Introduction
Bunraku is one of the most misapprehended theatre styles for the Japanese. It is a form of puppetry, which is complex and usually hard to master. Mostly, the Bunraku involves a number of puppeteers who must work pleasantly in order to make expressions and movements of the puppets in a way that the audience understands and feels like the puppets are representing real people. Notably, the Bunraku has been a major performance in Japanese theatres for many years since the 17th century[1]. The puppets in Bunraku performance consisted of moving parts and they were usually operated by one person who was usually hidden. According to Cavaye, “the puppeteer narrated a story while moving the puppets in order to make movements and expression as he narrates the story “(101).
However, the Banraku performance has changed with time whereby the puppets now appear real and can be operated by three different puppeteers who can be seen but they are however masked in black. The three puppeteers as shown in the image below’ operates different parts of the puppet. One of the puppeteers operates the head ’kashira’ and right hand the assistant puppeteer operates the left hand while the apprentice operates the legs. It is worth noting that Bunraku puppets involve the most famous and old plays which are either performed in Bunraku theatre in Osaka Japan as well Tokyo’s national theatre (Karatani, 13).
Bunraku puppet
The Battles of Coxinga by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
The battle of Coxinga play forms one of the great successes in the puppetry theaters. The play is a story that is based on a man who was popularly known as Coxinga who had parents from different origin. His father was a Chinese while his mother was Japanese. However, Coxinga was determined to reinstate rulers who were referred to as the Ming by overthrowing the Manchus. Coxinga did not succeed in reality but from the story he succeeded as “Wantoi”. The play is one of the best chronological and well-liked plays under the Chikamatsu Monzaemon. Though the play lacks good character development, it thrives in giving the puppetry theatre exclusivity as a recital art and achievement of prospects that are usually hard to perform without live actors.
The Bunraku Performance
The Bunraku performance success lies on the interrelations among, the puppets, puppeteers, narrator as well as the musicians. Bunkaru origin as well as the role of each person in the performance is the key elements of investigating the interrelations among the puppets, puppeteers, narrator and the musicians in order to form a convoluted type of puppetry. For better understanding of the elements involved in Chikamatsu Bunkaru presentation, one must comprehend the place where he formed and assembled his play’s themes (Cavaye, 101).
Chikamatsu Monzaemon is usually referred as the Japanese Shakespeare due to his mastery as a writer, his play’s dominance as well cultural implication of his works. His unique art of giving narration through the use of puppets has made him to become and outstanding playwright (Gerstle, 4). However, his real name is Sugimori Nobumori, the number two son of the Samurai family[2]. As a teenager, Chikamatsu practiced mythical career where he published “haiku” which was his first piece of literature which include a poem collection. He is believed to have gotten his stage name from the temple where he stayed before he began his dramatist career.
However, his connection to a puppeteer by the name Takemoto Gidayu helped him to write numerous plays. His plays mostly relied on historical romances and domestic tragedies. It is worth noting that most of Chikamatsu literature was based on real life happenings with an example of the battles of Coxinga (Gerstle, 4). His work is unique due to addition of human elements. He highlights the significance of dependability and individual thoughts as well as the tragedy that befalls people .The Bunraku performance theatres were mainly used to convey such themes.
Bunkaru performance involves creative methods whereby its most astonishing music’ Joruri’ corresponds with the puppet manipulation done by the puppeteers. The tale being portrayed in the Bunraku performance takes a long time to unfold thus adding to the exceptionality of the Bunraku puppetry. During the Bunraku performance, different characters are allocated different scenes which take maximum of ten hours. Baraister, asserts that “during the play performance, the puppets, puppeteers, the narrator as well as the music interrelate with each other while applying personal techniques” (7). The relationship among the elements involved in Bunraku performance helps to bring out a brilliant performance that leaves the audience intrigued.
