Artist Interview アーティストインタビュー

世界に誇る日本の人形劇「文楽」
人形遣いのホープ三世桐竹勘十郎に聞く
play
Kanjuro Kiritake III, a leader of the rising generation of puppeteers in Japan’s world renowned puppet theater, Bunraku
Kanjuro Kiritake III
The traditional puppet theater Bunraku is one of Japan’s proud cultural heritages that has recently been designated a UNESCO World Heritage as well. It is performed by the 3-man manipulated puppet, the tayu narrator and the
shamisen
musician. Moving to the narrative and rhythm of the
joruri
and
gidayubushi
accompaniment performed by the shamisen musician and the tayu, who uses his vocal virtuosity to express the voices of both male and female characters, young and old, the three puppeteers manipulate the legs, arms and head of the puppet to portray human emotions with unique elocution that has inspired international performing artists in productions from France’s Théâtre du Soleil to Disney’s
Lion King
. In a type of puppetry unique in the world, three men manipulate one puppet. The main puppeteer, known as the
omozukai
, manipulates the head, or
kashira
, and the puppet’s right hand, while the
hidarizukai
manipulates the left hand and the
ashizukai
manipulates the feet in an exquisitely orchestrated performance of such expressiveness that the puppet seems to come alive. Kanjuro Kiritake III has been a Bunraku puppeteer for 42 years and is one of the most celebrated of the current generation of Bunraku puppeteers. Unlike Kabuki, where all the main actors come from a small number of families that have carried on the tradition for centuries, Bunraku is a world where anyone can become a performer and individual talent and achievement are the major factors in a performer’s career. And, although there is no tradition of hereditary families of Bunraku puppeteers similar to the Kabuki families, Kanjuro Kiritake III is the son of the late second-generation puppeteer Kanjuro Kiritake II, who was designated a Living National Treasure during his lifetime. It wasn’t until his middle school years that the future Kanjuro III discovered the appeal of Bunraku and began training in its traditional arts. Studying as his former name Minotaro Yoshida, he learned the foot (ashizukai) and left hand (hidarizukai) before moving up to the role of main puppeteer (omozukai). He inherited his late father’s name in April of 2003. Today he is one of the leading figures in the Bunraku world.
Interviewer: Kazumi Narabe