Puppet Theater
Puppet theater (bunraku) was another major entertainment in the Edo-period “floating world,” as the pleasure district was known. In the detail above, three vocalists are accompanied by shamisen in a puppet play at the Takemoto Theater in Osaka. In the third musical item on this webcast, composer Toshiro Mayuzumi uses the Western cello to invoke the shamisen in his piece, Bunraku.
Detail, A Puppet-show: The Story of “The Potted Trees.” By Bunkaku. Japan, Edo period, early 18th century. Six-panel folding screen; ink, color, and gold on paper. Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1898.505.