The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

Bunraku
Another tradition, bunraku theatre, has helped to enrich the ningyō heritage in
Japan and reinforce the notion that dolls possess souls.
The theatrical world is, of course, a strong feature of Japanese cultural
heritage. Kabuki, the most renowned form of Japanese theatre, developed
from a much earlier seventeenth-century phenomenon originally referred to
as ningyō jōruri. Now known as bunraku, * these performances employ life-size
puppets (ningyō) that “come to life” via the skills of on-stage puppeteers
(ningyōtsukai or ningyōzukai), chanters (tayū) and musicians. Musical
accompaniment is provided by the playing of shamisen, three-stringed
instruments plucked with a plectrum (bachi), which (as an action) is termed
jōruri (thus ningyō + jōruri = ningyō jōruri), and sometimes drums (taikō).
Again, these ningyō command a real presence. As Pate writes,
“manipulated by shadowy puppeteers who are frequently clad all in black,
these puppets shed their inanimate nature and virtually breathe the stories
they re-enact”. 55
imbued with spirits.
For some it is not hard to believe that these figures are
* According to Alan Scott Pate (2008), “the term bunraku is a nineteenth-century innovation and
derives from the performer and impresario Uemura Bunraku-ken (Masai Kahei, 1737 – 1810)
whose lineage reintroduced a new vitality and freshness” to this art form (p. 213).
Page | 140