Bunraku puppeteer for 29 years Yoshida Minoshiro said they belong to the Ningyojoruri Bunrakuza of Osaka, Japan.
Bunraku is Japan’s professional puppet theater developed in the 17th and 18th centuries and founded in Osaka.
Osaka Rengo sponsored Bunraku in Bataan. Rengo is a group of local enterprises in Japan in different fields.
“The puppet show is an effort of the Consulate of Japan, Philippine Society of Japan and school association in Mihami Elementary School in Osaka,” said Julie Barceles, president in Bagac of Gabriela.
Gabriela is a partylist organization of women in the Philippines.
Barceles said Mihami is a school partner of the Binukawan and Overland elementary schools in Bagac. She said that some school children from the Osaka school were among the delegation to tour and observe the Bagac schools.
“This is the first puppet presentation in Bataan and the second in the Philippines,” she said. The group first performed in the University of the Philippines in Quezon City two years ago.
The Japanese puppeteers made a short puppet demonstration with chanting and shamisen playing (string instrument) to the delight of school children.
They also showed story-telling skills and emotional expressions such as laugh, cry and anger.
Imelda Estrada, principal of Overland Elementary School, said she and two others visited Osaka on July 17, 2015 with all expenses paid by the Japanese group who first visited and attended the school graduation in Bagac in March 2015.
“We toured Mihami Elementary School in Osaka where many Filipino- Japanese children are studying,” Estrada who was then master teacher in the Binukawan Elementary School said.
Dr. Myrna Castillo, former principal of the Binukawan school, said they stayed in Japan for seven days and shared the K-12 program with their Japanese counterpart.
She said she observed that Filipino-Japanese children in the Osaka school were knowledgeable of Filipino songs like “Leron, Leron Sinta” and the Philippine National Anthem. “Binibigyang pansin ang kultura at kasaysayan ng Pilipinas kaya nakakatuwa,” she said.
“Nagkaroon ng sort of cultural exchange sa pagitan ng Bagac at Osaka schools,” explained Castillo who is presently principal of the Camacho National High School in Abucay, Bataan.
She said that there are 27 members of the Japanese delegation with a monk, some businessmen, students and puppeteers.
