Introduction to bunraku

Time = 7:03

"Bunraku is an integration of narrative, music, and puppetry." Popular traditions from the Middle Ages continue today. At the end of the 16th Century, bunraku began. Listen to the Tayu, narrator, and Shamisen player bring this exotic art form alive. Search the catalog from Japanese Language resources if you'd like to understand what is being sung about in these traditional, yet exotic, performances.

For more sights into Japanese artistry, read In Search of the Spirit: the Living National Treasures of Japan by Sheila Hamanaka. Can a person be a treasure? This book "describes the creations of some of Japan's Living National Treasures, artists who are involved in various Japanese arts, including Yuzen dyeing, bamboo basket weaving, Bunraku puppetmaking, swordmaking, Noh theater, and neriage ceramics."