A single chanter or narrative is involved in the play whereby he is required to alter his pitch in order to site the different characters involved in the play. The narrator is usually sited close to the ‘shamise’ player on platform that turns in order to bring other musician for the following scene as indicated in the image below. The musician who sits next to the “shamise” provides the Bunraku music which is quite essential for the performance of plays with an example of the battles of Coxinga. The contribution of the key elements in Bunkaru performance is determined by the harmony and their interrelation. The chanter performs the voices of the characters involved in the performance as well as the voice of the person giving the narration. The chanter’Tayu’ is required to express emotions as well as demonstrate expressions of different characters in the performance. The emotional facets of the spectators are maximized through exaggeration of voices and emotions by the chanter (Karatani, 13).
Tayu shamisen
In the battle of Coxinga, the chanter must suite the voices of the Watonai, Sedan, Ikkan origin and Komutsu. In beginning of the battles of Coxinga performance, the puppeteers turn while hiding the puppets from the audience. There is a good coordination between the puppeteers and the musicians as well as the chanters who replaces the two puppeteers. Through out the play there requires to be good interrelation among the puppets, puppeteers, narrator and the musicians. Notably, there are parts which require up to nine puppeteers but they should still interrelate adequately with the other components in the play[3]. The chanter would be required to interconnect with the ‘shamise’ player and he also needs to stay focused on shamise as well the movements of the puppets which is controlled and directed by the puppeteers.
The ‘Joruri’ interaction with ‘shamise’ is quite crucial as it helps the chanter to create the viewers’ emotions. Notably, ‘shamise’ is a stringed instruments’ shown in the image below’that takes the form of a guitar which supports the moods and actions required in every part in the play. The player of ‘shamise’ and the joruri must sit next to each other in Bunraku performance since they require synchronization during their performance (Baraister, 7). The ‘shamise’ player, plays the instrument in harmony while the joruri narrates the sense of the performance. This action engaged by the joruri and the musician creates dramatic effect that is strong and powerful.
Playing shamisen
The placement of the musician and chanter on the right hand side of theater on a high podium helps the puppets and the puppeteers to correlate in the most suitable way. In forming a Bunraku performance of the battles of Coxinga, the interrelation of the musician, narrator, puppet and the puppeteer would be easy to harmonize since the play does not contain scenes but instead it has parts[4]. The elements of the Bunraku performance can be harmonized well during performance of the battles of Coxinga. When the chanter and the musician fail to harmonize properly, the intended emotions and expressions would be misunderstood by the spectators. Mostly Bunraku presentations are habitually performed in a proscenium podium. The stage is usually divided into a maximum of 3 zones. The stage setting in Bunraku performance gives the audience a clear view of all the components of Bunraku presentation with inclusion of the musician and the narrator. The characters are well placed in accordance with their play parts.
The puppets and the puppeteers should be viewed by the audience since their actions in the stage is of great importance. In the battles of Coxinga by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, a proscenium stage is of great importance and should be used during the performance of this historical play. All in all, all the components of the Bunraku performance should be viewed well by the audience since what the audience is more interested in is the movements of the puppets which are controlled by the puppeteers as well as the emotions, facial expressions of the puppets.
Bunkaru puppeteers are usually visible but they are always shrouded in black clothes ’Kimono’ and their main purpose in Bunraku stage is to control the puppets in order to give the audience the desired effects. It is worth noting that the Bunraku puppeteer is always attached to the puppet though in real sense he is separate (Brazel, 329). However, in order to be successful in Bunraku performance, discipline, good and ample practice is required. Mostly, in the Bunraku performance of the battle of Coxinga as it is with all other Bunraku performances, the puppets and the puppeteers should be in a relationship that should be visible to spectators. Therefore the Bunraku performance of the battles of the Coxinga can be made possible through disassociation puppetry. In the performance of such plays like the battles of Coxinga, the puppeteers can improvise movements when the need arises[5]. The relationship between the puppets and the puppeteers, the musician as well as the chanter during a Bunraku performance is of significant help and it calls for a lot of energy and devotion. In order to make the performance look real and interesting, the elements of the Bunraku performance of the battles of Coxinga by Chikamatsu need to be harmonized (Brazel, 329).
