Ningyojoruri is a puppet play combined with Joruri (narration) and Shamisen. The type of Yamanokuchi
Fumoto is known as Bunyabushi Ningyojoruri. Bunya is Bunya Okamoto who created Bunyabushi. (Bushi
means the tune of the Joruri narration) It was very popular in Dotonbori,Osaka around the 17th century.
It is said that some followers of the Lord Shimazu learned it in Osaka during their Trip of Sankinkotai (the
feudal Lord had to go to Edo with many followers to do their duties for the Shogun) and familiarized it at
their home land when they came back. We have an old script of Shusse Kagekiyo copied in 1826. And on the reverse of the cover we see some
comments written by the person who copied the scenario. It reveals that there was a very good narrator called Sogi, who was an official at the checkpoint of Fumoto
and loved Ningyojoruri very much. He presented Ningyojoruri and pleased the people very well. One day he
asked his fellow official to copy the scenario of Shusse Kagekiyo very earnestly. So he accepted it though
he was not so confident. Therefore we can confirm that our Yamanokuchi Ningyojoruri has been succeeded here since the Edo Era
(1600〜1867) through the Meiji,Taisho and Showa Era. Including the tune of narration, the style of Yamanokuchi Ningyoujoruri is called Ko (old) Joruri which is
different from the one of Bunraku in some ways. (See the Leaflet ‘Puppet Theater’) We have 27 puppets at the theater. Some were made in the Edo Era and others were made in the Meiji
and Taisho Era. During the time of W.W.2 we couldn't concentrate our efforts on Ningyojoruri. Six years after the end of the War, we made a new association of Yamanokuchi Fumoto Ningyojoruri and
made many efforts to revive our tradition. Our Puppet Theater Museum was built in 1992. We hold 4 regular presentations a year. In 1994 we opened the Children's Ningyojoruri Club of Fumoto Elementary School to bring up the
successors of our brilliant tradition. And in 1995 our Yamanokuchi Ningyojoruri was authorized by the Japanese Government as a Culturally
Important Intangible Folk Property.
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