UHON 298H Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Cinema Of Japan, Matsunosuke Onoe, Benshi
18 Sep 2016
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Possibly written by kanami or his son zeami. The only noh play to use a major set piece (the giant bell) The major costume change of the show takes place inside the bell. There are unsubstantiated claims that actors have been hurt, or even killed by an improperly lowered bell. The story itself dates back to around 1000 ce; it was a buddhist morality play. Uemura bunraku-ken created the eponymous bunraku-za theatre in 1872, and it is for this theatre that the puppets are named. Puppets themselves are relatively simple; a hollow wooden head is controlled by a dogushi, the headgrip stick that goes through a shoulder board. The shoulders are rounded out with a loofah or sponge, then cloth and bamboo hoops make up the body. Male puppets have arms and legs, female puppets have no legs, as they would be disguised by the hem of their dress.
