Puppeteer Holding Puppet on Go Board

Puppet theatre was a very popular
entertainment in Japanese cities during
the Edo period (1603-1868). Puppeteers,
expert chanters and musicians performed
together to tell stories to eager audiences.
In this image a board for go, a Japanese
game of strategy, serves as a stage.
The playwright, Chikamatsu Monzaemon
(1653-1725), often described as Japan’s
Shakespeare, wrote over one hundred
plays, mostly for the puppet theatre.
Some were historical stories, others were
tragedies based on current affairs such
as the The Love Suicides of Sonezaki (1703).