Outdoor Performances Bring Bunraku Back to Its Popular Roots

Narrators and shamisen players at the Roppongi Hills performance.

Puppets in action at the Sensōji performance.

A long line to get into the theater forms before the first performance at Roppongi Hills.

Kiritake Kanjūrō III at the Nippon Bunraku press preview at Hills Cafe, Roppongi Hills, in August 2014. Photograph by Ōsawa Hisayoshi.

A test assembly of the stage took place in Chikushino, Fukuoka Prefecture (top). The curtain was created using traditional methods (bottom photos).

The stage being assembled beside the main hall of Sensōji with the Tokyo Skytree in the background (top). From left to right, producer Nakamura Masayuki, designer Tanokura Tetsuya, and narrator Takemoto Miwatayū discuss the production (bottom left). Audience members clink champagne glasses at the Roppongi Hills performance (bottom right).

Puppeteers introduce the art of bunraku to first-time viewers.

Ninin sanbasō being performed at Roppongi Hills.

Benches were packed at each performance