When I had first gone backstage at the National Bunraku Theater. I still clearly remember today.

Having only shot images of the artists as they performed on stage decked in brilliant colors under the spotlights, it was a delight to come into contact with the backstage scene that was rich with the taste of the real world. The bustle of the backstage crew; the puppets that are just casually lined up; crossing paths with yukata-clad performers in the hallway; strains of the shamisen audible from beyond the curtains that adorn the dressing room entrance.

These are people who carry on the traditional performing art called bunraku, with more than three hundred years of history, through the present and into the future. I developed a keen interest in their dramatic lives and have continued to take pictures under the theme of NINGEN JORURI (human joruri).