This traditional Japanese theatre will be gone in 20 years

Meet Chloé Viatte, a French professor and bunya ningyo joruri puppeteer, who sits down to talk to us about this rare Japanese theatre. She tells us about her journey to Japan and interest in puppeteering, how these puppets are operated, and why they might disappear forever.

--

0:00 Intro

0:44 Meet Chloe

5:35 Planning to move to Japan

7:35 First time in Japan

10:03 Life in Niigata

12:06 Interest in Kunio Yanagita

12:52 Interest in bunya joruri

18:56 What is Japanese puppet theatre?

21:06 When did it start?

22:36 Who was Chikamatsu Monzaemon?

24:14 Studying puppet theatre as a foreigner

26:40 Puppet troupes

28:14 Japanese vs. French plays

33:26 How puppeteers perform

36:20 Understanding the characters

38:45 How the puppets are operated

43:52 How the stories are performed

47:49 Why bunya joruri might disappear

50:26 How bunya joruri changed Chloe's life

54:10 Chloe's NHK French program

57:35 Is it important to keep traditional arts alive?

59:29 Where to watch bunya joruri

1:00:29 Tobi tries puppeteering

--

Follow Chloé:

https://x.com/Yasathem

Follow us:

https://unpacking.jp/

https://www.instagram.com/unpacking_japan

https://www.tiktok.com/@unpackingjapan

https://www.facebook.com/unpackingjapan

https://www.youtube.com/@unpackingjapanshorts

https://www.x.com/unpacking_japan

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/unpackingjapan

Subscribe for more in-depth discussions about life in Japan!

Interested in working at a global e-commerce company in Osaka? Our parent company ZenGroup is hiring! To learn more, check out https://careers.zen.group/en/