Off topic forum! Feel free to discuss anything non-Usagi related or that doesn't fit within the parameters of the General Discussion forums. Gotta talk about the latest Sci-Fi flick? Need help with your homework? Want to post an announcement of a personal nature? Then here's where you do it!
Join us for an upcoming special program about Bunraku, a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre. Our speaker for the program will be Martin Holman, a literary translator, professor, puppeteer, and puppet theater director. Through the stories and music of the puppet theater, the presentation will include a brief history of Japanese puppetry, from its religious origins through the commercial enterprise of Bunraku.
Tune in to watch live from the Awa Jurobe Yashiki Puppet Theater and Museum in the Tokushima Prefecture–home of more traditional puppet troupes and theaters than anywhere else in Japan! The program will include an introduction to the history of the traditional Japanese puppet theater, as well as a close up look at the construction and manipulation techniques of the puppets and the wide variety of puppets used. We will also examine the puppet stage and see a short performance, followed by a Q&A session amid the puppets and stage materials.
Whether you are a Bunraku fan or somebody simply interested in learning more about Japanese culture, this is a great opportunity to learn more!
Date and Time:
Thursday, September 23rd, 2021 at 4:30 P.M. (PDT)
Friday, September 24th, 2021 at 8:30 A.M. (Japan Time)
Price:
FREE! (Zoom link will be sent upon registration)
Presented by the Japan Society of Northern California
Another use of Bunraku in a fictional story is in Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler's book "A Samurai Never Fears Death" which is the fifth volume in their Samurai Detective series.
A Samurai Never Fears Death (2007)
by Dorothy Hoobler & Thomas Hoobler
Sixteen-year-old Seikei, now a full-fledged samurai, travels to Osaka, the city of his birth. While attending one of the city’s famous bunraku theaters, in which life-size puppets are performed by men in black hoods, he is witness to a murder. To his horror, Seikei discovers that his own brother and sister may be involved. Tracking down a lead, he is kidnapped by pirate smugglers. Will Seikei be able to escape, save his family, and find out the dark secret of the puppet theater?
