In recent years, Japan's traditional performing arts have faced challenges such as a shortage of successors and financial difficulties, leading to concerns about their decline. Traditionally, performing arts have been passed down from one generation to the next within local communities, functioning, in a way, as a form of lifelong learning. This report focuses on Ningyo Joruri, one of Japan's traditional performing arts, with the aim of understanding the current situation in order to reconstruct a system of lifelong learning for its preservation. Interviews and observations were conducted regarding practice and handing down of skills with a focus on Sanuki Gennojo (founded in 1897), which has been designated as a prefectural tangible folk cultural property. The interviewee is a female puppeteer in her 60s with 30 years of experience. The troupe consists of 22 members and performs about 10 shows annually. As a local amateur group, handing down of skills primarily occurs through oral tradition, with senior members teaching junior members. The members receive instruction from National Bunraku Theater artists eight times a year (puppeteers learn by studying stage videos of the Theater, while shamisen players and narrators practice face-to-face). The troupe seeks the progressive continuation of the art by securing funding, enriching performances, enhancing puppets, costumes, and props, and improving their skills. In addition to local performances, new efforts involving elementary school students during their integrated studies are expected to contribute to fostering the next generation and expanding the reach of this tradition. (Supported by JSPS (24K05987))

Authors:
Yuko Hatano, Nara Saho College, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Yuko Hatano is a Professor Emeritus at Kobe Shinwa Women’s University in Japan, and from 2023, she is a professor at Nara Saho College, child study.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.narasaho-c.ac.jp/teachers/1074

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