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Contemporary global theatre practice makes regular reference to ningyo joruri (ningyō jōruri), a traditional form of Japanese puppet theatre, in particular the now world famous Bunraku Theatre (bunraku za) in Osaka. It has become commonplace amongst practitioners and critics alike to describe certain contemporary puppet forms as 'bunraku' or 'bunraku-style' (capitalisation and italicisation vary). This begs the question, are these puppets truly descendants of and/or equivalents to the practice of the Bunraku Theatre or ningyo joruri more broadly? If not, then many practitioners and critics frequently and erroneously invoke the authority of the Osaka Bunraku Theatre for no better reason than to add an exoticised 'authenticity' to their performances and writing. This thesis explores this problem through close analysis of historical interactions with Japan's puppet theatres and contemporary puppet practice. It is contended that consistent misrepresentation, both circumstantial and ideological, of ningyo joruri has created a near homogenous Bunraku-centric view of Japanese puppetry in English-language literature and practice. This mythologisation and essentialisation of the Bunraku Theatre has both enabled its easy appropriation and severely disenfranchised Japan's other, extant ningyo joruri troupes. It is argued that the labelling of contemporary puppets as 'bunraku' is the result of and in turn perpetuates this erroneous myth. Implicit in this is a failure to recognise and acknowledge the multiplicity of other technologies and techniques at play in this modern 'bunraku'. Through examination of contemporary puppet practice this thesis identifies and explores the 'atoms' from which these puppets and their performance are built. Understanding and identifying these 'atoms' enables us to see the true extent to which the technologies and techniques of ningyo joruri are used outside Japan. It is argued that these modern 'bunraku' puppets are, in fact, wildly heterogeneous: showing a wide range of ideas and influences that extend well beyond the confines of the Bunraku Theatre in Osaka.

This dissertation examines the relationship between urban poverty and local governance in modern Osaka. It seeks to elucidate the strategies and institutional mechanisms through which the authorities in Osaka attempted to regulate the urban poor from the immediate aftermath of the Meiji Restoration to the Pacific War. It begins by examining the dissolution of early modern Osaka's beggar fraternity, the kaito nakama, and considering the impact of the Restoration and subsequent dismantling of the early modern status system on the practice of poverty management and the lives of the urban poor. Following the Restoration, the mechanisms through which the authorities in Osaka attempted to regulate the poor underwent a dramatic transformation. For centuries, the authorities had permitted thousands of the city's poorest residents to survive by gathering alms. However, in the early 1870s, officials came to view begging as a deleterious practice that encouraged idleness and dependence and stripped otherwise able-bodied individuals of their desire for self-sufficiency. Some asserted that if the practice were allowed to persist, it would ultimately undermine the vitality and stability of the fledgling Meiji state. In order for Japan to compete with the comparatively affluent states of the West, officials came to believe that it was necessary to mobilize the entire populous, including the members of economically disadvantaged groups previously permitted to subsist on the margins of the urban economy. Accordingly, officials began working to transform the poor into productive urban subjects capable of subsisting without external assistance. This dissertation challenges foregoing studies of urban poverty in modern Japan, which emphasize only the coercive and exclusionary features of state policy towards the poor. While moments of repression and exclusion are certainly a vital part of the story, an analysis of poverty management efforts in Osaka reveals that official policy was designed primarily to harness, multiply, and exploit the productive capacities of the poor. Far from seeking their permanent exclusion from mainstream society, the authorities worked to encourage their sustained inclusion into the lower tiers of the urban socio-economic hierarchy through the hygienic remaking of their communities and the reform of their beliefs and practices.

I focus specifically on the Kansai region and the tensions between it and the dominance of Tokyo in defining Japan's national identity through exploring the production and performance of regional identity in Japanese popular music. Images of the Osaka/Kansai region in the media and music industry and fieldwork data collected in concerts, print media, and fan interviews are used to better understand how relationalism affects perception and construction of identity in Japan. Through examining the reception and representation of musician from Kansai in both Tokyo and Kansai's media, the Kansai region and its people are subjected to complex, multi-layered, and capricious interpretations of their identity due to the widespread familiarity of the region in Japanese consciousness and because of the rivarly between Kansai and the dominant Tokyo/Kanto area.