Takemoto Gidayū

Takemoto Gidayū (竹本 義太夫, 1651 – 18 October 1714) was a jōruri[1] chanter and the creator of a style of chanted narration for Japan's puppet theatre which has been used ever since.

[citation needed] He was a close colleague of the famous playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and founder and manager of the Takemoto-za puppet theatre.

The Chihiroshū ("A Collection a Thousand Fathoms Deep"), Gidayū's first work to be published, was produced in 1686, though his most important treatise would come the following year.

Gidayū, along with all jōruri chanters in the tradition after him, chanted the narration of a play alone, along with all the spoken (or sung) lines of every character.

The chanting style shifts dramatically between speaking and singing, and is based on a notation exclusive to jōruri, inscribed into the chanter's copy of the script.