Interrelation of the Elements
In creating a performance of the battles of Cixonga, the puppeteers would require to learn how to interrelate with each other in order to give an impressing performance to the audience. Good and proper movements, expressions as well as coordination solely depends on the interrelation between the all the puppets, puppeteers, musician and the narrator. The puppet becomes the centre point of the entire performance in the podium. Therefore the puppeteer should make sure that he remains focused so as to avoid altering the intended movements and expression.
However, the puppeteers rely largely on the chanter to give movements and expressions. It is therefore important that all the elements harmonize with each other so as to give good results and performance to the audience. The puppets, puppeteers, musician and the narrators should realize how important their relationship is in creating good distinctiveness and the qualities of the bunkara puppets in battles of Cixonga. The interaction of the chanter and the musician to the puppet and the puppeteers is a great aspect of Bunraku performance. Bunraku performance of the battles of Cixonga would involve a complex performance owing to the nature and actions of the play.
The chanter, musician, puppets and the puppeteers should have to interrelate carefully in order to create an effectual and a strong performance. The chanter and the musician will have to observe the puppets and puppeteers performance in order to play and chant accordingly. On the other had the puppeteers also waits for signals and clues from the musician who plays shamise. Since the musician offers voice to the puppets, the two elements wholly depend on each other. If an emotion created by the chanter is not highlighted by the puppets, it is obvious that the intended emotion would not be recognized by the spectators. Additionally, if narrator fails to chant when a specific move is made by the puppet, then the viewers would not like recognize the intended emotions or expressions.
Therefore, good interrelations among all the components is essential in order to give a intriguing Bunraku performance of the battles of Cixonga created by Chikamatsu Monzaemon .The relationships among all the elements of the performance is crucial since this relationship form the basis of a good Bunraku performance. Notably the chanter should be in a position to adapt to different voices of the characters involved in the battles of Cixonga who include Wantoi, Komutsu, Sedan, Ikkan as ell as An Taijib.
Conclusion
Bunkaru performance is a form of Japanese puppetry performance which started in early 17th century. The elements of Bunraku performance include the puppets, puppeteers, musician, and chanter. However, these elements need to form good relations which would enable them to give an intriguing performance to the audience. With good harmonization, Bunraku puppetry can offer good performance with the desired expressions and emotions. In the performance of the battles of Cixonga by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, the components of the performance need to be synchronized in order to create a good Bunraku performance.
Work Cited
Baraister, M. Theatre of Animation: Contemporary Adult Puppet Plays in Context, Volume 9.London: Routledge, 1999.pp7
Brazel, K., Araki, J .Traditional Japanese Theater, an anthology of plays. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1998.pp. 329
Cavaye, R. A guide to the Japanese stage: from traditional to cutting edge. Osaka: Kodansha International, 2004.pp.101
Gerstle, A. Chikamatsu: 5 late plays. Columbia: Columbia University Pres, 2006.p4
Karatani, K. Origins of modern Japanese literature. Duke: Duke University Press, 1993.pp.13
[1] Karatani, K. Origins of modern Japanese literature. Duke: Duke University Press, 1993.pp.13
[2] Gerstle, A. Chikamatsu: 5 late plays. Columbia: Columbia University Pres, 2006.p4
[3] Gerstle, A. Chikamatsu: 5 late plays. Columbia: Columbia University Pres, 2006.p4
[4] Baraister, M. Theatre of Animation: Contemporary Adult Puppet Plays in Context, Volume 9.London: Routledge, 1999.pp7
[5] Brazel, K., Araki, J .Traditional Japanese Theater, an anthology of plays. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1998.pp. 329
