A form of traditional Japanese puppet theater where large, elaborate puppets are manipulated by multiple puppeteers and accompanied by narration and music.
From Japanese 'bunraku' (文楽), likely from the name of Uemasa Bunrakuken, an 18th-century puppet master who popularized the form, combined with 'raku' (pleasure/ease).
Bunraku puppets are so complex and expressive that audiences forget they're watching dolls—the puppeteers work so seamlessly together that the puppet becomes its own character, a collaboration that's more intimate than any other theater form.
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