Bungo Yoshida (May 3, 1934 – January 16, 2008) was a Japanese

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

, who built a whole new audience for the traditional puppetering form of ''

bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or (puppeteers), the (chanters) ...

'' by combining it with

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

. Born as Teruo Takahashi in

Moriguchi, Osaka is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 142,655 in 73353 households and a population density of 11,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Moriguchi borders the northeastern ...

in 1934, Yoshida was initiated into the Bunraku theatre as a disciple of Tamagoro Yoshida II in 1951, changing his name to Kotama Yoshida. For twenty years, he performed mostly female roles, until switching to male roles in the 1970s. Concerned by falling audience numbers and a lack of young people taking up ''bunraku'', Yoshida combined the ancient art form with his love of rock music, which he combined for a 1980 adaptation of ''

The Love Suicides at Sonezaki ''The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'' (曾根崎心中, ''Sonezaki Shinjū'') is a jōruri play by the Japanese playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The double suicides that occurred on May 22, 1703, inspired Chikamatsu to write this play and thus ''Th ...

'' (''Sonezaki Shinjū'') with the music written and performed by Japanese rock musician

Ryudo Uzaki is a Japanese musician, composer, and actor. His group, the Down Town Boogie-Woogie Band, was one of the most prominent 1970s Japanese rock bands. He also composed many of Momoe Yamaguchi's songs with Yoko Aki. Uzaki has also worked as a film co ...

, and occasionally with a live

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

.Japanese puppeteer Yoshida dies

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

, January 17, 2008. He was formerly married to the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

television personality and essayist Edith Hanson. Yoshida died at his home in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

on January 16, 2008 after suffering from

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

References

External links

Yoshida Bungo
Global Performing Arts Database 1934 births 2008 deaths Japanese puppeteers Deaths from liver cancer in Japan People from Moriguchi, Osaka {{entertainer-stub