Bunraku--translated!

This is great news! I have been dying to see a bunraku play for ages. Now, if I get the chance to go to Osaka, I'll actually have an idea of what they're saying/doing!

I think I would like to see the play twice...first without any translation at all, and second with the translation :)

Here are a few more bunraku links:

Japan-Zone.com: Bunraku
Japan-Guide.com: Bunraku
The National Bunraku Theater [in Osaka]
Artelino.com: Bunraku
The National Theater of Japan's Bunraku dictionary
The National Theater of Japan's Introduction to the World of Bunraku

There's a mystery/horror anime called Karakuri Zoushi Ayatsuri Sakon, or Puppet Master Sakon, which is all about a boy named Sakon who does bunraku (and solves murder cases). I'm still not sure where Sakon lives, but the OP (which is fantastic, by the way--it's performed by Fukuyama Yoshiki, who many people remember as Basara's singing voice) shows what I believe to be the Fushimi Inari Shrine (check the last picture from this post at Sushicam, and you'll see the torii gates that I believe I'm seeing in the OP). The show is kind of creepy and kind of beautiful.

I'll have you know, though, that I wanted to see a bunraku play long before I ever really got into anime. (You know, back around the time AJ was the one renting anime, and I was the one saying, "No, I don't really like it..." Ah, how things change.)