Tokushima Prefectural Awa Jurobe Yashiki (Puppet Theater and Museum)

This is the ONLY place in Japan where you can see performances of traditional Japanese puppet theater every day of the year (twice daily at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM, admission only 410 yen) with additional seasonal performances and cultural events. There is also a beautiful, informative, small museum, a gift shop, and helpful, friendly, quite knowledgeable staff. Not to be missed if you are in Tokushima.

Live puppet performances (about 30 minutes) by local traditional puppet troupes. After the performance you can see the puppets up close with the puppeteers. The small museum gives an overview of all aspects of the puppet theater and has puppets and samisen that visitors can handle and try out. The grounds include a lovely small garden and were the home of an Edo Period figure. The is a bus from Tokushima Station about every hour to 90 minutes that stops right in front of the theater. A taxi from the station costs only about 1600 yen. Just tell the driver "Jurobe Yashiki." The theater office can call a return taxi for you or help with the bus schedule.

We hadn't researched this museum, but just stopped by spur of the moment. We were glad we did! It was a wonderful experience, starting with a very well done film with English subtitles, and followed by a guided experience in which we learned how the puppets are controlled and then actually got to try our hands at it. Lots of photo ops at this point! There is also an small but lovely garden to view. The grand finale was a 30-minute show, capped off by the opportunity to take photos with the puppets and puppeteers. Highly recommended for those interested in local Japanese cultural traditions that are still thriving today!

On a rainy day, when we thought we had no good plan B for our original walk in shikoku trail, we discovered this puppetry theater performance and were absolutely enchanted by it. This was in equal parts beautiful Japanese heritage of this enchanting art form and also being hosted by our beloved tour guide and excellent English-speaker, Keiko. She took great care of showing us every detail of the art form and also the architecture of the museum building as it was nicely restored/kept. She was so lovely and showed us what "omotenashi" service is all about. Thank you Keiko!!!

It costs 500 yen for 40 minutes. ☺️ It was good that the woman who was the MC was explained in a very easy-to-understand manner. ☺️ The actual Ningyo Joruri was on display, and she taught me how to move it carefully. The content of the video was also good with the storyteller style of the person who actually inherited Joruri ☺️ The demonstration was also impressed by the local women's association 😃