Online Resources
- The Barbara Curtis Adachi Bunraku CollectionThe digital collection on bunraku puppet theater from Columbia's C. V. Starr East Asian Library.
- An Introduction to BunrakuBy the Japan Arts Council.
- Japanese Literature in Translation SearchUse this database to search for English translation of scripts.
Video Databases
- Dance in Video This link opens in a new windowCaptures dance performances from the stage and brings them directly to your computer screen through online streaming video - including 250 dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Volumes I & II.
- Theatre in Video This link opens in a new windowContains performances of the world's leading plays and film documentaries on the subject of theater in streaming video. Some plays presented in multiple productions exemplifying various interpretations of the text, and technical and cultural differences among the presentations. Stage work of directors and actors are cross-searchable and available for side-by-side comparison. Interviews with directors, designers, writers, and actors, along with excerpts of live performances, provide illustration of the development of texts and the productions.
Reference Sources
Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre by Call Number: Main Reference Collection PN2921 .L45 2006ISBN: 0810855275Publication Date: 2006-01-16
Japanese Reference Sources
Bunraku handobukku / 文楽ハンドブック by Call Number: Japanese Collection PN1978.J3 B75 2011ISBN: 4385410674Publication Date: 20113rd Edition.
Streaming Video (English)
Bunraku: The Classical Puppets of Japan (Creative Arts Television, 1973) 29 minutes (From Theatre in Video) 
Summary: Filmed study of Bunraku, the classical Japanese puppet art, which uses three-quarters life-sized figures, handled by black-clothed manipulators who remain in plain view of the audience, convention rendering them invisible. These scenes trace Bunraku from the making of the puppets and the way in which their limbs are articulated, to their costuming and reflections on their relationship to kabuki theater. It includes complete performances of works for Bunraku. Commentary by the well-known authority on dance and Asian arts, Faubion Bowers. 1973.
Books in English
Wondrous Brutal Fictions by Call Number: Main Library PL768.J6 W66 2013ISBN: 0231146582Publication Date: 2013-04-09Wondrous Brutal Fictions presents eight seminal works from the seventeenth-century Japanese sekkyo and ko-joruri puppet theaters, many translated into English for the first time. Both poignant and disturbing, they range from stories of cruelty and brutality to tales of love, charity, and outstanding filial devotion, representing the best of early Edo-period literary and performance traditions and acting as important precursors to the Bunraku and Kabuki styles of theater. As works of Buddhist fiction, these texts relate the histories and miracles of particular buddhas, bodhisattvas, and local deities. Many of their protagonists are cultural icons, recognizable through their representation in later works of Japanese drama, fiction, and film. The collection includes such sekkyo "sermon-ballad" classics as Sansho Dayu, Karukaya, and Oguri, as well as the " old joruri" plays Goo-no-hime and Amida's Riven Breast. R. Keller Kimbrough provides a critical introduction to these vibrant performance genres, emphasizing the role of seventeenth-century publishing in their spread. He also details six major sekkyo chanters and their playbooks, filling a crucial scholarly gap in early Edo-period theater. More than fifty reproductions of mostly seventeenth-century woodblock illustrations offer rich, visual foundations for the critical introduction and translated tales. Ideal for students and scholars of medieval and early modern Japanese literature, theater, and Buddhism, this collection provides an unprecedented encounter with popular Buddhist drama and its far-reaching impact on literature and culture.
The Bunraku puppet theatre of Japan : honor, vengeance, and love in four plays of the 18th and 19th centuries by Call Number: Main Library PL768.J6 B865 2013ISBN: 0824836804Publication Date: 2013E-book version is also available for UI users.
Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees by Call Number: Main Library PL794.6.Y3 E5 1993ISBN: 0231080522Publication Date: 1993-10-07
No and Bunraku by Call Number: Main Library PN2924.5.N6 K4 1966aISBN: 0231074190Publication Date: 1991-01-09
Major plays by Call Number: Main Library PL793.4 .A213 1961Publication Date: 1961Translation of selected plays of Chikamatsu Monzaemon.
Books in Japanese
Iwanami kōza. Kabuki bunraku / 岩波講座. 歌舞伎・文楽 Main Japanese Collection PN2924.5.K3 I93 1997
Bunraku Call Numbers and Subject Headings
Call Numbers
- PL738.J6 Japanese literature -- History -- Jōruri. Sekkyōbushi.
- PL768.J6 Japanese literature -- Collections -- Jōruri. Sekkyōbushi. Also check individual authors' call numbers for .
- PN1978.J3 Puppet theater in Japan
Subject Headings
- Bunraku: Here are entered works on the traditional style professional puppet theater of Japan which features chanted text, musical accompaniment, and the three man operation of each puppet.
- Bunraku puppets
- Jōruri—Texts: Used for Bunraku plays and Jōruri puppet plays.
- Puppet plays, Japanese
Japananese language resources are in the East Asian Collection on the 2nd floor and English language resources are on the 5th floor. To check out DVDs in the Media Collection, go to the Reference/Information Desk on the 1st floor.
OCLC WorldCat
WorldCat 
: A bibliographic database of over 62,000,000 records from over 2,000 libraries around the world.
If you are looking for the information about specific repertoire, try searching OCLC WorldCat in addition to InfoHawk and SmartSearch. Sometimes bibliographic records in WorldCat include more detailed table of contents.
Bunraku and Pop Culture
- Dolls [videorecording] = ドールズ byCall Number: Main Media Collection Video record 21051 DVDJapanese dialogue with optional English subtitles. Originally produced as a motion picture in 2002.