Kanjuro Kiritake Iii

Kanjūrō Kiritake III is a leading contemporary Bunraku puppeteer and 2021 holder of the Important Intangible Cultural Property designation for "Ningyō Jōruri Bunraku Puppetry." Born Toyomi Miyanaga on March 1, 1953, in Osaka City, he is the son of Kanjūrō Kiritake II, a distinguished puppeteer who later became a Living National Treasure. Rather than inheriting a position, the younger Miyanaga entered the Bunraku Association through apprenticeship. In July 1967, at fourteen, he joined the puppet department and studied under Yoshida Minosuke III, taking the professional name Yoshida Minotarō.

He became a Bunraku Association performer in April 1968, making his documented debut as a water carrier in the *Akoya kotozeme* scene of *Dan-no-ura Kabuto Gunki* at Osaka's Mainichi Hall. Like all Bunraku puppeteers, he advanced through coordinated positions—foot operator, left-hand operator—before assuming the main role of *omozukai*, which controls the puppet's head and right hand. This progression taught him to respond physically to fellow operators' intentions before leading the ensemble himself.

His artistic education crossed two lineages. Yoshida Minosuke was celebrated for female roles (*onnagata*), while Kanjūrō II was associated with forceful male roles (*tachiyaku*). Kanjūrō III learned female work from his master and male work from his father, developing unusual range rather than specializing in a single character type. Through the 1970s and 1990s he accumulated honors including the Minister of Education's Art Encouragement New Artist Prize in 1995 and a Matsuo Performing Arts Award in 1999.

In April 2003 he succeeded to his father's stage name as Kanjūrō Kiritake III, performing Takechi Mitsuhide in the Amagasaki scene of *Ehon Taikōki* at the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka. A name-succession performance followed at the National Theatre in Tokyo in May. The succession was a public responsibility to carry a recognized artistic name, not a change in his birth identity.

National honors accelerated. In 2008 he received the Minister's Art Encouragement Prize, a National Theatre Bunraku Grand Prize and the Medal with Purple Ribbon. The Japan Art Academy Prize followed in 2010. Alongside performance of repertory roles, Kanjūrō has led workshops, taught younger practitioners, participated in overseas tours and produced new works, treating transmission as central to the puppeteer's role.

In 2021 the Japanese government recognized him as an individual holder of the Important Intangible Cultural Property for Ningyō Jōruri Bunraku Puppetry, citing his command of traditional techniques and his capacity to portray a wide range of male and female characters. He continued performing major roles—including Hayano Kanpei in *Kanadehon Chūshingura* at the National Bunraku Theatre in November 2024—and became a member of the Japan Art Academy in March 2025.