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The original Bunraku play consists of three scenes, and for this festival we present only the final scene, “The Woods at Tenjin Shrine” (“Tenjin-mori no dan”), the emotional climax of the entire work.

Tokubei refuses an arranged marriage proposed by his employer—who is also his uncle—because of his love for Ohatsu. Angered, the uncle demands that Tokubei return the dowry money that his stepmother had secretly accepted and orders him to leave Osaka. Although Tokubei manages to retrieve the money, he is then swindled by his close friend Kuheji, who steals it and falsely accuses Tokubei of being the deceiver. Humiliated in public and unable to clear his name, Tokubei falls into despair.

That night, he secretly visits Ohatsu at the Tenmaya teahouse and tells her that he has decided to die to prove his innocence. Ohatsu hides him beneath her robe as she sits on the veranda. When she quietly asks—seemingly to herself—whether he is ready to die with her, Tokubei, hiding under the veranda, draws her bare foot across his neck to show his vow.

At midnight, Ohatsu changes into a white death costume, and the two lovers head toward the quiet grove of the Tenjin Shrine.

This is where the final scene begins.

An exquisite encounter with Bunraku, where the mastery of the puppeteers draws us into moments of pure emotion.

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Cast: Yoshida Tamasuke, Yoshida Minoshiro, Toyotake Yoshihodayu, Tsuruzawa Tomonosuke

Japan