終演後、ご縁あって人形遣いの吉田勘彌さんに楽屋をご案内いただきました。 木がくり抜かれた。人形の頭の中は細かい細工が施され、糸を操作することで目を開いたり閉じたり、表情が変化します。
勘彌さんが遣うと、まるで生きているように表情や仕草が魅力的に。 実際の舞台では、主遣い、左遣い、足遣いと三人の人形遣いさんが呼吸を合わせて一体の人形を扱うのですから、驚きです。 
人形の衣裳は、主役級の女性の人形の場合、背縫いはなく、脇に布を足すことで、舞台上で遣いやすいよう、工夫がこらされています。 
一つの公演が終わると次の演目に向けて、同じ頭を使って床山さんが頭を結い直し、衣裳さんが新しい衣裳を着せるところは、人間の役者さんと一緒ですね。 こんなところに注目しながら舞台を観ると、また新しい発見があるかもしれません。 文楽は、おそらく、世界でいちばん洗練された人形劇。 衣裳の数々とともに、楽しみたいですね。 ●「国立劇場」公式サイトURL：http://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/50th/bunraku_9.html
Bettyokoジュエリージャーナリストとして活躍する傍ら、歌舞伎、文楽、バレエをはじめ観劇ライフを満喫中のBettyと、米国・ヒューストンでの生活経験を生かし、日本文化を海外に伝える活動をしているYokoによるユニット。
https://www.instagram.com/bettyoko.kbk/ Go to the Theatre in kimonos vol.14
Bunraku "ICHINOTANI FUTABA GUNKI" at The National Theatre, in the Small Theatre I have talked about the Kabuki plays ever. Let's change the subject to the Bunraku(the puppet play) today. I went to see The Bunraku, the whole play of "ICHINOTANI FUTABA GUNKI" at the National Theatre in Tokyo. Usually the Kabuki and Bunraku plays feature the popular scene of the long story and are performed on the stage as one to two hours' performances. This time, the whole play of the one of the masterpiece of Gidayu Kyogen（a kind of Japanese theatrical art） is performed as the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre. The one play lasts for a whole day. I took two days to see it in each show time, the matinee and the evening show. Tairano Atsumori is the key character of this story. He was the son of the Heike clan that is feuding family with the Genji clan. His mother, Fujinokata, conceived him when she served the emperor. It meant that Atsumori was heir to the emperor. Kumagai, the Genji clan warrior, must kill Atsumori as the son of enemy, but his boss Yoshitsune ordered him not to kill the young boy in the secret code. Moreover Fujinokata was his benefactor. Finally Kumagai sacrificed his own son to save the prince's life.... As the story unfolded, narrative of tayu (chanter to recite the dialog for the character) and sounds of shamisen (a kind of the string) got deeper and deeper. With that sound effect, the puppet plays brought tears to the eyes of the audiences. After the last curtain, I had the chance to visit the dressing room of the puppeteer, Kanya Yoshida. The head part of the wooden puppet doll was hollowed out and had installed many detail works in order to open and close the eyes or change the sign of emotions on the doll's face. When Kanya manipulated the puppet, it can was filled with breath of life. It is amazing that three puppeteer are required to manipulate the puppet with sharing responsibility of main part, the left part, and foot part and move it in the same channels on the stage. The costumes of the main female character are not seamed up the back of the kimono and put the extra clothe on the side of it. It is one of the inventions to make the puppet easier to move on the stage. Once the performance finish, the puppet had her hair set by the tokoyama (the hairdresser) and had exchange the costumes by the dresser just like as Kabuki actor. These points of view make us discover new things in the performances on the stage. I believe that Bunraku is the most sophisticated puppet theatre art in the world. It is fun to watch it in the many beautiful costumes.
The unit of Betty and YokoBetty; jewelry journalist, enjoys watching stages of Kabuki, Bunraku, Balllet, and so on. Yoko; lived in the U.S.A for 10 years. Loves to introduce Japanese culture to abroad.
https://www.instagram.com/bettyoko.kbk/ 
