What is Puppet Acting? Ningyōburi in Kabuki 

This one of the hardest styles to choreograph in Kabuki. The actor and the stage assistant have to coordinate together, not to make believable, but to express the character's state of mind. I am very impressed nonetheless.

People don't like it because it's too artificial? That is exactly why this is art! The Aesthetes of Europe (Baudelaire, Wilde, etc.) have only really scratched the surface of the art in artifice, but Kabuki has refined it to such an advanced degree already. The great aesthetic of Kabuki is spectacle, and spectacle often manifests itself as artifice - realism is too plain, too dull, what is fabulous will never be realistic. Kabuki's artifice - the paper flowers, the butterflies on sticks, the old men playing little girls - reaches its pinnacle in Ningyoburi, where the fourth wall has long been forgotten and the point is to marvel at the sheer skill that goes into the actor's mimicry of the puppet. It is also a full circle moment for representation - Bunraku was created to mimic human beings, but here human beings are deliberately mimicking Bunraku (a middle finger at Plato). While the West is still debating if life mimics art or art mimics life, the Kabuki people have been doing art that mimics art for centuries already. When UNESCO named Kabuki a masterpiece of Intangible Cultural Heritage, it was flattering itself by associating itself with this great tradition.

I like how it's used with Yaegaki-hime, you really sense that she's become possesed by the fox spirit, watching her be manipulated as though she were a doll. The movements are so realistic as to believe she really is a doll!

This is honestly my favorite video on this subject! Thanks for such an in-depth explanation of all the components. So beautiful, this living art form!

I had to watch this twice, i kept missing the captions because the performances were so captivating. thank you!

I like to think of _ningyo-buri_ in Kabuki is what mad scenes or coloratura singing are in opera. They are both examples where the characters express their most extreme feelings in a way that regular speech or recitative singing cannot. Another excellent analysis KID!! 👍🏾

This was an amazing video! Puppet acting is a great way for the actors to show off how controlled their movements are! It is also very clever how ningyoburi is used to give separation between normal behavior and abnormal behavior!

أحب الفنون الشعبية الأصيلة، أرجو أن يستمر هذا الفن وأن يحفظ الأحفاد تراث أجدادهم. كل المحبة من 💚🍉

So clever. Such artistry. This style is a Kabuki version of Coppelia in a way.

I can't imagine the physical strength and control it must take to move as if a puppet. Amazing!

Very authentic to say the least. Whoever conceptualize this, must have been very visionary.

I like it too! Looks amazing and I'm sure it's quite a big challenge for the actors too. I hope they will keep it alive. :)

l've always find this style extremely fascinating! thank you for covering this!

I'm from L.A. My ancestor is upper class samurai and part of daimyo's family. I love Edo period culture. Bunraku , mysics , foods.

I love this so much. Bunraku performances are already cool, but the evolution from that into kabuki but then re-inserting the puppet acting element is genius. It's like a cultural skeuomorph

I found this style of acting, absolutely fascinating. I can’t imagine not blinking, I tried, I couldn’t. It was helpful that you edited the puppet scenes and the acting scenes together. I hope the tradition will continue. It would be a shame to abandon this traditional style.

so glad i found this channel

Just discovered the channel. Wonderful!

玉三郎は本当に何をやるせてもうまいよなあ

To my eyes, it’s more like one of the precursors of modern-day “robot dance” choreography-wise. Anyways I just love it!!❤❤❤

tell me if i understand this clearly. first they had puppet acts and they liked it so much that they decided the puppets need more realism and instead of creating more realistic acting they replaced the puppets with humans but kept EVERYTHING else, even how they move. its like a new game where only the graphics are upgraded and nothing more, because that game already had perfect gameplay. kinda like all mario games after the first one, in a way.

Kabuki is the most refined and stylised form of acting. It requires a lot of discipline to perform it. That is why it is listed on the UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Brilliant work.

Absolutely stunning! ♥

Thank you. I sure enjoyed it.

Super amazing and unique kind of acting!!! ❤❤❤❤

Thank you for this video! It didn’t make sense to me until now why only certain parts were acted out like this. I really love it when they break the fourth wall in kabuki. I think this style would be so much fun to watch live (especially with Bando Tamasaburo!).

oh wow, that's incredible! I think the artificiality is part what makes it beautiful, tbh.

Great art ❤

Excellent video brother. First, I'm sorry for the delay in commenting on the six videos (with this extremely tense atmosphere that is here in Brazil due to the political situation, I didn't watch and comment on your videos, I'm sorry). Second, it is always interesting to see the puppet acting style in Kabuki theater (seeing the characters acting and behaving like puppets). Regarding the video, I have some doubts: 1. Is it just me or does Iwanaga Saemon (Akoya's main antagonist) not appear to be human? It's just that watching your video and the video of the play Akoya, I saw that he behaves like a puppet (his movements mostly for the Kurokos) and speaks like a puppet (as you said, his voice is not the voice of the actor but of the narrator). Based on this, is it true that Iwanaga Saemon is not a human character? If he's not human, what kind of entity is Saemon? 2. Outside Iwanaga Saemon, are there any famous tachiyaku characters where this puppet acting style is prevalent? 3. I didn't understand this criticism of certain top onnagata actors with this kind of acting. Watching the video, I can see that the puppet performance gives a more mystical air to Kabuki plays throughout Japan. It's what makes Kabuki what it is (a cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO). So answer me: what's so wrong with puppet acting for certain top onnagata actors to call it "artificial"? As far as I know, top onnagata actors like Bando Tamasaburo V and Nakamura Fukusuke IX use this feature quite often. So what's wrong?

Absolutely amazing, first time i watch this

This is wonderful, thank you so much…

This is my first time seeing this and looks oddly fascinating. I find it to be interesting, in a way. It's a bit strange if not ever seeing it, but after a good explanation, I start to like it. This is beautiful in its own way along with noh and kabuki.

❤Amazing.😊

WOW////HOW AMAZING! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Impressive!

Puppeteer at 3:40 not wearing any head covering; 'guess he is such a good puppeteer, he can tell director, ``not wearing that.''

八重垣姫の奥庭がすごい！

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Keep the Old Ways alive.

I wonder which was first, nut crackers or Ningyoburi? Or other cultures also have similar dance like a doll???

too artificial?! they missed the whole point of the dance, that it's immersive. It's suppose to be puppets come to life, that does not take away from the story. Hell I barely noticed the guys in back because the acting was so piercing.

ま

人偶歌舞伎

How can you see the visuals when you’re busy reading? The visuals also go by so quickly! Narrate!

Its really sad that the qluniqur culture around the world is disappearing thanis to americanization.

Spectacular!