Japan Society of Boston - Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppetry

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Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppetry

Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppetry

The Japan Society of Boston presented Nishikawa Koryu V, the fifth grand master of the Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppet Theater, performing three female-centered stories from classic Japanese literature. The audience enjoyed the rare opportunity to experience a full-scale production of kuruma ningyo puppetry with chanting and live shamisen music from premier performers of the kuruma ningyo and gidayu traditions.

Featured in - The Boston Globe
Japanese Puppet Master Holds a Family Tradition in His Hands
By Jenni Todd, March 4, 2019

Slideshow photos thanks to Shinsaburo.

About Kuruma Ningyo Puppetry

The Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppet theater group has been in the family of the founder of the kuruma ningyo style of puppetry since its invention. Kuruma ningyo is a unique style of puppetry, which developed in Japan in the 19th century in the Hachioji area of Tokyo. Artists perform, while sitting on a small wooden box with wheels (or, rokuro kuruma). Unlike the more widely known style of Japanese puppetry known as bunraku, which requires three standing puppeteers to manipulate a single puppet, the use of the rokuro kuruma allows a single puppeteer to manage one puppet. This innovation allows for more dynamic performances, as the performer can move flexibly and in unison with the puppet.

Photos thanks to Michael Costello.

Background on Gidayu Narrative Style

Master of vocal performance, Takemoto Koshiko, will accompany the puppetry with live gidayu music, named after Takemoto Gidayu (1651 – 1714) who created the style. Takemoto Koshiko will provide the voices of the protagonists as well as the narrator’s voice. Gidayu narration long played an integral part in Japanese all-male bunraku puppet performances with female performers collaborating with kuruma ningyo groups starting in the 1950’s. Among narrative styles, gidayu stands out as one of the most famous and perhaps most demanding as the narrator plays all parts of the play. Gidayu calls for such a vocally taxing range of tone and expression that performers often switch halfway through a scene.

Photos thanks to Michael Costello.

Nishikawa Koryu V – Puppet Master

Born and raised into the world of traditional Japanese puppetry, Nishikawa Koryu V began studying kuruma ningyo when he was thirteen years old. Carrying on the name of the late-19th century performer who developed this innovative style of puppetry, Nishikawa Koryu V is the fifth-generation headmaster of the Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppet Theater group. In 1996, the group was designated an Intangible Folk Custom Cultural Asset by the Japanese government.

Takemoto Koshiko - Chanter

Takemoto Koshiko apprenticed under Koshimichi Takemoto, who now serves as chairman of the Gidayu Bushi Preservation Association, the main professional gidayu organization in Japan. She made her debut performance at Ueno Honmokutei, a theater in Japan which is regarded by many as a monument to traditional performing arts in Japan. She received the Geidankyo New-face Encouragement Award in 1976. She helped organize a joruri music concert in France, one of the first times that this kind of concert was held abroad. In 2000, she was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property for gidayu-bushi by the government of Japan.

The North American tour of Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppet Theater is produced and organized by Japan Society, Inc. Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo Puppet Theater is supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan in the fiscal year 2018, The JEC Fund, and The Jim Henson Foundation.

THE JAPAN SOCIETY OF BOSTON