The traditional performing art of bunraku (ningy¨ j¨ruri) involves three puppeteers together operating a cast of single puppets, with a giday¨± bushi to the side comprising a story-teller (³Ù²¹²â¨±) and a shamisen player (shamisen- hiki) seated on a round platform (yuka).
Originally, the giday¨± bushi was a male preserve, but it becomes known as a joryu giday¨± when women take those roles in the absence of a puppet performance ¡ª and among the leading female narrators is 78-year-old Komanosuke Takemoto, a designated national living treasure.
To hear Komanosuke in action is to be astonished. That¡¯s because, though the stories require her to use old and difficult Japanese, and though she must portray many characters both male and female, the way she enunciates in such a wide range of voices is so clear and dramatic that it resonates in the listener¡¯s heart and soul.
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