Joruri Bunraku Narrative Performed in Honor of Donald Keene by Late Scholar’s Adopted Son, Shamisen Player Seiki Keene

By Futoshi Mori / Japan News Senior Writer

14:50 JST, February 24, 2026

Seiki Keene, the adopted son of Japanese literature scholar Donald Keene, performed an old work of joruri storytelling with shamisen at Tokyo’s Setagaya Literature Museum on Monday. Using the stage name Echigo Kakutayu, given to him by Keene, Seiki planned the performance to coincide with the anniversary of Keene’s death on Feb. 24, 2019, at age 96.

Tickets were sold out an hour before the opening, and the packed hall of over 100 people responded with enthusiastic applause.

Seiki, 75, who was a shamisen player for a bunraku puppet theater for about 25 years, still continues his performing career. On this day, he dedicated his powerful voice to his late father, performing shamisen pieces he composed himself to accompany passages from poet Matsuo Basho’s “The Narrow Road to Oku,” and the third act of the old joruri piece “Kochihoin Godenki.”

Keene loved “The Narrow Road to Oku” from his early years and published several English editions of the work. In the 1950s, he also wrote articles tracing Basho’s travel route for a monthly literary magazine.

“Kochihoin Godenki” is an early Edo period (1603-1867) joruri piece based on the legend of the monk Kochihoin, who became self-mummified through deep meditation. The script was discovered at the British Museum in London in 1962. At Keene’s suggestion, Seiki and a bunraku troupe revived the performance in 2009, bringing it back to the stage for the first time in about 300 years. In 2017, they also performed it in London.

Yukio Kakuchi, who translated many of Keene’s later works, served as the emcee for the day’s performance. Seiki’s disciple, Echigo Kakujudayu, gave explanations about shamisen, joruri and the literary and historical context of the program, helping to deepen the understanding of the audience.

On Sunday, Kakuchi will give a lecture at the Setagaya Literary Museum. He will talk about the multivolume work “A History of Japanese Literature,” which Keene spent about 25 years writing on Japanese literature from ancient to modern times — a work that Kakuchi also partially translated — and will share memories of their friendship spanning over 40 years.

The lecture begins at 2 p.m. Admission is ¥500. Tickets will be sold at the Setagaya Literary Museum starting at noon on the day of the event.