performing collections of favorite scenes from the classic plays, rather than complete performances of single plays, with the hope that shorter programs with more variety would improve attendance. In an economic climate hampered by the Great Depression and the beginning of the invasion of Manchuria, however, this met with limited success. In 1933, Japan’s national legislature, the Diet, created a subsidy to help ensure the survival of bunraku.
With the American bombing of Osaka in 1945, the theater, puppet heads, costumes, and props were destroyed a second time. The Shōchiku was able to open in temporary premises by 1946, moving to a new building in the Osaka theater district in 1956, but a general atmosphere of disillusionment in Japan during the post-war period once again robbed bunraku of its cultural value.
In 1963, the Bunraku Kyōkai (Bunraku Association) was established as a non-profit organization to insure the survival of Bunraku and the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka (Kokuritsu Bunraku Gekijō) was established "to take over the heritage of the Bunraku-za and insure the survival of Bunraku."
In 1984, the organization opened a new theatre, Kokuritsu Bunraku Gekijō (National Bunraku Theatre), located a few steps from Dōtonbori, the traditional theatre quarter in Osaka.
On November 7, 2003, in the 2nd Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Ningyō Jōruri Bunraku was chosen as one of the UNESCO's Intangible Heritage items for its excellence.
Sources: Traditional Kyoto https://traditionalkyoto.com/culture/bunraku/ [accessed 8-5-24]; Association for Asian Studies, "History and Sustainability of Bunraku, the Japanese Puppet Theater" https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/history-and-sustainability-of-bunraku-the-japanese-puppet-theater/ [accessed 8-5-24]; Unima Internationale - World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts https://wepa.unima.org/en/japan/ [accessed 8-5-24]; National Diet Library "Goryo Bunrakuza" https://www.ndl.go.jp/scenery/e/column/kansai/goryo_bunrakuza.html [accessed 8-5-24]
Today's Bunraku-za
National Bunraku Theater (国立文楽劇場 Kokuritsu Bunraku Gekijō), photo taken 2013
image source: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Bunraku_Theatre_,_%E5%9B%BD%E7%AB%8B%E6%96%87%E6%A5%BD%E5%8A%87%E5%A0%B4_-_Panoramio_94131155.jpg
Cover
文楽座 十一月興行 人淨溜形淨
文楽座 部 金十五錢
Bunraku-za, November performance, Puppet Theater,
Bunraku-za Price: 15 sen
Overall size: 7 1/2 x 5 3/16 in. (19 x 12.9 cm)
click on an image to enlarge
Schedule and list of performances
Opening Performance: Ehon Taikōki (The Illustrated Chronicles of the Regent) from the Nijō Castle scene to the Amagasaki scene.
Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy - the Terakoya (Village School) scene.
Love Suicides at Amijima - Koharu and Jihei, scene in the Temma Paper Shop.
Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees: A Lyrical Journey to the First Breath of Spring (a.k.a. Journey with the Fox).
Performance starts at 3:00PM finishing at 10:30PM with 50 total minutes of intermission between plays.
Foldout playbill for the performance
文楽座辻番付 Tsuji banzuke
Preface
top section: Welcoming and introductory comments for the November performance, "A Representative Collection from the Eighteen Famous Plays," the last performance of the year.
* for a complete transcription and translation of the introductory comments click here.
middle section: Information on ticket sales and pricing, with tickets ranging from 3 yen 50 sen for a first class floor seat to 80 sen for a third class seat. An announcement about footwear.
bottom section: Advertisement for Nagai-nitieido insatsu sho, an Ōsaka printing company.
p. 6-7
Nijō Castle Scene from Ehon Taikōki - roles and players (jōruri narrators and puppeteers) and story
p. 4-5
"About the Puppet Theater" (cont.)
p. 2-3
"About the Puppet Theater" - Development of the puppet theater, establishment of the Bunraku-za and description of puppet heads
p. 12-13
right page: Myōshin-ji Temple scene from Ehon Taikōki - roles and players (jōruri narrators and puppeteers) and story
(cont.)
left page: Evening Under the Moonflower Trellis scene and Amagasaki scene from Ehon Taikōki, roles and players (jōruri narrators and puppeteers) and Evening Under the Moonflower Trellis- story
p. 10-11
Myōshin-ji Temple scene from Ehon Taikōki - roles and players (jōruri narrators and puppeteers) and story
(cont.)
p. 8-9
right page: Nijō Castle scene from Ehon Taikōki - roles and players (jōruri narrators and puppeteers) and story
(cont.)
left page: Scene at Myōshin-ji Temple from Ehon Taikōki - roles and players (jōruri narrators and puppeteers) and story
p. 18-19
Amagasaki scene - story (cont.)
p. 16-17
Evening Under the Moonflower Trellis scene - story (end) and Amagasaki scene - story
p. 14-15
Evening Under the Moonflower Trellis scene - story (cont.)
p. 24-25
The Village School scene and scene of Matsuō's Examination of the Decapitated Head from Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy - story (cont.)
p. 22-23
The Village School scene and scene of Matsuō's Examination of the Decapitated Head from Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy - roles and players (jōruri narrators and puppeteers) and story
p. 20-21
Amagasaki scene - story (cont.)
p. 30-31
The Village School scene and scene of Matsuō's Examination of the Decapitated Head from Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy - story (cont.)
p. 28-29
The Village School scene and scene of Matsuō's Examination of the Decapitated Head from Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy - story (cont.)
p. 26-27
The Village School scene and scene of Matsuō's Examination of the Decapitated Head from Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy- story (cont.)
p. 36-37
The Temma Paper Shop scene from Love Suicides at Amijima - story (cont.)
p. 34-35
The Temma Paper Shop scene from Love Suicides at Amijima - story (cont.)