In Bunraku, a Japanese traditional performing arts, a play is performed in cooperation with the three elements, which called “Sangyo”; Tayu (narrator), Shamisen player,and Ningyo-tsukai (puppeteers). When such collaboration is successful, we say “breathe together” in Japanese. The word “breath” used in this way is in general regarded as a kind of metaphor. In the cooperative acts such as ensembles, however, performers have been reported to show synchronous breathing. The previous study (Shibuya et al., 2012) showed that breathing of puppeteers (chief puppeteers) in Bunraku become more aperiodic when they performed a play to Joururi which a Tayu narrated with a Shamisen than when they did without Joururi. This suggests a possibility that puppeteers coordinate their breathing to Joururi. In order to explore this possibility, this study analyzed the synchronous relationship between breathing of puppeteers (chief puppeteers) and some Joururi elements in Bunraku. As a result, the following two things are shown: first, a start point of expiration by a chief puppeteer has a tendency to be synchronized with the beginning of a continuous narration in Joururi where a Tayu starts expiration; second, a start point of inspiration by a chief puppeteer has a possibility of being synchronized with the first Shamisen sound between two successive continuous narrations in Joururi where a Tayu is likely to start inspiration. These tendencies of synchronous breathing with Joururi elements are more apparent in a puppeteer with long career than in a puppeteer with short career, suggesting that such synchronization in breathing becomes acquired along with proficiency.

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