Into the World of Bunraku

 

Sharp Singapore is proud to be an associate sponsor with the Embassy of Japan, Singapore and the Japanese Creative Centre(JCC) as JCC celebrates 10 years since its opening in this garden city. This September and October, we bring you Love and Mercy: Into the World of Bunraku a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

Similar to the historical puppet theatre from Indonesia known as Wayang Kulit these artforms employ the use of puppets, a narrator, puppeteers and musicians to bring stories to life. Wayang Kulit is also a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

Bunraku, also known as Ningyo Joriri, can be traced as far back as the 16th Century and has been a documented traditional activity for Japanese people since. The first theatre was established in Osaka in 1684. Every part of the puppets is made by specialists. The head is mechanically sophisticated with many moving parts from eyebrows to the mouth. 

In every show, three puppeteers control each puppet with one controlling the head, another the hands and the other the feet and legs. They are often in full view of the viewers and dressed in black with black hoods over their heads so the puppets stand out. The master puppeteer will be unhooded.

Featured in this debuting performance are two moving stories: Steps of the Fire Tower and The Miracle of Tsubosaka Temple.

This one day only performance will show 23rd October 2019 at 2pm and 7pm at the Drama Centre Theatre.

(tickets here) 

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Performance Synopsis

 

The Red-Hot Love – The Fire Watchtower: Oshichi is in love with a man named Kichisaburo, but due to circumstances of the families, the two are unable to marry. One day, Kichisaburo loses a sword that was to be offered to the Imperial Palace. If he could not find it by the next morning, he will be ordered to commit suicide. Upon learning that, Oshichi finds the sword and tries to deliver it to Kichisaburo. But the day is turning dark, the wooden door of the town has closed and she cannot reach Kichisaburo. She suddenly remembers the fire watchtower, that when a fire broke out and the bell rang, the wooden doors opened all at once. However, if it is not a fire, it is a crime to ring the bell, and those who sound it will be sentenced to burn in a fire. However, Oshichi makes up her mind and starts to climb…

 

The Miracle at Tsubosaka Temple – The House of Sawaichi and The Mountain: The blind Sawaichi, who lives in Tsubosaka, Yamato Province, is helped by his wife Osato’s side earnings and they struggle to make ends meet. Sawaichi has felt that Osato is not around at home in the evening and begins to suspect that she might not be working. But in fact, Osato heard about a cure for Sawaichi’s blindness and went to Temple Tsubosaka to pray that her husband’s blindness will be cured. After Sawaichi learns of this, he apologises to his faithful wife for suspecting her. Despairing over the thought that his wife will never be happy if he is around, he throws himself into the valley only to have Osato follow him. By the mercy of the Goddess Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), she saves both husband and wife and restores Sawaichi’s sight.

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Capturing Every Detail with SHARP 8K Technology 

 

From 3 to 18 September 2019, learn more about this historical art form at Takashimaya Ngee Ann City Atrium Level 1 and experience some of our latest technology on display. Interact with the products and direct any questions you might have to our staff present. Join us on Saturday and Sunday 12-2pm / 6-8pm to have your photo taken and walk away with a SPECIAL photo folder printed by the MX-5071 Laser Copier Machine! While stocks last!

Also, follow us on Instagram (sharp_singapore) and tag us #BunrakuWithSharp in your photo to win a prize!

In the month of October, join us on 23 October 2019 at the National Library, Drama Centre Theatre as we showcase the performance captured and shown with Sharp 8K Technology. Come experience and see the magnificent true HDR colour and depth in every scene and listen to the moving music on the Sound Partner AN-SS1 with our live demonstration on location (watch the video here). 

 

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23rd October 

 

Sharp Singapore will film the exclusive performance with our Aquos 8K camcorder and showcase the art of Bunraku on all Aquos 8K TV screens in our authorised retailers islandwide. An excellent opportunity to showcase Sharp 8k ecosystem across platforms to seamlessly sync source, capturing instrument and screen. Bringing imagery to the next level with greater clarity, colour and depth of field. 

The camcorder is designed to offer ease of use in shooting and recording and to lessen the burden on the camera operator in the post-recording editing process. The 8C-B60A’s image pickup device is a large, Super 35-mm-equivalent CMOS image sensor with 33 million pixels. Compression utilizes a coding method*⁵ that exerts minimal burden on the CPU, thus enabling efficient 8K (60p)-image editing and approximately 40 minutes of continuous recording (when using the bundled 2-TB SSD pack). Because it allows real-time output of 8K uncompressed images at the same time that recording is taking place, the 8C-B60A can be used for live transmissions as well.