On the occasion of his retirement after three decades as a bunraku narrator, the designated living national treasure Takemoto Sumitayu VII will present part of a program of traditional puppetry (ningyō jōruri) being staged by the National Theatre in Tokyo from May 10-26.
Born Kin'ichi Kishimoto in Osaka, Sumitayu, 89, will perform the "Kutsukakemura" ("Kutsukake Village") segment of a 13-act bunraku play titled "Koinyobo Somewake Tazuna" — which translates, albeit awkwardly, as "A Wife in Love Holding the Colored Reins."
First staged at the Takemoto-za in Osaka in 1751, this adaptation by Yoshida Kanshi and Miyoshi Shoraku of an earlier work by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, requires Sumitayu to narrate for around an hour, with 56-year-old Nozawa Kinshi providing the samisen accompaniment, just as he did when Sumitayu performed the same work at the same venue in 1996 — though the musician was then known as Nozawa Kin'ya.