• Bunraku: 絵本太功記、勧進帳 (Ehon Taikoki, Kanjincho)

2/23/26 (Mon)

These were the second and third shows of a three-part production this month. Part 1 consisted of the first few acts of Ehon Taikoki, with succeeding acts in Part 2. I considered seeing the first two together since the full show is not done often in Bunraku (this was the first time in the Kanto region for certain acts in 20 years) and not at all in Kabuki, which has preserved just the 10th act of the 14-act show. But that would come to over six hours of showtime, a bit too much to ask of my friend. Bunraku lost its permanent home in Tokyo when the National Theater closed several years ago and is wandering among venues with each production, shedding fans along the way; this one was not even in Tokyo, and the theater was way too large for a puppet drama. But Yokohama is a massive city as well, and with the rarity of the pieces, both shows were nearly sold out, which was nice to see. The overall theme seemed to be losers from turning points in Japanese history, namely Akechi Mitsuhide and Minamoto Yoshitsune. (The first play uses different names due to shogunal restrictions, but I’m using the historic names here.)