Bunraku: The Art of the Japanese Puppet Theatre

Bunraku, then, is utterly unique. This new revised edition in paperback of the original hardbound work by Donald Keene represents the most authoritative and penetrating study of Bunraku ever to appear in English. The eighteenth century, in fact, saw a period lasting over fifty years during which Bunraku's popularity easily exceeded that of Kabuki, 'probably the only instance in theatrical history where puppets have been preferred to actors for such a long time.' Bunraku remains also as the only theatre of dolls for which literary masterpieces have been especially composed, including works by the great Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The photographs were selected from among more than seven thousand, almost all taken by Kaneko Hiroshi over a long period of years.". The men who wrote Bunraku plays, knowing the skill and versatility with which the puppets could be manipu