This art combines puppet controlling art, storytelling art and music performing art. Bunraku is a lively art which is able to present different topics of life of the Japanese people. This paper presents an account of the characteristics of Bunraku and makes some comparisons between Japanese puppet theatre and Vietnamese water puppet theatre. | VNU Journal of Science: Foreign Studies, Vol. 32, No. 2 (2016) 85-89 DISCUSSION Characteristics of Japanese Puppet Theatre Lu Thi Thanh Le* Faculty of Literature, VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities, 336 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam Received 04 August 2015 Revised 30 May 2016, Accepted 20 June 2016 Abstract: Puppet theatre art (Bunraku) emerged in Japan during the Edo period and was popularized throughout the country from the 19th century. Bunraku was recognized by UNESCO as “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” and a “World Intangible Cultural Heritage” in 2003 and later was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. This art combines puppet controlling art, storytelling art and music performing art. Bunraku is a lively art which is able to present different topics of life of the Japanese people. This paper presents an account of the characteristics of Bunraku and makes some comparisons between Japanese puppet theatre and Vietnamese water puppet theatre. Keywords: Japanese studies, puppet theatre, Bunraku. 1. Introduction∗ Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 [1]. This art shows the skillful techniques of Japanese artists in making and manipulating the ningyo (the human like puppet), the excellent Japanese storytelling art with carefully selected stories which are able to express important issues of Japanese society, as well as the masterful music performance of both the chanter and the shamisen player. This paper presents the characteristics of Japanese puppet theatre (Bunraku). It also aims to distinguish Japanese puppet theatre from the water puppet theatre of Vietnam. Puppet theatre is a kind of entertainment which is loved by many people in the world. There are many types of puppet theatre which represent the diverse creative activities of human. Bunraku is the typical puppet theatre of Japanese. Bunraku emerged .
