National Bunraku Theater

Buildings Costume Japan

April 6, 1984

A commemorative postage stamp on the Opening of the National Bunraku Theatre (Kokuritsu Bunraku Gekijō), Osaka :

Issued by Japan

Issued on Apr 6, 1984

Issued for : A 60 yen postage stamp commemorating the opening of the National Bunraku Theater was issued on April 6, 1984.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 60 yen

Size of impression : 22.5 mm x 33.0 mm

Quantity issued : 30,000,000 stamps

About :

Traditional epic-style ballads performed with puppets became the sophisticated Japanese traditional art of bunraku. Bunraku has been designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property and has been popular ever since its origins in Osaka 300 years ago in the middle of the Edo Period. It is highly evaluated both in Japan and overseas, as the form of puppet theatre which requires the highest level of stage skills in the world.
The National Bunraku Theater was rebuilt in Osaka, the home-place of the Bunraku play so that it would provide stages for it and other traditional arts which are to be handed down to posterity.
The opening ceremony took place at the end of March, 1984, and the first public performance was on the 6^th of April.
The design of the stamp features the theater and the doll as Tadanobu in the “Yoshitsune senbonzakura” (The Thousand Cherry Trees of Yoshitsune) play which was performed at the opening performance for Bunraku Theater.
Summary of the National Bunraku Theater
- (1) Location : 12-10 Nipponbashi 1 chome, Minami-ku, Osaka
- (2) Foundation area : 44,464 square meters
- (3) Total floor space : 13,211 square meters
- (4) Seating capacity : approximately 730 seats
The Opening Performance
- (1) Date : April 6, 1984 (Friday)
- (2) Performances : Yoshitsune Senbon-zakura, Kotobukishiki sambaso.