About the "Illustrated Collection of Famous Japanese Puppets of the Osaka Bunrakuza"

This collection of forty-eight color woodblock prints was designed by Hasegawa Sadanobu III (Konobu III) (1881-1963) and issued over the period March 1926 (Taishō 15) to August 1927 (Shōwa 2)¹ by the publishing houses Bijutsusha 美術社 in Tokyo and on a subscription (members only) basis by Hangakai hanmoto 版画会板元 (板畫會板元) in Kyoto. The cost per print set was 3 yen. The editor and publisher for both the Bijutsusha and Hangakai hanmoto sets was Hayashi Eikichi 林榮吉, who was also the editor for Hasegawa's Collection of One Hundred Kumadori Makeups in Kabuki. (See Hasegawa Sadanobu III (Konobu III) (1881-1963) for prints from this collection.)

The Illustrated Collection of Famous Japanese Puppets of the Osaka Bunrakuza consists of twelve sets of prints each set depicting a specific play in the bunraku repertory, as listed in the below table. Each set contains a stage set for the specific play along with three prints of puppet characters appearing in the play and an explanatory sheet, for a total of forty-eight color woodblock prints and twelve monochrome explanatory sheets. Each of the stage set prints was originally issued with a tissue overlay showing the position of the three puppet characters on the stage. All of the plays pictured were performed at the Bunraku Theater (Bunraku-za) located within the Goryō Shrine compound in Osaka. The Goryō Bunraku-za burned down in November 1926 after what has been described as "an extremely difficult managerial era" and "lost interest" by the public in the late Taishō era.² It is unknown what role, if any, the management of the Goryō Bunraku-za may have played in the formulation and issuance of this print series in their efforts to revitalize the theater.

For more complete information on this series see the article Illustrated Collection of Famous Japanese Puppets of the Osaka Bunrakuza

¹ Dates are taken from the colophons on the envelopes containing the print sets in the Waseda University Archives

² National Diet Library website page http://www.ndl.go.jp/scenery/e/column/kansai/goryo_bunrakuza.html which provides a history of the Goryō Bunrakuza.

Play Name in Japanese	Play Name in English
壇浦兜軍記  Dan-no-ura kabuto gunki	Chronicle of the Battle of Dan-no-ura
義経千本桜  Yoshitsune senbon zakura	Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees
一の谷嫩軍記    Ichi-no-tani futaba gunki	Chronicle of the Battle of Ichinotani
仮名手本忠臣蔵、五段目  Kanadehon Chūshingura, go danme	The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, Act 5
仮名手本忠臣蔵、七段目  Kanadehon Chūshingura, shichi danme	The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, Act 7
伊賀越道中双六  Igagoe dōchū sugoroku	The Revenge at Igagoe
心中天網嶋  Shinjū ten no amajima	The Love Suicides at Amijima
新版歌祭文  Shinpan Utazaimon	The New Scandalous Ballad of Osome and Hisamatsu
菅原伝授手習鑑   Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami	Sugawara and the Secrets of  Calligraphy
本朝廿四孝  Honchō nijūshikō	Twenty-four Examples of Filial Piety
鎌倉三代記  Kamakura sandaiki	Three Generations of Kamakura Shoguns
夏祭浪花鑑   Natsumatsuri Naniwa kagami	Summer festival at Naniwa (Osaka)